The International Agatha Christie Festival Young Writers’ Exchange has been an annual Summer project running in Torbay since 2018 – It brings together young people from different places and supports them in creating their own new pieces of writing. This year saw Doorstep Arts work with Beyond Face CIC again – ‘Beyond Face is a theatre company based in the South-West whose mission it is to amplify and support artists of the Global Majority to live, work and thrive’ [Taken from Beyond Face’s Mission Statement] .
The project has also seen the development of a strong outreach strand in recent years, with the aim of engaging young people who might face barriers to engaging with the arts, literacy, and extra-curricular activities and opportunities such as this project. This year, we took the decision to utilise one of the outreach workshops to engage more writers for the older age group we run as part of the project – 14–18-year-olds – as historically we have found this age group difficult to engage. Thanks to Churston Ferrers Grammar School and the Taleblazers summer school in Chelston for hosting us for two brilliant workshops on building characters.
Each year, both exchange companies work in response to a chosen author and text – Doorstep Arts and Beyond Face opted for Liccle Bit by Alex Wheatle. We decided to focus on a set of recurring themes interrogated by Alex Wheatle across his body of work: unseen places, unheard people and untold stories.
Both companies worked independently in Torbay and Plymouth in response to Liccle Bit. Beyond Face placed an emphasis on devising a whole-group piece of work, whereas Doorstep Arts built on our mixture of group-based exercises and learning alongside independent writing. Once again, we were fortunate to be able to base ourselves at the gorgeous Torre Abbey.
The 8-13s were led by Hollie Uzzell and Sonia Thakurdesai, and the 14-18s were led by Sam Parker.
Hollie Uzzell reflected on the work she and Sonia did in the room:
“With our younger group we explored character and setting through different exercises such as sound-scapes and movement. The participants used these exercises to influence their own writing. To help them get started with their stories we introduced them to free writing. Over the week they had time to revisit and edit their stories which resulted in a sharing to friends and family.
We had so many successful moments that it’s hard not to talk about them all. The main success in my opinion is that all of our participants wrote wonderful stories and shared them in the sharing. The participants also made new friends and had lots of laughs it was great to be a part of.”
Whilst for the younger group, we are always aware that this might be their first engagement with Doorstep Arts given the reach of the project in the past, for the older group we had drawn in four writers who already had some knowledge of the craft. Some of these writers also harboured ambitions to one day write in a professional capacity, and as a result we spent our three days at Torre Abbey looking to develop their skill-set in key areas such as character, story structure, and dialogue. We were particularly delighted that one of the group went away and entered a piece of her writing for the Festival’s Mystery Story Writing Competition, placing third!
For the sharing on the 20th August, the 8-13s collated their independent stories into a framework which tied all of their writing together – the idea of an abandoned library in which forgotten stories came to life once more
The 14-18s meanwhile, wrote an opening excerpt for original stories and plays, with an emphasis on hooking the attention of those reading or watching. They shared these in a rehearsed reading format, doubling as performers so each writer could hear their words come off the page and see how the audience responded – one of the most important learning experiences for a writer.
Beyond Face joined us at Torre Abbey on the 20th August and brought their devised piece with them. After a session in which both groups got to know each other through a series of games and exercises, the two groups split off to rehearse. We then came back together to hang out and eat Pizza before the final sharing.
In an effort to enrich the exchange element of the project this year, for the first time, Doorstep Arts took a group of their writers down to Plymouth, where we were hosted by Beyond Face for the day at Plymouth University’s House Studio. Vicki Horan, who led the 8-13s group for Doorstep last year, co-led Beyond Face’s group this year alongside Shaday Barrowes-Bayewunmi.
Sonia Thakurdesai, who works for both Doorstep Arts and Beyond Face, reflected on this trip for Doorstep’s blog:
“We spent the day playing games, exchanging drama exercises, and revisiting the group’s pieces they shared at Torre Abbey. The groups also had the chance to work together, which was really exciting. Doorstep facilitator and producer, Sam, led a Wardrobe Ensemble inspired activity which involved each participant to come up with an idea, in under a minute, in response to a shared stimulus (we used chapters from Liccle Bit: ‘Stepping on Bubbles’ and ‘Face the Music’). In groups they would then spend 3 minutes trialling each idea before sharing them all back. All of them rose to the challenge and beautifully committed to each and every idea. It was lovely to see them honouring each other’s ideas and giving them equal amounts of energy. The supportiveness between the groups was palpable through the day, whether it was in a game of Chaos, keeping the rhythm and energy in Zip Zap Boing, trying one another’s ideas, OR in lunch break when discussing what our ideal meal deal combo would be.
We loved seeing our different groups of young people come together in a short space of time and create whilst supporting one another. We wrapped up the day with a sharing at The House for the family and friends of Beyond Face’s participants, complete with dramatic lighting too. It felt valuable for our groups to experience one another’s sharings as well as performing in different venues, especially two contrasting settings such as The House and the Ballroom in Torre Abbey. Thank you Beyond Face and The House for being such excellent hosts, we look forward to future exchanges!”
Thanks to all our brilliant partners for making this year’s project a success!