On Saturday 18th July, we went on our furthest Theatre Buddies trip yet… to The Egg Theatre in Bath.
We were contacted by the team at the theatre, who had heard about our Theatre Buddies Programme and wanted to offer our Doorstep Participants the opportunity to come and watch their revised version of The Secret Garden.
We jumped at the chance to experience this much loved story. Many of our young people had heard of The Secret Garden before, but this was a special opportunity for us to learn more about creative project behind the show and watch an adaptation of the story.
Supported by the Arts Council, The Egg has been leading a year-long creative engagement project for children and young people across the South West. The project has included many different strands, from sensory boxes in hospitals and projects in primary and secondary schools, to creative workshops, installations, imagination gardens and pop-up immersive experiences for babies and their adults. We felt incredibly lucky to experience the show.
Four members of our fabulous team drove 13 young people to the theatre and what a beautiful theatre it is. As the name suggests, The Egg is an egg-shaped theatre, a small and intimate space seating 122 audience members. It also has a breakout room, meaning that anyone who needs to make a little noise or take a break can still be part of the experience. Accessibility in all its glory!
Before the show, we were given a lovely tour of the theatre. We learnt more about the process and about the different groups who work within the theatre. Much like Doorstep, they run drama workshops for young people and we couldn’t help but think there could be some exciting opportunities for collaboration in the future… but that’s for another blog post!
Then the show began and we were introduced to the most magical puppets; a lamb, robin, owl, butterfly and squirrel. There is something truly special about puppetry and for many of our young people this was the first time they had experienced puppetry on this level. We were instantly submerged into their world. The puppets were designed by Cat Rock, award winning puppeteer and maker, resident artist at Puppet Place Bristol.
The set was simple but incredibly effective, beautifully linking to one of the key themes of the story: doors. Doors represented so many things throughout the show; opening up to new beginnings, new seasons, new friendships, past memories and the door to your imagination.
The theatre also provided us with a really accessible PDF where we could learn more about the characters and story before and after the performance, which we really enjoyed looking through. They kindly provided free theatre programmes for the young people to take home, which was another lovely touch.
The performance itself was honestly beautiful, but don’t just take our word for it. Here is some of the feedback from our young people:
“There were many creative moments in it which I enjoyed so much, like the moment where he sees his wife in the face of his niece. I also loved how closely it followed the book, which most adaptations don’t really do.”
“The show has so much heart and the large and ever evolving stage made it even more cute and heartfelt. The multi rolling never feels gimmicky or distracting, with every actor on stage truly losing themselves in their roles. Overall, an amazing show that did a great job of telling its story and creating a magical atmosphere.”
“I loved the puppets at the start. They felt so real. The robin came and sat on my hand and then a butterfly landed on my head. It was weird because I knew there was an actor moving them, but I believed they were real. They were real in my mind. I really liked the swing and ‘Colin’. He was really funny and the more he cried, the more I laughed.”
“I loved all the characters. They did such a good job of playing all the different roles and I really liked the flowers coming from the sky.”
“I loved it. I’ve never seen anything like that before.”
“Interesting, but slightly confusing as I hadn’t seen the story before. I really liked the puppets, how they interacted with the audience and how the show was portrayed.”
A huge thank you to The Egg Theatre team for welcoming us, creating such an accessible and magical experience and giving our young people the opportunity to experience theatre in such a special way. This was a trip we won’t forget in a hurry.
