The ITThe IT is a play about a teenage girl who has something growing inside her. She doesn't know what it is, but she knows it's not a baby. It expands in her body. It starts in her stomach, but quickly outgrows that, until eventually it takes over the entirety of her insides. It has claws. She feels them. Does it have teeth, skin and hair as well or is that feathers or spikes she can feel butting up against her organs? What is it? It makes a noise, like a lizard or a snake. No one must know about it. She has to keep its presence, its possession of her concealed. She pulls away from her friends. She refuses to speak in case The IT is heard. Then The IT tries to escape from her body. She can't let that happen. She cuts an isolated, weird figure at school, trying to live her life 'normally' but battling to keep The IT inside her, she can't contain it forever. Sooner or later, something's got to give. Presented in the style of a direct to camera documentary, this is a darkly comic state of the nation play exploring adolescent mental health and the rage within, written very specifically for today. Performed by our Youth Theatre Company as part of the 2021 National Theatre Connections Festival. Worlds End Productions London Youth Theatre Company Create Coronavirus Video Time Capsule Worlds End Productions London is a professional, innovative and creative youth theatre company for young people aged 9 - 19 in Enfield, North London. Through long term collaboration between our company members and professional theatre makers, our WE Youth Theatre Company has gained a reputation for producing excellent theatre for youth and adult audiences alike. Our recent work includes 'Extremism ' at PQA Venues, Edinburgh Fringe Festival, 'Look Up' at PQA Studios, Kings Cross, ' Variations' at the Dugdale Theatre & The Artsdepot Theatre, 'The Terrible Infants' at The Dugdale Theatre, 'The Blue Electric Wind' at The Artsdepot Theatre and 'What Were They Like?' at the Queens Theatre in Hornchurch.
During the Coronavirus lockdown, we have joined an exciting new initiative, designed by Islington Youth Theatre Group 'Company Three' which is aimed at giving teenagers everywhere space to express what life under lockdown looks like. Week by week, our Worlds End Productions London Youth Theatre Company are creating a cumulative coronavirus video time capsule - recording teenage experience during the Coronavirus pandemic. More than 125 Youth Theatre Groups from far flung countries like Australia, Brazil, Kenya and the US have signed up to do their own versions and the results look set to provide a fascinating insight into the lives of teenagers across the globe during the pandemic. Each week, we receive the Corononavirus Time Capsule Blueprint guide, created by Company Three and publishers Nick Hern books, to guide us through our video diaries before they are published on our YouTube Channels and social media pages every Friday afternoon. The aim of the project is to reduce isolation and anxiety by providing young people with social connections during the lockdown. Company Three Artistic Director Ned Glasier said the theatre wanted to support teenagers who are missing out on 'hugely significant moments' in their education and maybe finding the lockdown difficult. 'We are so inspired that so many young people have signed up already and can't wait to see what they make. This unprecedented global emergency should also be an opportunity for unprecedented global sharing, understanding and connection - and we hope that's what this project offers teenagers everywhere'. The Coronavirus Time Capsule Project was featured on BBC Radio Scotland and appeared on BBC Sky News and BBC London News. Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan tweeted that the Coronavirus Time Capsule is 'a great example of keeping London together'. WE Productions Artistic Director, Will McGinley, says ' Our young people's films have been funny and poignant in equal measure, testament to the strength and resilience of teenagers at a time when connection with their friends, completing those all important exams and going outside the home has been withdrawn from their everyday lives'. We are so proud to be involved with such an important and historic project. Outstanding LAMDA Exam Results For WE Students Young people who want to excel in their acting join our LAMDA exam classes. Working at an advanced level in preparation for examinations in Solo Acting and Communications exams, these qualifications are accredited by OFQUAL and are recognised by higher education providers and within the industry. Our weekly LAMDA preparation and exam classes, provide learners with a chance to work in small focussed groups, developing and applying a range of techniques to a varied repertoire of material. We offer classes in Acting, Public Speaking and Speaking Verse and Prose. Despite the challenges of lockdown in 2020, we are proud to say that our students continued their LAMDA classes with Artistic Director Will McGinley, virtually via zoom. As a registered exam centre, we were also delighted to receive the news that our pre scheduled exam date was able to go ahead as planned in July, at our venue in Enfield. We are delighted to share with you that after months of hard work and dedication, ALL our students passed their LAMDA Solo Acting Exams with a High Distinction. For all of our students, this was the very first time they had taken a LAMDA Acting Solo Exam and we certainly challenged them with the level and grade they were training at and entered for with the highest grade being a Bronze Grade 6 which carries valuable UCAS points. The benefits of LAMDA are endless. LAMDA exams boost a child's CV and at the highest level, their exams attract UCAS points, for college and university applications. The range of material that students learn is also excellent audition preparation for Drama School. LAMDA exams improves:
- A child's confidence
- Develops speaking and listening skills
- Enhances fluent reading and comprehension skills
- Expands vocabulary and self expression
- Develops a child's ability to memorise and recall information
- Develops a child's acting repertoire at an advanced level.
If you would like to find out more about our LAMDA classes, email enquiries@weproductions.co.uk and we would be happy to arrange a free trial for your child. 'Look Up' - National Theatre Connections Festival 2020 WE Youth Theatre Company performed 'Look Up' in two home performances at PQA Studios in London's Kings Cross before transferring our production to the Artsdepot Theatre as part of this years National Theatre Connections Festival. 'Look Up' plunges us into a world free from adult intervention, supervision and protection. It's about seeking the truth for yourself and finding the space to find and be yourself. Ten young people are creating new rules for what they hope will be a new and brighter future full of hope in a world in which they can trust again. Each one of them is unique, original and defiantly individual, break into an abandoned building and set about claiming the space, because that is what they do. They have rituals, they have rules, together they are a tribe, they have faith in themselves...and nothing and no one else. They are the future, unless the real world catches up with them and then all they can hope for is that they don't crash and burn like the adults they ran away from in the first place. Thank you to our creative cast who immersed themselves into this production. You proved just how powerful and professional a youth company can be.
An Evening Of Youth Theatre At The Dugdale Theatre WE Junior and Senior Youth Theatre Companies performed an extraordinary double bill of innovative and bold plays at The Dugdale Theatre on Saturday 23rd March 2019. The Terrible Infants was told by our Junior Company, a talented and skilful cast of six. The company weaved together tales of unfortunate petulant children all coming to terrible ends. We see the smelly Mingus who lives in a dustbin; Little Tilly who loved telling tales, and Tum; a greedy child who is controlled by the groans of his tum . A mixture of modern-day Grimm Tales with a dose of the dark and wonderful world of Roald Dahl, our audience were treated to a variety of stylised stories. Our next Junior Company Production is in the planning stages. Details of auditions will be announced soon. Thirteen year old Alice wishes her life was completely different. She wakes up one morning to find that her life is different. In fact, it is so different, that all she wants to do is get back to normality. But how does she do that? A play about family, string theory and breakfast. Writer Katie Hims says ‘I wanted to write about that feeling we can all have, that we wish our lives were different, particularly when it comes to our families. I also love stories about parallel universes and plays that repeat themselves. I wondered, ‘What if a young girl wakes up repeatedly to all the various families she might have had?’’
‘Variations’ was skilfully performed by our Senior Company, a talented and professional cast of 10 as part of the National Theatre Connections Festival 2019, a nationwide celebration of new plays for young people. ‘Variations’ is one of 10 brand new plays especially written for Connections. Our Company will be transferring their production of ‘Variations’ to the ArtsDepot Theatre on Monday 29 th April 2019. They will also be taking part in a 90 minute ‘Physical Theatre – Devising’ workshop on this day led by Theatre Studies Programme Leaders and third year acting students from Middlesex University. Tickets for the ArtsDepot performance can be purchased directly from the ArtsDepot box office: https://www.artsdepot.co.uk/theatre/nt-connections-festival-2019-day-1
Thank you to our creative casts who immersed themselves into both pieces of original theatre. You proved just how powerful and professional a youth company can be.
Worlds End Productions Companies during their full dress rehearsals of ‘The Terrible Infants' and 'Variations': Worlds End Productions Company perform the play ‘Extremism’ at The Edinburgh Fringe FestivalOur Worlds End Productions Theatre Company performed the play ‘Extremism’ written by Anders Lustgarten and Directed by Worlds End Artistic Director, Will McGinley at The Edinburgh Fringe Festival for one week in August in the intimate black box studio theatre at PQA Venues at Riddles Court, a unique and stunning Grade II listed building along Edinburgh’s Royal Mile. Our show was programmed alongside professional shows, meaning that our young cast got the full experience of what it was like to bring a show to the largest arts festival in the world. We are delighted that we were able to offer this amazing opportunity to our Company. ‘The police just took Jamal away. Because Miss Tomlinson called them. Because she had to. Because of Prevent. But now Miss Tomlinson and the police are gone and all that’s left is a shell-shocked class. Who knew Jamal? What did he do? And what is going to happen next? A play about fear, friendship and the creeping polarisation of our society’. The show received rave reviews from a range of professional theatre critics as well as audience members: ‘A strong cast give an exciting, believable performance that grips your attention from the moment it begins’ British Theatre Guide ‘A thoughtful play which succeeds in presenting the grey area of such a deeply polarising topic…An excruciatingly nail-biting watch.’ Ed Fringe Review While we were in Edinburgh, we created a film documentary, ‘The Fringe Diaries’, which gives an insight into the processes and experience that our young cast had from the beginning to the end of the project. Please click on the link below to watch ‘The Fringe Diaries’ highlights video: Worlds End Productions Theatre Company during their full dress rehearsal of ‘Extremism’ at the intimate Black Box Studio Theatre at PQA Studios London, Kings Cross. Worlds End Productions Theatre Company during their technical rehearsal at PQA Venues, Riddles Court Auditions to cast our 2019 Theatre Company will be announced in January 2019. Worlds End Productions Company perform ‘The Blue Electric Wind’ at the Artsdepot TheatreOn Monday 30th April, our Worlds End Productions National Theatre Connections Company, transferred their production of Brad Birch’s thought provoking play, ‘The Blue Electric Wind’ to The Arts Depot Studio Theatre as part of the 2018 National Theatre Connections Festival. Directed by our Worlds End Artistic Director, Will McGinley, we were thrilled to receive outstanding feedback from National Theatre Youth Director Hannah Joss who watched our production of The Blue Electric Wind at our very first Home Performance before it was transferred to the Arts Depot Partner Theatre. In her report, she commented: ‘The performances in this production are of a particularly high standard. This is evidently a talented group of young people who have a natural affinity with Brad Birch’s particularly quick and funny dialogue. The text work in this production is of a very high standard. The performances showcased a deep understanding of the play’s natural rhythm, which is a testament to both you and the performers. The result was that every joke landed beautifully (and there’s a lot of them!). This was true throughout the whole play. This is a fun, observant and clear production of The Blue Electric Wind. As we discussed both with the group and together after the show, your production is highly effective in its ability to allow Brad’s words shine through and lead the narrative. With such a ‘wordy play’, as one of your participants put it, the choice to not crowd the text with high concept has served both the play and the performers very well. The narrative is really clear, and that is so important’. The National Theatre Connections Festival is a nationwide celebration of new plays for young people. 'The Blue Electric Wind’ is one of 10 brand new plays written especially for Connections by a selection of the best playwrighting talent in the UK: ‘When people at school start forgetting things, Scott wonders if he’s the only one that’s noticed. He and some of the school misfits seem to be the only ones who can see what’s happening. Is it the weather? Is it a virus? They must join forces to try to work out what is causing everyone in town to lose all sense of who they are. The Blue Electric Wind is about why we remember what we do. It is about bravery and growing up’. Thank you to our wonderfully talented and creative cast who immersed themselves into this original piece of theatre. You proved just how powerful and professional a youth company can be. Auditions to cast our 2019 National Theatre Connections Company will be announced soon. |