travelling light theatre company story book
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Our stories
~ 5 ~
Summarising 30 years in 30 simple
stories is a very difficult task. The
natural thing to do is base Travelling
Light’s history on its shows or other
creative projects. The challenge becomes
to identify how, and for whom, these have
influenced some of the key people associated
with the company.
Inevitably people, stories and impacts that have
had significance may not be in this book. But
that’s the beauty of it. We have a wide family,
too wide to capture on paper or film, and it is
an ever increasing one.
You can join the family too.
S
Just bring your imagination…
Our stuff lashed to
the top of the car
~ 7 ~
Jinny Paige and Kim Reuter were
friends, working as primary schools
teachers in Bristol, fed up at the lack
of quality theatre available to schools.
They went back to their creative roots and
decided to set up their own company, dedicated
to making plays for young audiences.
No-one can remember who came up with the
name Travelling Light but it stuck, even with
a sense of irony considering how much set,
costume, props and puppets were lashed to the
top of their car!
Right from the off, it was agreed children
and young people needed to be at the
heart of the work that was being made.
After becoming a registered charity, and as
the company grew in reputation, so the four
core values that Travelling Light is synonymous
with were formed:
J
1984
Our four core values…
Children and young people are at the heart of all our work1
2 We follow our passion and belief in what we do
3
4
We are bold in our decisions and not afraid to take risks
All aspects of our work are of the high-est possible quality
The Pink Panther
£350
~ 11 ~
Our first van was bought with a
grant from The Prince’s Trust.
It was a 1980 Cosworth Flyer
and cost £350. Paul ( Jinny’s
boyfriend – now husband) painted it bright
pink and ‘Travelling Light Theatre Company’
was emblazoned in huge lettering across the
side panels. It lasted for three years and was
affectionately known as The Pink Panther.
O
1984
Mrs Boglet
loads of kids
~ 13 ~
Our first show was Down at the
Dump. It was a made up tale of
Beryl who took it upon herself
to stop the local council building
a car park on a playing field. She was helped by
two mysterious creatures who lived at the nearby
dump: Mr and Mrs Boglet.
The show premiered at St Paul’s Community
Centre, then toured across Bristol to places such as
St George’s Park and Barton Hill Primary School.
With the confidence that came from the success
of that first show, Jinny and Kim were quickly
inspired to create more plays.
1984
O
1 2 3~ 15 ~
The first time we toured overseas
was in Poland with Streetwise.
Since then Travelling Light has
toured shows outside of the UK
fifteen times. The scale of international touring,
particularly in the late 1990’s/early 2000’s,
helped to build a strong reputation both abroad
and at home. Two of the company’s three
awards were won overseas (Ireland for Into
The West and Romania for Clown) while
relationships with international producers
and artists has helped keep standards and
aspirations high.
T
1984
1991
Katie
~ 17 ~
The Assistant Designer for our
production Horsebottle was Katie
Sykes, who had just moved to
Bristol. She worked with Designer
Peter Milner on the show, having seen our
production of The Stone Book the previous
year. In 1995 she was the Designer for our
production Sorted and for the vast majority
of our shows since then.
Katie has probably had the biggest influence
on Travelling Light’s aesthetic and our ability
to tour neatly into theatres, schools & non-
traditional performance spaces.
Her relationship with our work has been very
influential, but she has also created a strong
network across Bristol and far beyond as a
skilled and responsive designer.
T
1984
1991
1994
Tir Na N’Og
Into The West
~ 19 ~
Tir Na N’Og, which was later
retitled Into The West, is widely
regarded as our most influential
show. It toured eight times from
1995 – 2001, up and down the UK as well
as to Europe and throughout North
America. As it did, it inspired generations
of theatre makers.
The show heavily influenced people we work
with now: just for example, directors Sally
Cookson and Aaron Parsons both reference it
as a highly influential moment of inspiring them
to become directors, while for our General
Manager Dienka Hines it was the reason she
wanted to work in theatre.
T
1984
1991
1994 1995
~ 20 ~
Tir Na N’Og/Into the West
attracted a lot of critical
acclaim, none more so than:
1998 when it was nominated
the best show for children & young people
(Barclays/TMA Awards) and 1999 when it
won the Samuel Beckett award for best
children’s production (Dublin International
Theatre Festival).
T
1998 1999
~ 21 ~
For the show’s director Greg Banks
it opened an avenue of contacts
especially in North America. It
defined a style of creating theatre
that he was excited by and it captured the
imagination of everyone that worked on it.
It gave him a different direction to move in
and was a springboard to a brilliant career.
F
1984
1991
1994 1995
“Since I worked with
Travelling Light my career has expanded
exponentially.”
Craig
Carianne’s back
~ 23 ~
A ctor Craig Edwards was a member
of the original cast for the show.
He later toured extensively in the
show, in company with Cerianne
Roberts and Joe Hall.
The show was the beginning of an extensive
relationship with us that continues today. Since
performing Into the West, Craig has performed
in twenty Travelling Light shows and directed
three. He has also worked significantly with our
Youth Theatre. As a result of this, Craig has
built a well-respected career in theatre across
the south west.
But Tir Na N’Og/Into the West remains the
one he sets his benchmark against.
A
1984
1991
1994 1995
~ 25 ~
While we were based in a
portacabin at St George’s
School (now City Academy
Bristol) the Government
invested £50 million into Barton Hill,
Bristol’s most deprived ward. As a part of the
Community at Heart grant that came from
this large investment, we were invited to start
running a Youth Theatre in the area.
Martin Maudsley ran our first session on
Salisbury Street and such was the popularity
that we quickly added a second group.
W
1984
1991
1994 1995
2001
Liam
21TODAY
~ 27 ~
One of the first participants was
seven-year old Liam Kearns.
He stayed working with our
Youth Theatre until he was 19,
during which time he also took part in some of
our other projects including summer schools,
Truth About Youth and The Buzz (you will
read about those later).
He was a shy young lad but instantly made friends.
Taking part in a regular drama group helped him
to grow into a confident young man able to
communicate with the world around him.
As soon as she was old enough Liam’s sister Jade
joined to the same effect.
For the Kearns family and countless others have
been able to provide affordable, reliable and
positive experiences in a part of the city where
opportunities for young people to engage in
creative activities have been few and far between.
O
1984
1991
1994 1995
2001
~ 29 ~
Walking The Tightrope by
Mike Kenny performed at
Philadelphia International
Children’s Festival, and
represented the UK at the ASSITEJ 14th World
Congress in Seoul. It was the first time we
had been invited to share our work at such a
prestigious level, and it gave everyone involved
in it exposure to the best of the best around the
World at the time.
W
1984
1991
1994 1995
2001 2002
ZZZZZZ
Z
~ 31 ~
Our first show for under-fives was
Cloudland, based on the book
by John Burningham. Following
a performance at the Take Off
theatre festival at which the show was universally
praised, Cloudland embarked on what at the time
was our biggest UK tour. It was so popular that
the tour was extended twice!
The show also marked the beginning of several
professional relationships which have blossomed
in recent years, notably with director Sally
Cookson, musician Sarah Moody and performer
Lucy Tuck.
O
1984
1991
1994 1995
2001 2002 2003
SALLY
~ 31 ~
Sally Cookson’s career as a sought after
director specialising in devised theatre
has been heavily influenced by working
with us. She saw Into The West while
working for the Bristol Old Vic Young Company
and was so inspired by the show that it helped her
to define the sort of plays she wanted to make.
To date she has directed sixteen of our
productions and won two of our three
awards. She has developed relationships with
some of the UK’s finest theatre makers and
producers, and has also established firm roots
in Bristol.
S
1984
1991
1994 1995
2001 2002 2003
“Travelling Light is the reason I am a professional director.”
~ 33 ~
Our first co-production with Bristol
Old Vic was also our first wordless
show. It was Clown, inspired by the
wordless book by Quentin Blake.
Working without words was a significant milestone
for us and not only because it meant we could
reach audiences in a completely different way,
but also because it inspired a remarkable amount
of exploratory education work, mainly with the
action research organisation 5x5x5=Creativity.
This research was led by our Education team at
the time, Sandra Barefoot and Mike Akers
for whom it established an entirely new style
of practice.
O
1984
1991
1994 1995
2001 2002 2003
2004
Grrrrrr
~ 35 ~
Sandra Barefoot worked for Travelling
Light at a time when personal and
professional life coincided.
As she asked the question: ‘how do we
meet and understand the three and four year
old in theatre?’ she too was asking the same
question of her three year old son Theo when,
she realised, she didn’t really know who he was.
S
1984
1991
1994 1995
“With this, a new path opened up to me of researching the small child and to this day
I am eternally grateful for this. My journey will never leave me
in the richness of working so closely with the young
child... a true gift.”
2001 2002 2003
2004 2005
Ist
~ 37 ~
Clown won the Association of
International Theatre Critics
award for best acting at the
Bucharest International
Children’s Theatre Festival.C
1984
1991
1994 1995
2001 2002 2003
2004 2005
~ 39 ~
We worked with the Tobacco
Factory Theatres for the very
first time on a co-production
of The Ugly Duckling a
show which subsequently toured up and down
the UK, playing to thousands of audiences.
It was our first family Christmas show and the
beginning of an exciting tradition. Subsequent
co-productions have included: Ali Baba and the
Forty Thieves; Cinderella: a Fairytale; The Last
Voyage of Sinbad the Sailor and 101 Dalmatians.
W
1984
1991
1994 1995
2007
2001 2002 2003
2004 2005
~ 41 ~
Following on from Clown we made
Shadow Play which also had no
dialogue. It was the first time we had
made an entirely abstract production
with no central narrative as a basis.
It was the product from another fascinating
research and development period this time
delivered in partnership with Take Art Early
Years service, working with a number of
nurseries across Somerset. The Sticky Fingers
and Toes project encouraged innovative
storytelling techniques with very young children,
the results of which inspired Shadow Play.
F
1984
2008
1991
1994 1995
2007
2001 2002 2003
2004 2005
~ 43 ~
How Cold My Toes was our
first piece of dance theatre.
It was the first time we worked
with performer Laura Street,
and with Champloo Dance Company’s Wilkie
Branson and Joel Daniel.
Creating a narrative inspired simply by the
changing seasons, Toes captured the
imaginations of thousands of 2-6 year olds.
H
1984
20082009
1991
1994 1995
2007
2001 2002 2003
2004 2005
~ 45 ~
Wilkie Branson and Joel Daniel
choreographed How Cold
My Toes and as a result forged
a close relationship with us.
Both were Bristol based BBoys interested
in fusing their dance form with theatre or live
performance. As Champloo Dance they created
White Caps, which we helped them tour and
which subsequently opened avenues for them
with dance companies, venues and festivals
across Europe.
For Travelling Light they have been involved,
both separately and together, with Boing!,
Varmints, Cinderella: a Fairytale, Ali Baba and
Truth About Youth.
W
1984
2008
1991
1994 1995
2007
2001 2002 2003
2004 2005
2009
~ 47 ~
Wilkie and Joel co-
choreographed and
performed in Boing!
a co-production with
Bristol Old Vic where
it ran over Christmas 2010. The show was
remounted for the next three Christmases,
each time with a run at Sadler’s Wells, and
was also invited to perform at British Dance
Edition in 2012.
W
1984
2008
1991
1994 1995
2010
2007
2001 2002 2003
2004 2005
2009
~ 49 ~
We were invited to be a
delivery partner for a Truth
About Youth Performing
Arts Experience, produced
in Bristol by The Princes Trust. The Truth
About Youth is a 3-week course funded by the
Cooperative Foundation that is designed to
challenge negative perceptions of young people,
focussed at 16-25 year olds not in education,
employment or training.
We worked with ten young people from
Bristol, Bath and Swindon to produce an
original play that explored how the young
and old share characteristics.
One of the young people we worked with
was Xahnaa.
She had just finished school and didn’t know
what she wanted to do.
W
1984
2011
2008
1991
1994 1995
2010
2007
2001 2002 2003
2004 2005
2009
~ 50 ~
During the Truth About Youth project with
us, Xahnaa worked with a director, designer,
musician and choreographer over the week,
as well as making some new friends.
“It was great trying and learning new or different skills. But most of all it has been great because I’ve actually been getting out of bed
and doing something!”
But her story doesn’t stop there.
A year later, Xahnaa got back in touch with us
because she was looking at ways of raising some
money to apply to join in the National Youth
Theatre Summer School. We invited her
to volunteer with us – she helped on the set
of the short film Parallels we made with our
Youth Theatre – and in return we helped
sponsor her place.
~ 51 ~
And then again, she came back to us looking to
build some further experience – so we offered
her a paid job assisting with a short project at a
local school in Bristol.
We didn’t hear from her for a while but then
out of the blue she got in touch:
Travelling Light
Theatre Company
Barton Hill Settlement
43 Ducie Road
BristolBS5 0AX
“ I have good news! I started
applying to universities and
drama schools and a few
weeks ago I was offered
a place at the The Royal
Central School of Speech &
Drama to do the BA (Hons)
Drama, Applied Theatre and
Education course yaaay! I
wanted to thank you for
your help over the years as
it made a real difference.”
love from Xahnaa
~ 53 ~
Our co-production of Cinderella:
a Fairytale in 2011 broke box
office records at the Tobacco
Factory Theatres. In 2012 it
transferred to St James Theatre in Westminster
where it was nominated for an Olivier Award.
The following year it was remounted at the
Unicorn Theatre where it won an Offie for
best production for young people.
Cinderella: a Fairytale demonstrated a scale
of ambition and creativity that helped to
give the creative team and cast significant
opportunities elsewhere.
We also used the original production in Bristol
to give our Youth Theatre an opportunity to
create something alongside a professional show.
Our 11-13 group produced a short curtain-raiser
performance, Giant Heart, shared before two
shows in early December.
O
1984
2011
2008
1991
1994 1995
2010
2007
2001 2002 2003
2004 2005
2009
We offered Maria, a single mum
of two living in a cramped flat in
one of the tower blocks in Barton
Hill, the opportunity to volunteer
with us in the office.
Long term unemployed and with a history of
severe depression, Maria just needed a positive,
safe environment for her children and also for
her own sake.
Her daughter soon joined our Youth Theatre
and as a result Maria became even more heavily
involved in everything we did, eventually helping
us to produce the short film Parallels which
formed a part of our summer showcase at Arnolfini.
W
~ 53 ~
Later that year, Maria successfully applied for
rehousing and was able to move away from
the area. Although it meant that she could no
longer volunteer, and that Kaitlyn could no
longer come to Youth Theatre, they both left
with confidence, positivity and a bright future.
1984
2011
2008
1991
1994 1995
2010
2007
2001 2002
2012
2003 2004 2005
2009
Two of our longest-serving Youth
Theatre members Travis and Ruby
approached us with an idea. They
wanted to produce their own play,
in order to prove that young people can produce
theatre of a professional standard.
We were excited by their drive and enthusiasm
and so we invited them to pitch a production.
The result was Vita, premiered at The Station
Bristol in April 2013. It was written by Travis,
directed by Ruby and designed by Ella, all of
whom were aged 16-19. We provided support
through guidance and mentoring from professional
theatre-makers. They led a cast of 11 – 18 year olds
and entirely fulfilled their vision.
T
“What a professional
standard show! Well done!” Audience member
~ 55 ~
We were so inspired by their vision that we
followed it up with The Time Travelling
Detective in 2014 which was produced,
directed and designed by young people.
1984
2011
2008
1991
1994 1995
2013
2010
2007
2001 2002
2012
2003 2004 2005
2009Travis in the dark
Ruby
~ 57 ~
Cath Grieg, our Administrator/
General Manager from 1997 to
2014, was made a Member of
the Order of the British Empire
(MBE) for services to theatre for young people in
Bristol in the Queen’s New Year’s Honours List.
Following this in the Queen’s Birthday Honours
List, Jude Merrill, our Artistic Producer since
1987, was awarded an MBE for services to theatre
for children.
C
1984
2011
2008
1991
1994 1995
2010
2007
2001 2002 2003
2004 2005
2009
2013
2012
~ 59 ~
For Catherine, Louder Than Words has become
the only thing in her life that feels totally and utterly
and specially hers. She realised she didn’t have to
share it with her siblings or her friends, and that is
an important respite for her. As a result, it increased
her confidence around other people and helped to
unlock her creativity.
Fergus goes to a mainstream school but struggles to
fit in properly with the people around him. With
Travelling Light he doesn’t care – he comes and
expresses himself without a worry in the world.
Dhere was demand for us to run a
specialist drama group for young
people with additional needs, and
thanks to the kind people at St
James Place Foundation we were able to launch
Louder Than Words. Sessions were delivered
on a weekly basis and as a summer school by Zoe
Davies and Molly Holland, involving games and
dramatherapy techniques to support participants
become a team.
We aren’t allowed to publish people’s real names so
we have changed them here. However the stories
are true:
Thomas had never attended a group regularly
without being asked to leave or feeling as if he
wanted to be there. He was regularly beaten up
at school for wearing bright clothes – but he felt
really comfortable wearing them with us.
T
1984
2011
2008
1991
1994 1995
2010
2007
2001 2002 2003
2004 2005
2009
2013
2012
~ 61 ~
Lrancis joined our Youth Theatre as
a ten year old, brought here by his
best mate. He was a ball of energy!
He bounced off the walls! He caused
never ending disruption! School wasn’t a very
friendly place for him and he struggled to keep
any focus.
He soon found that Travelling Light was a
welcoming and safe space for him, somewhere
he could be himself and where it was easy to
make friends. His natural energy was successfully
channelled into creative activities.
As a result he started to take responsibility for
learning his lines or getting to rehearsals on time.
He did his Work Experience placement with us,
and shortly afterwards started to volunteer with
our youngest group.
F
1984
2011
2008
1991
1994 1995
2010
2007
2001 2002 2003
2004 2005
2009
2013
2012
During this time, he discovered a love and
a natural ability for working with young
children.
Once he had finished school, Francis
successfully applied to study Theatre Studies
and English at Oxford College.
~ 61 ~
3n Sunday 8 June 2014 we took over
Barton Hill Settlement in Bristol
to put on a free family theatre festival
for our community: 30Fest. It was a
major part of our 30th birthday celebrations and
featured live performances, workshops, films,
and some amazing food from our friends and
neighbours Dhek Bhal.
Throughout the day over nearly 400 people
came to 30Fest, to share in the exciting range
of arts activities we had on offer.
O
1984
2011
2008
1991
1994 1995
2010
2007
2001 2002 2003
2004 2005
2009
2013 2014
2012
With special thanks to…
~ 62 ~
All the children and young people who we
have played games with, had fun with and made
theatre with over the years.
All the wonderful people who have collaborated
with us, made shows and projects with us and
helped us to do what we love.
The people of Barton Hill for giving us a home
and a community to be part of.
The people at Home for all your design help
and support.
© 2014 Travelling Light Theatre Company
Barton Hill Settlement, 43 Ducie Road, Bristol BS5 0AX
www.travellinglighttheatre.org.uk
Here’s to the next thirty years
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