'Staging Stories' - the show that we are going to perform on 29th and 30th of April this year - is as ambitious a project as it is possible to imagine!
At the end of last year we contacted various primary schools and young people from the Inverclyde area and asked them to write us stories. We offered them titles as inspiration, but it was also totally open for them to write whatever they wanted. The idea was that we would pick our favourite stories from the various schools and see if we could work on them in drama class and turn them into plays to be performed on the Beacon main stage.
We ended up receiving way over 100 stories. Our tutors sifted through them and brought some of their favourites into class. The various classes then took these stories and started to improvise ideas as to how they could be produced for the stage. There were some really exciting ideas and certain classes were drawn to certain stories, soon they various stories were whittled down to 8.
Over the christmas holidays our tutors took the stories we had decided on and, taking inspiration from the work in class, started to write individual plays and musicals.
By the time we came back in January we had 8 brand new plays for all our different classes to perform. They range greatly in subject matter and style. From the story-book 'The Princess and the Peacock' to the dark drama 'The Bully With The Knife' via the outrageous musical 'To The Moon and Back'.
Normally our main stage shows rely on a group of our older, more experienced students taking the lead roles and everybody else slotting in as a chorus member. But this year we have been more ambitious and every year group has their own story to tell, almost everybody has to say something and we have various stories where the oldest member is 9 year old! So it has been a challenge and a joy to give these very young people such great responsibility.
As we write this we are about to enter tech week, getting all the props, the sound and lighting together. It has been a massive undertaking but we are sure it will all be worth it in the end!
