Children's Theatre Research: Unicorn Theatre

• The Unicorn Theatre in Southwark is a theatre that commits to providing young children with a theatrical experience, perhaps for the first time. Their plays are written for young people with a purpose of educating and challenging their young audience in a safe environment. They have the philosophy that 'the best of theatre for children should be judged on the same high standards of writing, directing, acting and design as the best of adult theatre.' and for our community piece we strive to do this too. Stories Left Behind requires a high level of commitment from both cast and crew and I think we are all living up to this level of commitment because we all want this to be unforgettable for the children.

The Unicorn Theatre was founded by Caryl Jenner, first as a touring company in 1947 with the common purpose of allowing children to experience theatre. The Theatre is an Arts Council England Portfolio organisation and donations are frequently given to the theatre to help run workshops and put on performances. The Theatre today is now the UK's leading professional theatre for young people and is 'dedicated to inspiring and invigorating young people of all ages, perspectives and abilities, and empowering them to explore the world-on their own terms-through theatre'.(quote taken from Unicorn Theatre website) and that goal is our goal for Ashcroft. We want to present a message to the children in a way which is accessible to them and, personally, I would love it if after the performance they said they wanted to read a book because then to me is shows that our musical was successful in it's message and was intriguing and dynamic enough for the young audience to realise the message we are conveying. 

The artistic director of the Unicorn Theatre is Purni Morell and the executive director is Anneliese Davidsen. Some up and coming performances by the theatre are as follows: The Polar Bears Go Wild, The Secreat Lives of Suitcases, The Fourth Wise Man and 50 Dangerous Things (You Should Let Your Children Do). These are either opening soon or are performing now. I noticed that all these shows and our own show have something in common; they all involve animals, inanimate objects coming to life and all contain situations and stories which the children can relate to or know already. I think this is really important when performing a piece for children because it keeps them interested and therefore they enjoy the piece more. 

This research into the Unicorn Theatre has been highly useful because it confirmed my hope that we are aiming for the right things and that our story/tale will be vibrant for them and exciting. 

The Unicorn Theatre