A group of Year 4 children recently participated in an exciting opportunity to join the cast of this year’s Wimborne Community Theatre’s summer production entitled ‘Secrets of the Stour’. The opportunity arose as a result of the school’s long standing partnership with Tony Horitz (State of Play Arts), who works with the school to deliver our theatre in education Learning Adventure each academic year. Having worked with the children on numerous occasions, and as co-founder of Wimborne Community Theatre, Tony was so impressed with Rushcombe children’s theatrical skills, that he invited them to participate in this year’s production, which was quite an accolade.
Secrets of the Stour was a site specific performance, which was set beside a stretch of the River Stour just outside Wimborne. Including audience participation and moving between a range of locations beside the Stour, the production reflected on themes relating to sense of place, personal and mythical stories and memories, and the importance of the river ecology in our lives. Children performed across 4 evenings, and during each performance, the children sang their special ‘Seed Song’, which encapsulated the commitment for caring for the natural world and the hope that each seed can bring. They also shared their ‘fish dance’ in another part of the performance. The children sang beautifully, danced wonderfully and received considerable praise from the Wimborne Community Theatre team and members of the public – we were very proud of them indeed. The event represented a super opportunity for the children to extend their cultural participation and to further develop their skills in the expressive arts through community theatre. We would like to thank all Year 4 families who supported their child to participate in the event, and to also congratulate the children on their super performances!
