One of the groups supported by our Crisis Fund is Angel Shed Theatre, an inclusive theatre company that has been doing workshops and productions with children and young people in Islington for over fifteen years. Like many groups, they have had to adapt to the pandemic, moving all their activities online.
“Angel Shed has been continuing to provide inclusive performing arts workshops for its members via YouTube sessions. We have devised and tailored sessions each week for all four of our core groups, comprising our 100 members. These videos focus on active physical and vocal participation, as well as offering weekly creative tasks to inspire imagination and collaboration over distance” explains Natalie Richter, an Artistic Lead. “Our membership sessions and public playlist videos now total seven hours and have so far had over 1,000 views”.
The Angel Shed team have also been creating videos featuring games, activities and performances from the Angel Shed community. These have all been made accessible to the public through their ‘Mixtape’ and ‘Join In’ YouTube playlists so that as many families can access them as possible.
In May Half-term, Angel shed consulted with its members and is now running all Youth Theatre sessions on Zoom while continuing Children’s Theatre sessions on YouTube. These Zoom Youth Theatre sessions bring everyone together in the same space, and give the older members a sense of routine in what is a time of considerable upheaval for so many of them.
“Our volunteer practitioners have continued to be involved throughout the term, contributing to videos and now providing support in Zoom sessions. Their enthusiasm and range of skills continues to be a crucial element of Angel Shed’s work.” Natalie concludes.
