As we head into a crucial season for WCTT, here are the highlights…
Our third and final term of the year has begun – and there’s lots to look forward to. There’s also lots of financial pressure on our Youth Theatre, so while we want to celebrate the amazing work we’ll be doing, we also need our members, friends and supporters to prepare for the change that lies ahead.
Our social engagement term is now underway and there are three exciting and potentially life-changing projects taking place in our local community.
One is Living Memory, our annual collaboration with Merton’s Dementia Hub. To kick off the project, Patrick Gray from Dementia Action Alliance and Merton Dementia Hub came along to our Sunday session to give Act Two a Dementia Friends training session. The Young Actors learnt about the disease and what they can do to create an inclusive and accessible environment for people living with it.
We’ll tell you more about the brilliant, community-focused work Act One and Act Three are doing in the coming weeks.
We’re also looking forward to Young Actors Live, a special night of music on Thursday 27 June at the Old Frizzle pub in Wimbledon, just across the road from our base at New Wimbledon Theatre.
To celebrate summer – and the end of exams – we’ll be presenting a line-up of young (and hugely talented) musicians, including some of our Young Actors.
Already confirmed on the bill are singer songwriters Sheya McAllister, Ashley Dee and Gabriel Lumsden, plus the high-energy indie band, The Eclectics, who have already built up a sizeable following after a string of successful gigs around Wimbledon.
To secure your spot at the event, simply visit the Just Giving page and pop your name down on the VIP list – it’s £10 for adults and just £2.50 for under-18s.
Save the Young Actors Company
Over the past 12-months we’ve been explaining to friends, families and supporters that we are struggling to survive.
Running a youth theatre without charging the participants is hugely expensive – but we have always believed passionately in keeping the Young Actors Company truly inclusive and open to all.
In September 2018, we set an ambitious fundraising target in order to ensure our survival. Our sponsored walk, quiz night and appeal to parents have raised much-needed funds, but sadly, not nearly enough to keep going.
We are currently appealing to local businesses for help and have everything crossed that we can win Tesco’s Bags of Help – but we need to make the Young Actors Company sustainable in the long term if we are to carry on.
We’ll be writing to parents soon to explain if and how we might continue in September, but please, please keep supporting us in the meantime by popping those blue tokens in the WCTT slot in Tesco and booking your tickets to Young Actors Live.