This week, our team of trustees would like to send a message of thanks to the Young Actors Company and its creative team.
Back in February, the WCTT trustees were absolutely delighted to attend Act Two’s Twist! at New Wimbledon Theatre. We joined friends, family and the wider community to celebrate an evening of live music, performance and sheer, joyous fun. As well as raising substantial funds to help us provide vital community projects, and free places for young people at our youth theatre, the evening reminded us why theatre plays such an important role in the local community. The evening really brought us closer together.
We had another fantastic experience in early March at the debut of Act Three’s contemporary version of The Picture of Dorian Gray, an ensemble riot of costume, physical comedy and social commentary. The closing night, on Saturday 14 March, was an emotional evening: the cast said fond farewells after a rollercoaster term. Lockdown was looming.
We loved the show and hugely appreciated the chance to enjoy live theatre one more time before we were all confined to our homes, but we were also devastated that Act One’s performance of The Empress, scheduled for March 20 & 21, would not go ahead. We know that cancelling Act One’s show was an incredibly difficult and heartbreaking decision for Andy, Nataliya and our youngest members to make.
Now we’re into the sixth week of the UK’s lockdown. We’ve all faced life-changing challenges and, in some instances, great sadness over the past couple of months, and our actors and creative team have always been in our thoughts. We are delighted that WCTT’s Young Actors Company is up and running again for the summer term: some much-needed good news for us all. The actors are meeting via Zoom and we’re really impressed and excited to see the original work and ideas that are already coming out of those sessions.
We’d like to take this opportunity to say a huge thank you to Andy and all our creative crew for their continued support and dedication. The online sessions give our young actors a space to connect, share some of their fears and concerns and, most importantly, to stay creative. With schools still closed for the majority of students, we believe this outlet is invaluable.
As trustees, we are busy planning the charity’s activities for the next academic year; we’ll be hosting virtual meetings in the coming weeks to recruit new trustees to our board and adjust our way of working to suit the uncertain months ahead.
We are so grateful for everyone’s support, particularly our young actors and their families, and we know that Andy and the team are determined to stage Act One’s The Empress as soon as it’s possible and safe to do so. We certainly can’t wait to see it!
