I was so delighted when we received funding to run our Barmulloch Summer Club for the first two weeks in July.
Participants from Barmulloch came along and tried out something new each day, we had a go at Circus Skills, Taiko Drumming, SFX Make-Up, Singing Masterclass, Band performances, Filming, Slapstick Comedy Workshops, Slime-making and much much more. Many that came along got the chance to try something they have never tried before and we discovered so many hidden talents!
Everyone enjoyed a tasty lunch each day with loads of fresh sandwiches, sausage rolls and fruit platters (we even had a fab fruit stand that was topped up each day and everyone could take as much fruit as they liked!)
Free water bottles were given out so that everyone kept hydrated and participants were even able to take them home to keep at the end. With the weather being so good, we were able to relax out the back and have lunch in the sun every day, which was so good.
Although I think everyone’s favourite was definitely both Friday’s when we got PIZZA and ICE-LOLLIES to end the day!
If you’d like information about more of Toonspeak’s projects you can call 0141 552 0234/ email/ Facebook message us
As the Germany Exchange Trip, Equal Love draws nearer, here is a blog from participant Dora who accompanied theatre artist Daniel Livingston on an advanced planning trip to Oldenberg to plan out the 10 day project where youths from 8 European countries will meet to create theatre around LGBTQI+ issues.
“We began our trip by being informed our flight was cancelled due to a huge power-cut at Hamburg Airport. But we didn’t let a little loss of electricity stand in our way.
After a very long journey to Manchester we were able to fly to Hamburg the next day, and arrive at the project base in Oldenburg in time for lunch!
We met with leaders from Spain and Poland to discuss details of the Equal Love project in July. We shared what creative theatre experience we had and talked about possible directions our group performance could go. Before catching our flight home we managed some whistle-stop tours of Oldenburg, Bremen and Hamburg.
It will be incredibly exciting to meet everyone and to work on such a diverse project in July!”
Our young people have been chosen to represent the whole of the UK! Help us to get them there.
Every year Toonspeak create a brand new piece of theatre to premier in the summer written, devised and performed by our participants working with a range of arts professionals, which they now also operate in terms of theatre production.
In preparation they attend weekly workshops from April to June, which we call bootcamp.
This year they have been working with the likes of world class theatre director Mark Murphy and highly acclaimed musical director Brian O’Sullivan writing, devising and co-creating the show.
Born out of the thoughts and feelings of participants fed to us through consultations and conversations over the last couple of years, this year we are getting everyone TELT!
TELT! is a slick, stylish large-scale contemporary theatre production in association with Mark Murphy and Tron Theatre to premier August – a physically thrilling, visually sumptuous and emotionally turbulent story that brings together ordinary people who choose to do something extraordinary.
As summer approaches, bootcamp has now wrapped and the cast is being decided. We are thrilled to announce that over 40 young people will be in the final production, our biggest cast in a number of years. A young artist team has also been assembled to operate the production in lighting, sound, stage management and costume who will be trained and mentored by industry professionals.
Toonspeak Associate Artist and TELT! Assistant Director Steven Leach had the following to say about working with the young people throughout this process,
“Bootcamp was a great success. Many participants have shown such amazing commitment to this project. I’ve been overwhelmed with everyone’s maturity and enthusiasm. They’ve come up with so many original ideas that we will carry forward into the intensive rehearsal. Can’t wait to get started. ”
Here is a snippet of our group in Barmulloch doing vocal warm ups with Brian.
For information on tickets and booking head to the Tron Theatre.
Today, is my last and final day of work experience at Toonspeak, sadly.
I would like to make a massive thank you to Paula for helping me with the technical side of Toonspeak.
I would also like to say a big thanks to Katie for helping me at workshops, going to the networking event with me and having great laughs.
I would also like to thank you Erin for showing me the great deal that goes behind ordering taxis, which is a very unique thing that Toonspeak does in comparison to other companies, for the young people to get to their workshops but it is an option as you can get a family member to drive you or a friend by car sharing as the taxis do cost a lot.
And finally I’d like to thank Alan as he was the first person I spoke to on Monday and he introduced me into the office, gave me tasks to complete.
Today at the networking event I was with Katie. The event was about different companies trying new ways to bring a community together, and improving the world in many ways such as economical by lending second hand clothes, also educational by creating comics for young people to enjoy learning more. The mug on the left was my attempt at making a cup of tea, but Katie corrected me, thank you so much!!
Thank you Toonspeak for having me, this has been a phenomenal experience!!!!!
In the Summer show ‘TELT!’ the protagonist: Hope, is being shut off from the world by the ‘Silencers’. Last night, at the Northwest workshop a group of people portraying as the ‘Silencers’ try to catch one person, portraying as Hope, this was to make the Toonies work as one, to achieve their goal, on catching Hope.
Today, Me, Paula, and Katie where in the meeting room, discussing future plans for Toonspeak, such as Events, dates and financial expenses.
In tonight’s Northeast session they shall be going over the summer show ‘TELT!’ as we did last night. Tomorrow is sadly my final day at Toonspeak where I shall be finishing my blog I will also post pictures of tonight’s workshop.
This is the third day of my work experience, it has been fantastic so far!! Everyone is so nice and helpful!
Today I finished going through the postcards, the comments and ideas people have are amazing and hilarious.We find comments extremely important for Toonspeak as this promotes us and funds us, Here is a few bits of feedback were:
“Hope is like the sun, if you only believe it when you see it, you are never going to get through the night, you give me hope Toonspeak”
“Yes been doing more stuff, I have been doing so much now, like improving my English”
“Toonspeak is fun like 100% of the time everyday”
Tonight I shall be going to the Northwest group, they will be working on the summer show that is called ‘TELT!’. Tomorrow evening I shall be going to the Northeast group which will be doing the same, I will be taking videos and photos of them, and finally on Friday I shall be finishing off my blogs, as my work experience ends: its been an amazing experience.
Yesterday was an amazing first day at work experience with Toonspeak. Last night at Toonheid Speaks, the Monday drama group with children from 8-12 years. I was asked to lead a few games. I chose Olly Olly Octopus and SPLAT! we all had amazing fun!!!
For the second half of the session the Toonies read scripts of ‘The Lion King’ and ‘Jack and the Beanstalk’. The performance was amazing, how they moved around the area and used their voices to make the drama seem ‘alive’. I captured some photos and a video to show you how amazing they were!!
Today I am back in the office. I have been reading through all the postcards the young people have commented on about Toonspeak, the comments are all so positive.
Catch me tomorrow as I talk through the rest of the week, and talk more about my experience at Toonspeak.
Hello, I’m Liam, I am from Springburn, Glasgow. I go to St. Roch’s Secondary School.
This week I am doing work experience with Toonspeak as I wish to work with them and be involved in the creative arts in the years to come. I first joined Toonspeak in February 2017, I joined as I greatly enjoyed drama in school and I wanted to know more, and hopefully perform on Stage, which I soon did in the Summer after. This has built my confidence around others and improved my socialising skills. It was an amazing experience to perform on Stage and now I want to do this as an occupation.
This week at work experience, I shall be given various tasks to do and I will be blogging daily about the week to come!! So stay tuned to join me in this amazing adventure!!
Toonspeak has teamed up with Sonnet Youth (Cat Hepburn and Kevin P. Gilday) for the 4th installment of Sonnet Youth² which provides a platform for our talented young writers, Word of Mouth to perform alongside established song and spoken word artists at our host venue Stereo Cafe Bar.
Word of Mouth is a project for young people aged between 14 – 25 who are either interested in writing or who need a creative outlet. The following performers have been working with author Cathy Forde, Sonnet Youth’s Kevin P. Gilday and Literacy Assistant Angela McCutcheon (provided by Rosemount Lifelong Learning) over the past 10 weeks.
A word from Cathy:
“It has been an extraordinary few weeks with a very hard-working and focused group who worked so well together. All of them take the process very seriously and it’s a joy to see the fruits of their creative labour so well received by an audience like last night’s. I am privileged again – as I say every time you have me in- to get to engage with these young people. Last night was a treat.”
Cathy herself shared an incredibly moving and personal piece as the penultimate act of the show. As an author, spoken word is a new artform to Cathy, but she has been so inspired by the young people that she decided to write something new to perform. It was a really touching and beautiful moment for everyone in the room, especially Word of Mouth participants.
Here are some images captured by Glasgow based photographer Kevin Main
Word of Mouth 2018 Andrew Melrose, Debs Liley, Dominika Gresle, Holly Wood, Jen Hughes, Lomond Docherty, Moki Graham, Robyn Watt, Shona Stout, Stuart Kennedy.
One of the most striking things about the night was the progression in performance that we have seen across the board, and some of the material that the young people chose to express. Some really hard hitting subject matter written and performed with real depth, maturity and conviction. So many audience members remarked that they were blown away. As was I.
A word from participant Shona Stout
“From the first time I joined at the beginning of Word of Mouth a few years ago, I could say the project gave me the only way I could ever write how I felt, share it and express it. It’s a bit therapeutic, writing away deep thoughts and getting feelings out your system. A fab place to meet wonderful and amazing people. It is an honour working with Cathy Forde, to have professional help and guidance from her on how to write anything you wish and to become an inspirational journey. Meeting other inspirational writers/ performers like Kevin, Cat and others gives you the courage to write/ perform and have faith in yourself with your piece.”
This month our special guests curated by Sonnet Youth were Belle Jones, Victoria McNulty and Shambles Miller – three incrdideble acts yet again with three distinct voices. Some of our young people can’t get into venues to experience different voices, but at Sonnet Youth² we bridge this gap.
It is a truly beneficial project that we as Team Toonspeak could not be prouder of, or any more proud of the young people involved.
We would like to be able to run this all year round, and are applying for the funding to do so. If you would like to support get in touch info@toonspeak.co.uk
And we also love hearing your comments, so go on, stick one in the comment box below.
Our recent Shine course working with LGBT young people, using drama as a tool to build confidence, express yourself and connect with one another has produced this beautiful piece of work, which was a real highlight at Toonspeak’s Christmas Show last December.
Over 10 weeks Aaron, Layla, Rachel, Ryan, Dora, Theo and John would work with theatre artist Daniel Livingston and life coach Scott Hay. Daniel designed the workshops to use shadow puppets as form of expression. The artistry was stunning and their performance was amazing.
Here’s what Scott had to say about the project:
“In terms of the group, my experience of all the SHINEs I’ve done is that the groups form some great friendships and bond really well, however, with the LGBT groups there seems to be an even stronger bond. I think they see it as an opportunity to share common experiences and challenges in their lives and the support they give each other brings them closer together. We simply facilitated those conversations. In terms of the shadow puppet show it was wonderful to be around their creativity. They took the lead in coming up with the story and drawing out the story board. They made the puppets themselves and grasped the technical side of performing incredibly quickly. All whilst sharing and supporting each other as they shared their own life challenges. They were a lovely group and I hope they go on to share their amazing personalities and creativity on future Toonspeak projects.”
The work will be shown at an exhibition in Stirling this October, which Daniel is curating. Great to hear that more people will be able to see it.
Have you been inspired by what you’ve seen?
If you or a young person you know would like to join one of our Shine groups call/ text 07796 718 132 or email paula@toonspeak.co.uk to find out more.
Last night, September 13th 2017, we had the great pleasure of meeting Adam, both onstage and off.
This young man has fled persecution to finally ‘become’ the person he has always been. It deals with the issue of trans rights internationally by enabling Adam to tell audiences his story first hand, growing up as a boy trapped in a girls body in Egypt and incorporating voices from across the world telling their story through a global choir.
Conceived for the stage and directed by Cora Bissett who met Adam during a separate project 5 years ago at the Citizens Theatre. She was blown away by the strength of this young man then only 19 years old and asked Adam if he would be up for letting her tell his story through theatre. After seeing numerous actors for the role, Adam asked to audition himself and was perfect for the role. Playing opposite was Neshla Caplan who brings out lots of the emotion within the piece, but also humility and humour.They work so well together, it’s beautiful to see.
It is a really emotional piece. I can’t remember ever seeing a show where I could hear so many people physically moved to tears when the curtain drew. It was as uplifting as it was moving though, full of light and shade. It does make you feel uncomfortable at times because it warrants that feeling, to get to grips with what Adam has been through.
The young people we took were phenomenal, it brought out a lot of emotion in them and also led to some really in depth conversation about the show, but not only the story, the set and direction too. They were all incredibly humbled at the opportunity to speak with Adam especially, but also Cora and Neshla.
To make this happen, Toonspeak were approached by National Theatre of Scotland (NTS) with an amazing offer to see ‘Adam’ at the Citizens Theatre accompanied by a pre-show workshop, pizza before the show, performance and meet/ greet with the cast, all travel covered.
Absolutely incredible, making theatre super accessible and also giving the young people the chance to speak with industry professionals and learn more about what they have seen. Enabling their voices to be able to ask industry professionals about the work they have experienced is something Toonspeak hold as very valuable, so we are thankful to NTS for this opportunity, especially Beth Morton who facilitated the whole thing.
Toon In Speak Out is our annual youth consultation day where we invite current participants to talk about Toonspeak, their dreams and aspirations.
This year we were in our new home, Barmulloch Residents Centre with 60 young people varying from 8 up to 25 years old. Some Toonies who have been with us since they were 10 or 11 years old and some who are really new.
It felt great to be doing this in Barmulloch as this is where Toonspeak started 30 years ago, we really are going back to our roots but also striving forward in everything we do.
We have so many amazing characters, and some absolutely inspiring young people so we can’t wait to check out the feedback and start to write it into the coming years strategy. We are extremely proud to call ourselves YOUTH LED. Your voice really does matter and we love hearing it.
Toon In Speak Out is led by young people. Massive thank you to Jasmine Main, Erin Boyle, Connor Gibson, David McMahon, Courtney McLauchlan, Chloe Davidson and Rebekah Watters our who ran the sessions and gathered all the feedback. You all did a fantastic job as usual, we are lucky to have every one of you as part of this company.
For the wee ones we hosted a different style of consultation centred around play by our amazing freelancers Sarah Bradley and Janine Fearne. They had heaps of fun and some of the ideas that were coming out were so bonkers that they were genius. One of which was to do a story about Glasgow on a Tour Bus!
After the feedback sessions we screened the trailers for some of the shows we have done this year including successful school tour ‘SKINT’, Spring show singing and dancing extravaganza ‘YOUR TURN’ and also sell out musical theatre show ‘Ma Bit’. All the cast were singing and doing the dance moves to this, Dominika’s wee brother who wasn’t in the show even sang all the words because he’s seen it on Youtube so many times. It’s great for young people across the projects to see what everyone has achieved.
Following this we awarded over 40 young people with Arts Awards, ranging from Discover to Bronze, a big achievement for everyone involved and celebrated with dancing and of course pizza!
A stand out moment of the day was when wee Louise Stewart got up and read out an Oscar worthy speech about what Toonspeak means to her, unprompted by anyone else, she had taken time out on the day to write it herself and surprised us all. Louise has been with us for a few years now and it’s so lovely to hear how much coming here has helped her.
Here is a sneak peak of what went on, thanks to Kevin Main for the images, downloading your pictures always feels like opening a present. They are always so good and capture the events so well. Especially the portrait of Louise, excellent work!
If you’d like to get in touch, you can call us on 07796718732 or email info@toonspeak.co.uk
Last year at our annual Toon In Speak Out event, where we gather feedback from our participants, a group of over 40 young people were assembled and asked what they would like achieve with us in 2017.
They came back with a musical in a theatre with posters around the city advertising their show
And guess what! We did it!
The whole process started with writing workshops as part of our Masterclass series last year. A group of young people from across Glasgow worked on songs and script with writer David Cosgrove and musical director John Kielty. Libby McArthur, who also ran Masterclasses with the young people was asked to direct our show.
A year later our funding came through and the wheels set in motion. We held 7 weeks of bootcamp with 40 young people attending weekly to get tasters in song making, dance and devising to see how they could work together under the guidance of Steven Leach with the likes of Libby, David and John working with them as well as choreographer Courtney Bailey Allen and musician Brian O’ Sullivan.
This was a great experience, and gave everyone the opportunity to see what it takes to make a musical.
The final script was also developed with a group made of cast and the Young Artist Team over this period. All written by young people guided by David.
The final cast assembled on July 10th and worked intensively over the following 3 weeks learning the script, choreography and developing the songs with our fantastic creative team.
Another massive feat achieved was that the whole show was run by young people mentored by industry professionals. Everything from lights and sound, to props, costume and calling the entire show. You can read more about this here, and take a look at some of them in action below.
It was definitely a massive challenge, and everyone had their melts at times, understandably. But each crisis of confidence was met with utmost support, and the whole environment was that of hard work and respect.
We are immensely proud of each and every young person who made up this company. The Tron staff mentioned how great everyone was, how polite and well mannered. And we were a sell out! So they were super happy too.
The final performances blew all of us away. To learn this much in such a short period, to look so comfortable on stage, to pull off the choreography and sound so beautiful. The whole creative team had tears in their eyes. Take a look at these fab production shots by the ever talented photographer Kevin Main.
And the the speeches, poems, personal thank yous that came at the end of the night were something we will never forget.
If you missed the show the film will be released in the next few weeks.
And look out for an even bigger show in 2018 for the Year of Young People!
And so to our list of thank yous
Production Team:
Libby McArthur (Director), Jools Walls (Producer and Production Manager), John Kielty (Musical Director), David Cosgrove (Dramaturg), Steven Leach (Assistant Director), Laura Hawkins (LX Designer), Merlin Currie (Costume Designer), Fionn Corbett (Design Assistant), James Browning (Stage Manager), Marie Hnatova (Marketing Officer), Hannah Innes (Press Officer).
Special thanks to:
Tron Theatre, Merchant City Festival, Creative Scotland, Glasgow Community Planning Partnership, Foyle Foundation, Brian O’ Sullivan, Courtney Bailey Allen, Brian Hartley, Mark Ritchie, MacRobert Arts Centre, Cumbernauld Theatre, St. Paul’s Parish Church, Maryhill Community Central Halls, Citizens Theatre, Glasgow CAN, Barmulloch Community Development Centre.
What does it take to put on a successful musical like ‘Ma Bit’?
For our first performance EVER in the Tron Theatre
We put together a “crack team” of Young Artists to work everything from the sound to calling the show to playing the score live on stage!
They had one on one mentoring with industry professionals in the run up to the show.
It was absolutely amazing to see how well they took to the roles, how professional they were and they did a phenomenal job on the night.
The ever awesome Jools Walls led the team and supported them across all roles, carefully putting the team together to ensure everyone would have the opportunity to learn and grow.
Erin Boyle was mentored by John Kielty as Deputy Musical Director, and played live on stage for the final performances which was an epic achievement. Especially since no scores were used, everything was learned by ear and observation. Very emotional seeing this on the night.
Chloe Davidson excelled in her role as Assistant Production Manager as Jools’ right hand wummin keeping everything going, and really came into her own over this period.
Shelby Johnston had the task of D.S.M with the responsibility of calling the show on the night, another epic achievement! Especially with the pressure of a sold out show at the Tron, and she did brilliantly.
Rebekah Watters and David Lee Yuill could mostly be seen with Merlin Currie and Fionn Corbett, our amazing costume team. Merlin could not speak any higher of these two, they were always on hand worked great with the young people. They also had great fun with Jimbo (James Browning) getting the props together and learning what it takes to physically put a show together.
Claire Farrell and Ross Hunter were working with Laura Hawkins in lighting and had training at MacRobert Arts Centre with Mark Ritchie. They actually got to rig a show in their training! Poor Claire managed to get over her fear of heights for this. Laura expressed that this has been one of her favourite experiences this year. Fantastic to have these two on board. Professional right of the bat and did us all proud on the night.
Andrew Melrose came in having studied sound, so he was in a great position for the show. Jools trained him up on new software and in no time at all he was showing her shortcuts! Great to be able to provide practical experience in a theatre for this young person who has been with Toonspeak since he was wee.
As you can tell everyone mentoring them was super impressed.
Big thanks also to our Director Libby McArthur, writer David Cosgrove, Assistant Director Steven Leach and choreographer Rachel Smith for their passion, determination and care in working with our young people to make this happen!
The impossible was achieved, in 3 short weeks we produced a funny, moving, heart warming musical written, performed and produced by young people from Glasgow!
Here are a few pics of our Young Artist Team in action!
Full list of Young Artist Team and Roles:
Andrew Melrose – Sound Operator
Chloe Davidson – Assistant Production Manager
Claire Farrell – LX Operator
David Lee Yuill – A.S.M
Erin Boyle – Deputy Musical Director
Rebekah Watters – A.S.M
Ross Hunter – LX Operator
Shelby Johnston – D.S.M
Everyone at Toonspeak would like to say a massive to all the young people involved, we are very proud!
A couple of months ago we worked with Glasgow based artist Brian Hartley to do the promotion shots for our upcoming show ‘Ma Bit’ coming to the Tron Theatre this July, part of the Merchant City Festival!
We put it out to the young people to see who’d like to come along for a fun photo shoot to create some images. And what a great wee bunch we had with Jordi Pla, Moki Graham, Reegan Graham and Sara Domi. The show itself is based in a theatre, we ended up in the Citizens Theatre using corridors and studios and the props room!
They all did such a fantastic job, worked really hard and totally got into it. The images look great!
And we are thrilled to announce that for the first time ever you’ll see Toonspeak with large scale posters advertising our show alongside professional theatres and other arts events.
Here is the final poster and flyer so keep your eyes peeled for these around Glasgow!
Brian also took the time to take these gorgeous portraits of the young people.
Thanks so much to Brian, to the Citz Theatre and most importantly to the young people.
If you’d like to know more about the show and how to get tickets click here!
A wee word from the Director of our upcoming show ‘Ma Bit’
Libby McArthur
So we’ve now cast MA BIT Toonspeak’s new Musical Theatre piece set to show at the Tron at the end of July.
We start rehearsals on Monday the 10th! I for one cannot wait. There’s so much passion and enthusiasm among this lot, so many fab characters off and on, it’ll be a pleasure to direct this work.
Toonspeak stalwart Stevie Leach, my fellow thesp. writer David Cosgrove and M.D. John Kielty have been working through the summer with the young people but now it’s my turn to get in there!
Not only have they devised a really funny, sweet show, also at it’s heart it asks where this young talent and their audience will find each other in the future. What will be the nature of it’s ‘outlet’s’. Of course, they’re young, so ‘Ma Bit’ is a Love Story but it is also the Love of a community and of a passion for stories!
Want to hear more about the show and how to get tickets?Click here!
Ma Bit is a brand new musical theatre show from Toonspeak.
Witness the dynamism and passion of 40 Glasgow young people who have co-created this ambitious, modern musical theatre show for their first ever performance in the Tron Theatre. Directed by Libby McArthur, written by the young people with David Cosgrove, and John Kielty as Musical Director.
So what’s the story about?
Young and fired up, Caron suddenly finds herself with the challenge of her life and virtually no time to save the heart and soul of her community – its theatre.
A bittersweet legacy, a dastardly family, and a company of downtrodden workers… this theatre is facing the wrecking ball if the heirs get their way. Powerless against them, Caron finds support from unlikely places, and one of the family gets to prove he’s not as rotten as the rest…….
Where and when can we see it?
‘Ma Bit’ will play the main stage of the Tron Theatre on Saturday July 29th at 2pm and 7pm.
How do we get tickets for this amazing show?
You can get tickets direct from the Tron box office, just click here!
Toonspeak Partnership Development Day was a fantastic success!
We had an amazing array of people join us everywhere from social workers to freelance artists, young people to CEOs and Artistic Directors, from board members to arts professionals and more.
The whole day was centred on reflection and development, for us to show who we are now, where we are going in the future and to faciliate an event where brand new partnerships could begin.
With support from Creative Scotland, we spent the afternoon using the toolkit designed by ArtWorks Scotland: “Is This The Best It Can Be?” having shared an overview of our current and recent work in the morning. We invited past, present and potential partners to provide their ideas and insight.
I say it was a fantastic success not based on any particular outcomes, though these are important, it was a success because of the energy in the room. To quote old Frank Sinatra (as cheesy as that is), we did it our way. We had a hang drum player to set the tone, we had young people performing, talks from various members of the team and people we work with, a couple of fun games, a gorgeous lunch, loads of laughter and even a few tears.
It was lovely to see everyone working together throughout the whole day and all the new connections being made.
Take a look for yourself.
It truly was a day of connection, collaboration and inspiration across the board.
So what’s next? If anyone is interested in partnering with Toonspeak or learning more about the toolkit please get in touch via the contact methods below.
We would like to say a massive thanks to everyone who came along, to Kevin Main for the photos, to the Tron Theatre for being such a fab venue and for being so helpful, to Alan our General Manager for all the hard work he put into planning this event, to GEMAP for the collaboration with this event.
To all our speakers and performers Rachel Aisling Smith, Jasmine Main, Libby McArthur, Brian Togher (GEMAP), Stuart Kennedy, Stephanie Love and hang drum player Dave.
And of course to our funders Creative Scotland.
If you would like to get in touch you can use any of the following
We did it! A fun, funny, engaging show about financial capabilities written by this talented bunch plus a few others that toured around 8 schools over the course of a week this March.
I don’t think anyone realised what they were in for when this lot got their heads together though. From talking potato smileys, throwing coloured tennis balls at the audience, Callum’s rap and even a guest appearance from Andy Murray! And with some great advice about managing your money. It was absolutely brilliant, perfectly written for student audiences and brought up some really challenging issues.
Go on, give the trailer a wee watch, and if you’re more intrigued the full show is below.
So what’s all this actually about?
Toonspeak teamed up with GEMAP to support the creation of a new piece of educational theatre on the subject of money and financial capability.
Why GEMAP? They are an amazing social enterprise working from Easterhouse offering financial inclusion and money advice services with a fantastic team who go out to schools and teach young people about finance.
Earlier this year the cast was assembled to work with Steven Leach to devise the show. The first port of call was to take part in a weekend of workshops led by GEMAP to frame their own understanding.
After this they were all off to Cove Park along with our very own Rachel as Assistant Director, visited by Production Manager Jools Walls and Sound Designer Guy Veale. This was an intense week of working together, cooking together and getting to know one another. They had an absolute blast and worked super hard.
Post show workshops were facilitated by Emma Ritchie from GEMAP and Libby McArthur for students to discuss the issues raised, the show being a fantastic vehicle to raise awareness of key issues that face young people regarding money having been devised by young people themselves.
Toonspeak would like to say a massive thanks to the team at GEMAP for collaborating with us and for all their hard work Brian Togher, Scott Leonard, Justina Čepauskytė and Emma Ritchie (mentioned above).
One of the most amazing things about this project was that we were able to pay the young people involved a fee, an aspiration of Toonspeak’s and very well deserved. A massive thank you to our funders who made the show possible.
