GADS Youth Workshop 2019 - GADS Gosforth

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GADS Youth Workshop 2019

Workshops

Dungeons and Puffins
by David Rounce

GADS are pleased to acknowledge a
grant to support this workshop from
The Hadfield Trust

Workshop week
5 to 10 August 2019
Gosforth Public Hall

The workshop began on Mon 5th Aug and ran from 10 am to 4 pm daily. It was open to anyone aged 8 - 18 at the start of the week but was so popular that we were fully subscribed well before that. There was a show at the end of the week at 6pm on Sat 10 August. This was mainly for friends and family, but was also open to the public.

Monday 5 August 2019
What a start to the week. From the photos you would think it was all games and to be fair a lot of it was. We got to know each other, we played games, we read from the script, we played games, we had toast, then we did it all again until it was time for lunch. After lunch, the parts we allocated, and the managers and their teams were chosen for backstage, props, costume and that techie stuff. We started picking costumes, we started finding props and we started finding scenery. We even started learning a few lines. Given the time constraints, we have to use as much as we can from what we've already got - so we may have a little competition for the audience on Saturday evening called: "Which pantomime did that scenery cloth come from?". They are a pretty creative bunch and we were spoiled for choice allocating the characters. So much talent that it was very difficult to dish out the parts, but hopefully everyone's happy and will find enough to do helping out with other things when they are not learning lines and rehearsing. And just look at that black clear stage - a bit of work to do there too. More tomorrow.

Tuesday 6 August 2019
Only a few games but lots of hard work today. Learning lines, rehearsing a few scenes on stage, hanging scenery, finding stage furniture, finding more props, finding more costume, trying on more costume (some because it will be used and some because it was just fun), painting signs, making more posters, tidying up lots of mess .... Is there anything we didn't do today? All of which makes for some much more interesting photos with hardly any games in them. Some look happy, some look tired already, some are concentrating and looking really serious and lots of shoe laces need tying up. And we had toast as well, of course - even more than yesterday. But I guess we deserved it after all that work - it was a really productive day.

Wednesday 7 August 2019
What can we say about Wednesday? Lots of rehearsing on stage, more rehearsing on stage and a bit more rehearsing on stage. These youngsters are really impressive with their ability to learn lines - many of them have learned most of them already. There were a few games (but not many). There was some practice at voice projection. And the various technical managers made lists of the props, set/scenery, costume, sound effects and lighting effects that we still need. A bit more rehearsing on stage. The remainder of the stage props and furniture got painted and we even had time for lunch at some point. And we did a bit more rehearsing on stage - you probably get the drift.......

Thursday 8 August 2019
How can it be Thursday already? Although Monday feels like a month ago. We have finished painting, glueing and glittering - or so I'm told for the third time today. We think all the costume, props and stage stuff are ready now too. We have tried the sound for the first time and that is just about ready - only a couple of things to add. Now that we have the hall to ourselves we have also been able to set up the lighting desk and start playing with it. Our two young technicians have had great fun discovering lighting effects and driving the rest of us mad with some of the sound effects. We also had very special visitor today. GADS member David Rounce has moved away from the area but has still managed to write this masterpiece for us. He called in to pay a visit on his way from Scotland to Yorkshire and spent the whole day with us. Unfortunately he can't be here on Saturday to see the world premier of his play. Anyway, a massive thanks from all the cast. Tomorrow is the final day and time for the dress rehearsals. Ah - we also need to devise a lighting plot and programme the desk. It's a good job there are two of them to do it. And I guess a programme for the show might be useful too. We also did rather a lot more reheasing today. And had a fire drill. And played a few games. And ate toast .......

Friday 9 August 2019
Things are really coming together now on the last day - making it a week to be proud of. Final adjustments to the sound have been made. The 2 lighting technicians have done a grand job designing lighting effects and helping to programme the lighting desk. We've tried on costumes and make-up for a dress rehearsal in two parts (Act 1 and Act 2, believe it or not). We've almost learned to return our props to the tables so we can find them next time and we've learned how to come on stage without moving all the scenery. We've almost learned all of our lines and some of us have even learned to speak up and face the audience when saying them (that's just so they can hear). We have also swept the floor and put out all the chairs in nice tidy rows for the show on Saturday. Not too many photos today - don't want to give away too much - but lots of nice smiles.

Saturday 10 August 2019
And finally - what an absolutely stunning performance. Well done everyone.
Quite a few photos from the performance itself, thanks to Tosh from the back of the hall. There are even more and higher resolution originals of these here on Flikr.


 

Feedback from some of the parents and participants

 
 

I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for arranging and the Hadfield Trust for supporting the GADs summer workshop. This is the second time my son has participated and once again he had a fantastic time. It's remarkable how such a mix of youngsters many of whom only meet for the first time on the Monday can do and learn so much to put on a fantastic and entertaining production. Incredible team work and full credit to all who give their time and effort. (Parent)

I loved everything about the week. Loved having a part in the costume choices, props and set as well as acting. Nice to have chance to do all the games at the start to help you get to know all the other people that are there as well. It was a fun play to do! Doing it in just a week makes it feel like a real achievement. (Participant)

A well organised week with great opportunities for team work, confidence building and being with friends. Living in a rural location it is doubly valuable for our young people to have opportunities such as these to meet with others, learn skills and have fun together. (Parent)

Our daughter has really enjoyed the week wishing it wasn’t over!  Fantastic performance on Saturday night amazing what the kids achieve in a week looking forward to next year. (Parent)

It was brilliant and I’d like to do it again next year – I enjoyed being on stage in-front of all the adults.  (Participant)

I enjoyed the whole week, especially practicing the lines together and the games. (Participant)

A big ‘thank you’ to all at GADS for providing this great opportunity for our girls. All the pre-workshop information, the week itself and ultimately the final performance on the Saturday went brilliantly. It’s a very well organised and delivered youth workshop – a real credit to everyone involved. And on our doorstep too here in Gosforth, even better! (Parents)

It was amazing and I would definitely do it again. (Participant)

I loved it, made lots of new friends and had lots of fun playing games. (Participant)

A fantastic week ended with a brilliant show that I cannot believe you put together in a week!  It’s great to see our daughter making new friends and growing in confidence each time she gets on stage. You all do an amazing job, thank you for putting on a great week. (Parent)

My daughter LOVED the workshop. She has already said she wants to do it next year. She was a bit heartbroken that it was over this year! (Parent)

The workshop was a great learning experience as well as giving them somewhere to have fun and meet other children from the area. It gave them confidence and learnt new skills and the end result was fantastic. (Parent)

I thought the whole week was excellent, the children loved it and the performance at the end was wonderful to see. It was great having copies of the script home to read and rehearse. I really appreciated the daily updates and photos on the website too. I was also very grateful for the DVD of the performance. The only thing I felt might have helped us this year being new to the group was a list of the leaders/adults involved at the beginning of the week, just to introduce them to us. Overall our family is incredibly impressed by GADS and would love to do it all again next time. (Parent)

It was really good, I really enjoyed it. I loved picking out the costumes and going backstage and performing. I thought the script was really good and especially liked the funny parts. The snacks were great. I couldn't think of anything I'd change about it. (Participant)

GADS summer school was an amazing week and I would definitely go back next time. I made some new friends and I liked being involved in the costume room. I loved being the prop manager. The snack table was great and I loved being onstage. (Participant)

 
 

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