Roughshod On The Road: Scotland

A week in numbers. 7 performances in 5 prisons, 3 public performance in 3 cities. Oh and countless numbers of sandwiches!

We’ve been invited up to Scotland by Junction 42 to help them launch some of their projects north of the boarder. We’ve worked with Junction 42 regularly in Newcastle and see some of the fantastic work they do supporting offenders and ex-offenders, creating a bridge back in to the community and helping them find independence.

Working in prisons again also gave us the chance to pull out some of the material we had not performed for a few weeks. We all enjoyed being able to do the full show as well as experiencing our first prisons on tour. We spent the week laughing, singing and talking with many men from all walks of life in the prisons, helping them think about faith and forgiveness. Here we are with Dorothy and David at the end of one of the workshops in a prison chapel.

At the close of each set we always perform Amazing Grace by John Newton encouraging the men to join in if they know it. To our joy one or two men would always join in the singing in each show. The opportunity to worship without pretence with them was a privilege, a really touching moment.

At the weekend we were really lucky to get some gorgeous weather in Edinburgh, and we got a bit of time relaxing in Mugdock Park outside Glasgow before our public performance there! Next week we are really excited to be travelling to the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland (Roughshod hasn’t been over there for over 10 years). Wish us luck for a smooth ferry crossing!

Beth

Surprise Ending at the Big City Read

We’re delighted to announce that Riding Lights are part of York’s Big City Read 2018, bringing a new theatrical element to this yearly celebration of reading. Commissioned by Explore York Libraries, Bridget Foreman is writing Surprise Ending, a one act play all about the joy of reading.

This is all taking place in the autumn of 2018, when we’ll be touring the performance to libraries, mobile libraries, reading cafes and some other specially selected venues in and around the city. Performances of Surprise Ending start on the 10th October.

The book chosen for this year’s Big City Read is The Radleys by Matt Haig. Matt is a former resident of York and has close ties with the city and 5000 free copies of the book will will be distributed from 21 September. The whole programme of events will take place from the 20 September to 16 November 2018.

Watch this space for updates on Riding Lights’ involvement, and you can find out more about the whole Big City Read event at exploreyork.org.uk/bigcityread

Roughshod On The Road: Manchester

This week we’ve been based in Manchester at Loreto Sixth Form College. It’s been an exciting change to spend a whole week working in the same school working alongside the staff and students of the RE department.

We performed to and worked with over 1,000 students aged 16-17 over 5 days, giving 14 performances and 4 workshops! We saw lots of wonderful debates take place between students of all faiths as we asked them to think and question their own opinions about Jesus and Christianity. Burger Van Prodigal (our modern version of the Prodigal Son) has also sparked a few debates. One student questioned whether the story suggested you shouldn’t ‘follow your dreams’. This led to a really good discussion about responsibility and what the parable might mean. A particular highlight for me was hearing many of the students talk so openly and passionately about their personal relationships with God in front of their classmates – something I would never have had the courage to do at their age!

We enjoyed a lovely sunny day off together over the weekend having a well-deserved rest. We even found an old Riding Lights book on the shelves at our hosts house and read a few classic sketches. Here’s Jared trying out his one-man Dan Rap!

Then it was on to Edinburgh for the next leg of the tour!

Esther

 

Roughshod On The Road: Maidenhead pt.2

We can never say no to food and we were each given an Easter egg from the team at Larchfield Community Centre. Thank you if you’re reading this!

Not content with spending just a week in Maidenhead, we were excited to be spending a further few days there before the Easter weekend. We had more fun working with primary and secondary school students and performing for adults and families in community centres, which provoked some wonderful reactions including people singing along with our rendition of Amazing Grace. On top of the schools and events of the previous week, we delivered a further 3 assemblies, 3 workshops and performed various extracts from our repertoire twice.

My personal highlight this week was performing The People’s Passion with our base churches in the Town Hall. The People’s Passion is an instant passion play, allowing groups to perform the story of Jesus’ death and resurrection. We used it as an act of worship as part of a Palm Sunday service. It was clear how moved people were by being able to picture the events in front of them. Everyone really enjoyed it and performing in a space that was the closest to a theatre we had experienced up to that point, was a bonus!

We have some exciting events lined up over the next couple of weeks which we are really looking forward to. But for now, the remainder of our Easter eggs and some rest calls!

Beth.

Roughshod On The Road: Maidenhead

Last Sunday we set off for our second stop of the tour – Maidenhead, where we’d be for 10 days!

Here’s a Roughshod selfie with Jeremy, Joan and Sally – the brilliant vicars from the 3 churches we were working with.

 

For the first week we were linked with 3 local churches and worked in 6 schools delivering in total 4 assemblies, 1 performance and 7 workshops. As well as the schools work, we performed/ worked with a group for adults with additional needs, a messy church event, a church breakfast event and performed our show ‘Deliver’ on the Saturday night.

It was a very busy week but filled with lots of new experiences for both the churches/schools and the roughshod team. A highlight for me (as well as being back near my home turf down south) was being able to make hundreds of children (plus their teachers) laugh and smile at the start of each day and having such a positive response from all the schools. It’s the first time that Roughshod has visited Maidenhead and it’s amazing to see the great impact that it’s made on all parts of the community!

Martha 🙂

Roughshod On The Road: Newcastle

Newcastle – our first stop as the Roughshod Deliver company. And what a week we had! By numbers: 1 church service, 1 ex-offenders meeting, 1 full show, 2 school assemblies (covering tiny tots to sixth-formers) and 9 hours of workshops, reaching over 700 people.

A highlight: We performed at a Junction 42 meeting for ex-offenders. We spent some time singing with everyone there – seriously, like nothing else! – and then we performed about 40 minutes of our sketches. During our finale of Amazing Grace the whole audience joined in – eclipsing us quite spectacularly. The sense of freedom in that room was almost tangible. One man had decided to follow Christ at last year’s Roughshod performance. It was humbling and edifying to find out what had happened in his life since then and we can’t wait to see what happens next.

It has been a great start to the tour, and hopefully the first of many action packed weeks. If you want to keep up with where we are and what we’re doing, why not give us a follow. We’re on facebook, twitter and instagram. We’ll have plenty more to shout about…

Cheers, Jared

Support needed for Acting Up!

We have recently learned that the Children In Need funding for Acting Up! has not been renewed.

Acting Up! is our Youth Theatre with extra provision for young people with additional needs and disabilities. We have an amazing group of young people and practitioners involved, and it provides a unique space for creativity in York. Therefore we are fighting to keep Acting Up! running, looking for extra funding and planning how we can keep it going. However it costs a little more to run than our other Youth Theatres, employing extra, specialist staff who make sure everyone who comes to the sessions is properly supported.

 

We’ve already raised a very generous £3000 at our Members’ Day at the start of March. This will help cover our costs and pay staff up until the Summer half term, giving us a vital buffer while we find an alternative source of funding for this unique Youth Theatre.

Can you help?

We’d like to raise more, making sure we can run Acting Up! for another year. Our target is £9000 to see us through to next February. We are pursuing various possibilities because Acting Up! is a hugely important and vulnerable part of the Riding Lights family.

Donate via Just Giving

Please help if you can. Small gifts add up surprisingly quickly and we are grateful for each one. If you would like more information, or would like to donate via another method other than Just Giving, give us a call on 01904 655317 or email info@rltc.org

Thank you!

Youth Theatre: Summer Applications Open

Applications are now open for the summer youth theatre courses. Below is a run down of what each group will be working on.

You can apply online, or by downloading an application form and sending it to Friargate Theatre. The deadline for applications id Monday 16th April.

JUNIOR YOUTH THEATRE
Pull The Strings

Sock, shadow, table top. Bring to life a wide variety of puppets with Junior Youth Theatre this term.

Have fun while you create characters, make your own puppet, and turn a mop into your Great Aunt Mildred. Discover what it takes to become an excellent puppeteer while developing your character building and storytelling skills. This term – you pull the strings!

16th April – 2nd July
(Except Bank Holidays – 7th May, half term – 28th May & 2nd July)

Cost: £80 (Bursaries are available, please ask)

 

SENIOR YOUTH THEATRE
Site Works

‘All the world’s a stage’
As You Like It. Act II Scene VII (Shakespeare)

This term will challenge you to create theatre in and for unconventional spaces. Inspired by work from site-specific theatre companies such as Coney, PunchDrunk, and Blast Theory, we will head out of the theatre to find our own stages. Throughout the sessions there will be opportunities to work with existing text, sharpen up your writing skills, and devise your own site works.

17th April – 26th June
(Except Half Term – 29th May)

Cost: £80 (Bursaries are available, please ask)

 

ACTING UP!
Weird World

What if… we are not alone? What if… you found you had a hidden power? What if the rest of the world became disabled…but you were not?

This term, building on last term’s work, we’ll be exploring some weird worlds from speculative fiction – HG Wells, John Wyndham, and many others – dramatising surprising short stories and working towards a scripted summer show to be performed on the 11th and 12th of July.

18th April – 27th June
(Except Half Term – 30th May)

Tech rehearsal: 10th July
Performance Dates: 11th – 12th July
Additional Saturday rehearsals TBC.

Cost: £70 (Bursaries are available, please ask)

Introducing Roughshod 2018

Andrew, Beth, Esther, Jared and Martha, our new Roughshod Company are in rehearsal right now, preparing to deliver a fast paced mix of theatre, comedy and insight to the world.

Specifically they’ll be delivering in the following places…

Roughshod Bases 2018

11 March – 17 March Newcastle
18 March – 28 March Maidenhead

(Easter break)

15 April – 21 April Loreto College, Manchester
22 April – 29 April Scotland
29 April – 8 May N Ireland
9 May – 19 May York
23 May – 28 May Aylesbury
29 May – 3 June week tbc

3 June – 23 June Mini Tour (Dates still available)

24 June – 30 June Reigate
1 July – 7 July Saddleworth (tbc)
8 July – 14 July Sheffield
15 July – 21 July Newcastle

29 July – 6 August Summer Theatre School

In each of these communities Roughshod will be performing their new revue show ‘Deliver’ as well as taking workshops into schools, churches, community centres, prisons and more. If you’d like a peek into the rehearsal room and to keep up with everything Roughshod are doing we’d suggest liking their Facebook page or following them on Twitter or Instagram.

Is your area missing out?

We still have spaces on the mini-tour for one night Roughshod performances. Get in touch with Bethan on 01904 655317 and you could bring Roughshod to your community.

Where Adventure Begins: Rehearsal photos

Straight back after new year and this week we’re putting the finishing touches to Where Adventure Begins, which goes on tour next week.

Here’s a few photos from the rehearsal room:

Created in partnership with New Wine the show explores the question of why it is important to communicate faith to children, both in church and at home. Real, touching and hilarious, this is an unmissable piece of theatre to deepen our understanding of ‘family’.

Watch the trailer here, or book tickets for the tour at: new-wine.org/adventurebegins