schools

Baked Alaska has been adapted for film and is available for FREE download.

After touring in 2015 we received multiple requests for a film version of the production. While not every play is suitable for filming, we thought Baked Alaska was the perfect candidate, not least because of the topic. Climate Change is an issue which isn’t going to disappear any time soon, and a film of Baked Alaska would be an excellent resource for churches, for ‘green’ groups and schools to help keep the discussion going.

As the project developed we realised the best way to create an engaging, useful resource would be to split the play up into seven short excerpts, each approaching this complex issue from a different angle, from big business to biblical parables, from international stories to home truths here in the UK.

For Schools and Small Groups

Working with Lat Blaylock from RE Today we have created accompanying resources for schools. For small groups the Rev. Jim Roberts has written the discussion materials. You can find the full series of films alongside these resources at: ridinglights.org/baked-alaska

Watch The Films

The seven episodes draw together themes from the show to highlight the breadth of the issues that arise from climate change. Risky Business, the second film in the series, retells Jesus’ parable of the rich fool for a today’s world of investments and oil companies.

You can also find and download the full set of films on our vimeo page.

Roughshod Blog: Rehearsal Room Wizardry

Emily gives us a glimpse inside the first few weeks of Roughshod rehearsal…

I’m convinced that time passes more quickly in York than anywhere else. I can’t believe we’re halfway through our fourth week; I feel like I’ve been here for five minutes – but that I’ve known everyone forever!

What wizardry is this? I’ve wanted to work for Riding Lights for as long as I can remember, so every day is still a total reality check of ‘how is this actually my life?!’ In four weeks we’ve learnt what feels like a million scripts (but have somehow barely touched upon our main show?) played a lot of drama games, pretended to be reluctant teenagers and uncooperative prisoners, and then delivered workshops to the real thing (thankfully they turned out to be a million times nicer and more insightful than our portrayals!).

Going into the prison has been a highlight for me so far – I’d never been in one before and at first the high fences and heavy doors seemed pretty intimidating. But the men inside them were, of course, just ordinary people who had had some difficulties in their lives. They were friendly, welcoming and really appreciative, participating fully and sharing honestly and openly. It felt like an honour to be trusted with some of their stories.

The thing I was most dreading was the infamous Roughshod personality exercise, through which all our flaws would be laid bare and our darkest secrets exposed (or so I thought). Thankfully it was a far more pleasant experience: we chose two personality archetypes (such as Mother, Child, Hero, Jester, Explorer, Artist, Actress etc.) which we represented though clothes and then had to guess what each other had chosen, and how accurate we thought they were. it was actually really interesting to hear how other people see you, and the success of this was entirely down to the grace, compassion and sensitivity of the other Shoddies (and Paul & Paul, I suppose!). I already feel like these people are going to be friends for life – we haven’t stopped laughing since day one, but have also forged depth and honesty in our team. I’m so excited about the next few months!