Tring Park School Students Host Workshops in Caribbean
A group of 24 senior students from Tring Park School for the Performing Arts, which boasts alumni such as Joe Griffiths Brown, Drew McConie, Ella Henderson, Jordan Shaw, Bart Edwards and Hollywood stars Lily James and Daisy Ridley, travelled to St Kitts and Nevis in the Caribbean during half term to perform two plays and hold a series of workshops in schools and other locations around the islands.
This is the first trip of its kind and was organised at the request of the High Commissioner to St Kitts and Nevis in London who, having seen a group of students from the school perform his poetry so successfully at the University of Hertfordshire, suggested they visit the islands to promote the performing arts and work with children in primary and secondary schools.
Lionel Wallace, the former Higher Sheriff of Hertfordshire and Edward Applewhite the school’s Head of Drama and Director of the Acting Course worked with the Ministry of Education in St Kitts and Nevis to create a full programme across the week covering various aspects of drama, including improvisation, stage presence, and script interpretation.
Through interactive sessions, participants gained hands-on experience and valuable insights into the world of performing arts. The students, all on the Acting Course at Tring Park School, worked with 16 schools who were able to watch performances including the highly successful Theatre in Education play ‘Jack and the Catalysts’ which was also performed around local primary schools in Hertfordshire before Christmas.
Dance was also a focus of the visit, with seven local dance academies attending workshops led by Olivia Pickford, former Principal of the Royal Ballet and current member of the dance department at Tring Park School. The team were joined by triple threat performer and teacher, Chloe Lindsay, current member of the acting department.
Edward Applewhite said, ‘The school was excited to be involved in such an innovative initiative. There has been a long tradition of music and dance on St Kitts and Nevis and the teachers were looking forward to further developing the drama and acting offering in their schools. We are delighted to be a part of that as we know firsthand the transformative power of the performing arts for young people.
‘We hope this will involve a reciprocal arrangement whereby some young people from the islands can come and join us on a similar venture at Tring Park and experience its unique vocational and academic education. In the meantime, we’re looking forward to maintaining the new friendships made and nurturing a new cultural partnership between our two countries.’
The Acting Course students that were on the visit will be performing ‘The Roses of Eyam’ by Don Taylor, at Tring Park School’s Markova Theatre on Friday 7 March. For more information or to book tickets please visit: www.tringpark.com/event/roses-of-eyam
