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ST EDWARD’S CHRONICLE
ArtsLab at The NorthWall
By Amy Walters, Theatre Manager
Alongside St Edward’s curricular and co-
curricular drama and dance, The North
Wall runs a public arts programme for the
local community in Oxford and beyond. The
programme offers a wide range of events
- from plays that deal with urgent political
issues, to dance-theatre adaptations of classic
texts and more light-hearted comedy events.
Pupils are encouraged to engage with the
programme outside of the academic side of
school life: this autumn, Sing’s Sixth Formers
attended
No Such Thing as a Fish
, a panel show
by the researchers of comedy TV show,
QI
;
and pupils who watched Kay Adshead’s
The
Bogus Woman
also took part in a post-show
debate about the current European refugee
crisis, featuring speakers from the University
of Oxford’s Centre of Migration Studies
and organisations in the city who work with
refugees. Since its opening, the North Wall
has always enriched both the academic and
pastoral side of life at Teddies.
But have you ever wondered what goes
on in The North Wall outside of term time?
Through a programme of initiatives held
during the school holidays, the North Wall
supports the production of new work and
development opportunities for emerging and
professional artists. We call this ArtsLab.
Who is it for?
Emerging Artists
Since 2007, ArtsLab has provided
opportunities for young, talented artists aged
18-25 to succeed and excel in the arts. In
our annual Summer Residency, for example,
young artists work as an ensemble with
professionals over the course of three weeks
to create, rehearse and perform a new piece
of work.
We hold an open national call out to
recruit young people from across the UK
through auditions and interviews. They are
united by their talent and by their desire to
pursue a career in the arts.
The residential nature of the project is an
immersive experience, creating an intensity
of learning that makes the creative process
completely unique. Many past participants
say that they have never learnt so much in
such a short space of time in all their years
of education and training.
Professionals
ArtsLab supports professional writers,
directors and actors, giving them the space
and time to research and develop new work.
Fragment: Summer Residency 2014