Oral Histories

I read some information about the work Polka does and found out how local it was to our school and then began to investigate how we can get our children involved. We were offered free tickets and that gave us the opportunity to actually take a group of children. They came back all excited and that’s when I knew this is a good find and we just need to maintain a link and that’s how it all started. Every year we had opportunities three or four times a year to take children to the Polka. I remember amazing shows that the children got involved with - Kazuki’s (sp?) Kingdom for year 4 at the time. I remember Chocolate Cake, which was absolutely brilliant. They loved that. And to listen to the youngsters talk about their experience at the Polka. It’s second to none. Polka quite often made arrangements so that the families didn’t feel overwhelmed when attending the theatre. It’s such a family orientated theatre. We convinced quite a few that the theatre has such great opportunities for their children to develop their self esteem, to develop their acting, their confidence, their ability to perform, and to become independent. At primary and as a Head I’ve realised that actually the Arts are important, as important as the academic side and if we don’t do anything to then develop that within those communities I think we’re failing. It is down to us to make sure that we do that. Reaching out to those communities is hard work, but there has to be a way. There always is and you know we just need to be creative in how we do that. The Freefalling Project I think has been a great development in theatre, because those children who are the disaffected, the disadvantaged to the point of exclusion perhaps and yet are given an opportunity to express and grow in theatre and seeing how those children, those youngsters when they return to school, the impact it’s had on them, all excited to talk to their friends, how more attentive they are. Schools within the Merton area, especially the Mitcham area, were offered one case per school for a chosen youngster to take part in weekly drama classes with an amazing teacher, John McCraw (sp?). Absolutely fabulous. I had organised one year with a very difficult family with a child who really needed to go to a project like that, because we felt that was where he would benefit and blossom and flourish and change his mindset about what life was offering him at that time. That child has gone on to do well at secondary school. He’s actually doing drama at GCSE and that’s success. It might only be one, but it’s success and that’s how it starts. There was one particular girl, mum in prison, dad was already in prison and not involved with the family and this girl was very much someone, who need to have something positive in her life. Within the first two sessions, because she enjoyed it and loved it so much she insisted that she wanted to continue with it and was so keen for me and the staff to go and watch her performance in the summer. And to see her confident on the stage, performing and speaking out loud. It was just fabulous and made us all realise what a great project. What I love about Polka is the fact that it really does stay within what is going on at the time, certainly the multi-cultural stories that it has told, that it has been involved with has been fabulous for a school like ours in our community. And also meeting the equality agenda and encouraging more youngsters with special needs as well as children of different backgrounds to enjoy and learn from theatre. I have taken children as they are walking up the steps to go into the theatre and they are waiting outside the doors ready to go in and you can see them all excited, because they know “I’m going to sit on that side, because I know I am going to be near the stage” or “I’m going to sit over there”. So in their minds it has become a familiar place. That surely is the first step to getting them to the theatre and into learning about theatre. Once they feel that threshold of walking into such a space, that it’s a safe place, that it’s an exciting place. “Wow I wonder where this place is going to take us”. A magical place, because they are so close to what’s going on on the stage. My teachers have walked away feeling, that’s a lovely theatre, where they feel they can take their own children, their family. I remember sitting in one show and the children we had with us were fine, because they were up, they were down and nobody was telling them off. They were standing up, because everyone else was standing up and it was OK. It’s a great, great, great place. The Q&A part of a performance when the actors are asking questions and the children can just put their hand up and answer. Having that opportunity and sometimes the atmosphere gives them the security of “I can get involved. I can.” Polka produces some amazing shows. The talent I have seen – amazing – and since I have left school and since I retired last year I have taken my grandchildren. I have taken the children we are fostering . Even the sixteen year old has sat and enjoyed shows. It just makes me realise Polka itself, the size of the theatre, being so close to the stage and children feel “Gosh” they’re almost on the stage and the involvement, the engagement from the actors in some of the shows, encouraging the children to join in and answer just makes it so, apart from its creativeness, so magical. I don’t know where else you would find that. Comments like “was that real?” You know, their amazement at the costume design, even the space. There are so many lovely stories of individuals and what it has meant to them and how it affected them, how it’s impacted on their lives. Inspirational I would say, in the work that it does.