48 young people / 30 workshops / 21 plays
The second stop on the tour was to Ayrshire where we were partnering with The Gaiety on the callout to schools, recruitment of local facilitators, and as the showcase venue. We worked with four facilitators to deliver writing workshops with pupils from Ayr Academy, Belmont Academy, Girvan Academy, and Queen Margaret Academy.
In this showcase you could expect visitations from characters such Hot Dog Man, Miss Turd & Diego the Great, trips doon the beach, aaf fae a walk and into space.
A really important part of the project for us was finding facilitators and performers local to each area we were working in, as role models for the participants and to ensure the lasting legacy of Class Act in these locations beyond this iteration.
I wish I had something like this when I was at school. I went to one of the participating high schools and I found it really hard to engage in theatre as a teenager and feel confident enough to want to pursue it as a career. This feels like a really special, full circle moment
Enjoy this play from the Ayrshire collection:
FREDDO
by Annabelle, Nathan, Hayden & Shaun
SCENE 1
The lights go up. Dave and John are standing looking at the drinks.
DAVE: Jesus! Red Bull has jumped up 10p!
JOHN: Has it?
DAVE: Yes! I’ve been buying them for years and they have never been this expensive!
JOHN: Well, I can afford it anyways. Why is 10p a problem?
DAVE: It’s quite a big problem. Food and drink is getting hard to buy. Even the meal deal has jumped up 90p.
JOHN buys the Red Bull and loads of other things at the counter. He pays STEVE, the shopkeeper, with a £100 banknote.
JOHN: Keep the change.
JOHN walks out the shop. SPENCER enters and picks up a Freddo and looks at the price. He passes out.
SCENE 2
SPENCER wakes up in the hospital.
SPENCER: Where am I??
STEVE: You have been in a coma for the past 14 years!!
SPENCER: 14 years?!?!
STEVE: Yup!
SPENCER: All I remember was I seen the price of Freddos and passed out!! Can you believe it’s 65p for a Freddo? Who are you by the way? I don’t think I’ve met you.
STEVE: Oh, I’m the CEO of Freddo. I felt bad about what happened, so I came to support you.
SPENCER: How did you know what happened?
STEVE: I was the cashier at the shop that day. I got a job at Freddo and became the CEO.
SPENCER: How much are they now?
STEVE: £14.56
SPENCER screams and dies.
SCENE 3
SPENCER’s funeral.
STEVE: I can’t believe he’s gone now.
DAVE: I know, he was such a kind soul.
JOHN: Yeah, I was always very fond of him.
DAVE: I actually don’t know how he died. Do you?
STEVE: Yeah. He seen the price of Freddos.
JOHN: I’ve not bought one in years. How much are they now?
STEVE: £24.40.
JOHN screams and passes out as he’s drinking his overpriced Red Bull. EastEnders theme song plays. Lights fade out.