Case Study: Beyond Borders – Eye of The Storm
Eye of the Storm is a new country musical with original songs by Grammy Award Winner Amy Wadge (Thinking Out Loud with Ed Sheeran) and written by Theatr na nÓg Artistic Director Geinor Styles.
With a strong educational and social message at it’s heart, the piece addresses topics such as mental health and life as a young carer to wider issues about the environment and renewable energy.
After the success of this award winning production seen by 5000 people in Swansea in the Autumn of 2017, Theatr na nÓg have partnered with Swansea Grand Theatre to produce a UK tour.
“I’m not sure there’s a theatre company in Wales producing more important work than Theatr na nÓg. Five thousand schoolchildren have already enjoyed this production by a company whose name means‘theatre of eternal youth’; I’m pretty sure Eye Of The Storm will live long in the memory of anyone who sees it, young or old.” Jack Barker, Buzzmag
With the support of the PRS Foundation Beyond Borders fund, Eye of The Storm is set to perform at Birmingham Hippodrome, Swansea Grand Theatre, Sheffield Theatres, Festival Theatre Edinburgh, Leicester Curve and Venue Cymru later this year.
Audience Reach
Alongside evening and weekend performances for general public daytime performances will also take place due to the partner venues interest in developing a programme of work for young people as a family audience or through schools.
Online resources and workshops are being developed to create a whole term of work in relation to the production for schools.
The shows ability to be accessible to young people is also important because of the huge support from the young carers community in the development of the story, which showcases real examples of what life throws at you as a young carer.
Catching up with the creators:
Amy Wadge – Composer for Eye of the Storm said:
“The script addresses so many important issues from mental health, being a young carer to wider issues about the environment and renewable energy. It has the ability to appeal to young and old audiences alike and I believe given a wider platform it will be an extremely important production.“
Amy first came to prominence as a singer songwriter in her own right, twice winning Best Female Artist at the Welsh Music Awards and is most known for her established writing partnership with, Ed Sheeran.
Thinking Out Loud went to No. 1 in the UK chart and won two Grammys at the 58th Recording Academy Awards Ceremony, ‘Song of the Year’ and ‘Best Pop Solo Performance’.
Future Plans
Theatr na nÓg have identified their successful residency and creative learning programme is a unique way of presenting musical theatre for venues. They aim to create a lasting relationships with the venues that will nurture new and original theatre for future audiences.
Having made it’s Asian premiere at Hong Kong’s SPARK Festival in January 2019 Theatr na nÓg hope to tour Eye of the Storm further both nationally and internationally. There is also potential for the production to be developed into a feature film.
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