It's been a busy few months since Round Midnight returned from the Christmas break (yes we know it's almost Easter, but we can explain!) with two tours taking place, as well as new projects!
To kick things off, we began our whopping 32 school tour of Make It Count, a new program supported by Parliament's Education Service, which is reaching over 10,000 young people! The piece is an hour long and takes the audience on a journey from the very beginning of UK Democracy during the reign of King John in 1215, right up until modern day politics. During the course of the performance, the unorthodox Mr. Lewis visits poignant moments in history, where we meet characters including Simon De Montfort, Oliver Cromwell and Emmeline Pankhurst! Pupils then learn all about how the Houses of Parliament work today and even get to have their say on a new bill presented by the Government. Round Midnight are very proud to educate young people on the importance of democracy and active citizenship – for, after all, if you don't vote you don't have a say in how our country is run!
For more information on our program Make It Count, please click here.
Speaking of having a say, the other program we have been touring over the Spring Term is Cutting Ties. This interactive performance and program asks it's young audiences to think about knife crime and violence in young peoples communities. What makes a young person carry a knife? What are the consequences of knife crime? How do we protect ourselves from violence? In September 2017, it was recorded that knife crime offences rose 21 % from the previous year and across the UK, it is the highest it's been since 2011. In addition, according to figures the 'peak age' to carry a knife is between the ages of 13 and 17. Cutting Ties follows the story of three friends who face an array of challenges as they grapple with being threatened with violence, peer-pressure and the idea of being a 'snitch'. This year Round Midnight were awarded a second grant from the Active Citizens Fund to reach 5 new schools in the Hall Green Area, to continue creating a dialogue with young people about what is happening in their lives and what they can do to keep safe.
To find out more about our Cutting Ties program, please click here.
We're also very excited to announce the launch of our new program New Heights, a project for mothers at Starbank School in Small Heath which started in February. This 12 week course which will span until July, is a self-development course aiming to raise confidence, self-esteem and create new friendships using creativity as a key tool! We are coming up to session 4 and we have lots more in store.
And finally, the whole Round Midnight team are off to Shanghai on Wednesday 21st March, for our annual trip to Wellington International College, where we will be delivering fantastic drama workshops for their Arts Festival - the theme this year being Jazz.
To see pictures from last year's trip click here. Stay tuned for more updates on our return...