The last few months have been a bustling time for Eco Drama. Our latest production The Worm Inspectors completed its first tour, we delivered another exciting run of The Worm-An Underground Adventure, and our autumn production The Forgotten Orchard is currently underway.
We are busy doing lots of forward planning with exciting projects coming up next year, and have been delighted to receive some valuable and inspiring feedback on our projects so far.
The Forgotten Orchard
Autumn 2014 is our third year touring The Forgotten Orchard, estimated to reach approximately 8,500 young people aged 6+ and wider communities by the end of its run.
Starring Katy, her Grandad and his beloved orchard full of Scottish apple trees, it’s a story of kinship, local food and legacy and re-welcomes to our plate the charismatic Scottish apples of our heritage.
From September – November this tasty tour is visiting 24 primary schools across greater Glasgow, as well as Eastwood Park Theatre and Paisley Arts Centre. We are also thrilled to announce we will be performing at the Orchard Gathering 2014:
Orchard Gathering 2014, hosted by The Fife Diet, Victoria Halls, Dunblane – Friday 7th November at 7pm (Book Tickets Here)
The Worm Inspectors
Our brand newperformance The Worm Inspectors was a resounding success this term.
Working as part of a joint tour with The Worm - An Underground Adventure, we reached 20 Glasgow Primary Schools throughout August and September and worked with 3,700 pupils, inspiring schools to utilise their very own school wormeries and recycle food waste.
Budding Green Growers!
This term we were over the moon to receive some lovely feedback from two participants in Eco Drama's work. They got in touch to let us know their own growing success stories and we were impressed to hear that we had inspired them to try their hand at growing their own vegetables.
Keep up the good work Katy and Mark!
"My daughter Katie thoroughly enjoyed the Eco Drama sessions at Jigsaw last term and has cared for her courgette seedling through the summer holidays. She wanted to show you how well that little courgette seed has grown.
This is her third courgette pictured but some little creature sneaks in and nibbles it away before we get around to harvesting it!"
Thank you from Katie and me."
"Just a note to say thank you so much for your information on tree planting last November (I think it was then) as this has inspired our son Mark to plant and grow his own fruit and veg. We planted 3 trees earlier this year (Apple, plum and pear) and although we didn't expect anything from them we got 2 apples from the apple tree.
We also got nearly a full bag of potatoes from the potato pot and can't wait until next year to see what else we can grow. We thank you and your team for your information help and inspiration and we wish you every success in your future projects."
Finalists in the Edinburgh Fringe Sustainable Practice Award
We were elated to be finalists in the Edinburgh Fringe Sustainable Practice Award this year for our production The Worm - An Underground Adventure.
We received tremendous feedback on this tour and were delighted with our reviews...
*****Broadway Baby
“…manages to keep its audience of tinies enthralled simply through some excellent storytelling…a sweet little piece which will give younger children a gentle introduction to ecology but, more importantly, keep them engaged and amused for the whole 60 minutes.†Full Review
Interview
This newsletter we catch up with our Schools Coordinator Sara Marshall, who has worked with Eco Drama since Jan 2014.
So Sara what made you want to work with Eco Drama?
I have always had awe and curiosity for all things related to our natural world. I grew up without a telly and used to pour over my gran's national geographic magazines for hours! I also loved drama when I was in school, although back then there was not a lot of it. With such a focus now on interdisciplinary learning and creative practice, it is an exciting time to be working with schools on creative projects that focus on the living planet. I suppose I leaped at the chance to get involved in something that was very close to my heart.
Has working with Eco Drama taught you anything new?
I have learned how to plant and prune Scottish Heritage apple trees. I now know what a wormery is and even how to use it! I also love reading back our pupil feedback and picking up some interesting snippets of what they thought of the Eco Drama experience. It's lovely to get a fresh perspective.
Has it changed your day to day living!
Oh absolutely! Living as sustainability as possible is something I now think a lot about, although I still have some work to do. I find myself asking a lot more questions than I used to. I am often wondering about my carbon footprint and how to minimise it now. That is something I rarely used to do.
Top Eco Tip?
I have become rather interested in recycled art. You can make some amazing coloured picture frames with old rolled up magazine pages. I have been dabbling away at this at home, although I am a wee bit messy at it. For those who don't have the time or inclination to do it yourself, there are some fabulous online stores that do recycled art. It is nice to know that you are giving something a second life!
