Introduction

PLAY

WYP Touring

Storymakers

Creative Education Week

Sound Play

SPARK

Work Experience

First Floor

Whole New Worlds

West Yorkshire Playhouse Touring Company performs at the Playhouse and tours to early years settings, primary and secondary schools in Leeds. Plays are devised or commissioned by the company especially for each of the target age groups.

The plays allow children and young people to see high quality live theatre. They are accompanied by workshops and resource packs to support the curriculum and all of our resources are written by or developed in consultation with teachers.

Plays for older children are sometimes issue-based, linking with the PSHCE curriculum, or may be text-based to support English and Drama curriculum needs.

current Projects

Full of noises
Devised by Daniel Bye, Gail McIntyre and the company

A new play for students at KS3 studying The Tempest
Touring High Schools Autumn 2008
FREE TO ALL EDUCATION LEEDS SCHOOLS

Having returned with the King’s ship from Prospero’s isle, Stephano and Trinculo realise Butlering and Jestering no longer holds any joy for them, compared with the prospect of ruling over an island. One drunken night they resolve to retun…

Created for a teenage audience the production uses clown techniques, live music and story telling to tap into The Tempest’s key themes of POWER and RESPONSIBILITY – both POLITICAL and MAGICAL. As in Shakespeare’s theatre the theatrical style develops out of the traditions of medieval voice plays, folk story telling and minstrelsy. Through the world of Trinculo and Stephano it will provide a refreshing new way of encountering characters and sequences from the play and also function as a more generic introduction to Shakespeare’s language.

Full of Noises is supported by a Teacher Resource Pack which supports KS3 curriculum objectives. It has been devised and written by Simon Guilfoyle, previously Head of English at Wortley High and currently teaching at Guisley High School.

For more information about West Yorkshire Playhouse Touring Company please contact Saira Mughal on 0113 213 7288 or email saira.mughal@wyp.org.uk

past projects

the yellow doctress
By Marcia Lane
Director Gail McIntyre
Designer Emma Williams

The Yellow Doctress is the story of Mary Seacole, pioneering nurse and heroine of the Crimean War. Mary learned her nursing skills from her mother and went on to nurse on the battlefields of the Crimea where she tended the wounded and was known by the soldiers as 'Mother Seacole'. A nurse at the same time as Florence Nightingale, Mary was also a lover of adventure and a clever business woman. Rejected by Florence when she applied to join her nurses, Mary refused to give in and set out on her own for the Crimea (1854). Her story had until fairly recently remained hidden from history.

The free resource pack for this production can be downloaded here.

RUNAWAY DIAMONDS
Devised by David Hamilton, Gail McIntyre and Joe Williams
Director Gail McIntyre
Choreographer David Hamilton
Designer Emma Williams

Born to a slave mother and a white father he never knew, Frederick Douglass grew up to become a leader in the abolitionist movement and the first black citizen to hold high rank in the US government. Throughout his life Douglass took every opportunity to educate himself. He provided a powerful voice for human rights during the American Civil War and was recognised as one of America's first great black speakers. Premiered at the West Yorkshire Playhouse in March 2005 and subsequently toured schools and other regional venues. To mark the bicentenary of the abolition of slavery a new production was toured in 2007, with all available dates sold out within one month of being advertised. It was also presented in the Courtyard theatre as part of the Autumn 2007 Season. See the original production details

The free resource pack for this production can be downloaded here.

Trouble
Mike Kenny's new play for 3 to 5 year olds
Trouble, a toddler, and his Mum spend a lot of time in the kitchen together. He has a vivid imagination and when Mum suggests going shopping, Trouble’s imagination takes flight and being in the kitchen takes on new meaning. Trouble uses live music and puppets to celebrate children’s imaginative play. Much of the story is told through non-verbal communication, and explores problem solving through play.

The Dutiful Daughter
Ke Zin is always obedient and never questions her past or her future until the day the sea brings to her island home a man who will challenge everything she believe in.Performed in the Courtyard Theatre in June 2005, followed by a tour to Leeds schools.

Crap Dad by Mark Catley
When Paul meets Marie outside the headmaster's office it's hardly love at first sight. When the two sixteen-year-olds find out Marie is pregnant, things get a little dicey. As a grown up Paul waits to meet his children for the first time it's time for some serious thinking.
Crap Dad enjoyed sellout performances in the Courtyard Theatre in June 2004 and toured schools throughout autumn 2004. See the original production details

Displace
A piece of story-telling which draws on the experiences of asylum seekers and refugees to explore what it means to leave one country and settle in a new one. For Years 4 & 5. Toured to Leeds schools from September 2003 to March 2004. See the original production details

Visiting Grandad
For children aged 3 to 7, exploring the relationship between grandchildren and grandparents. Toured and performed at the Playhouse during 2000 and 2001.