In the Community

Cinema Club

sarah — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 15:50:36 +0100

Twice a month we invite local residents to Wilton’s to enjoy free screenings of films, everything from black and whites to Bollywood and Bangladeshi greats, cult classics and cartoon movies.

Accompanying the screenings are pre-show advice clinics, provided by a selection of health services and organisations in the Borough. Many of these services are not available in the immediate vicinity of Shadwell and are therefore of use to local people.

Services range from free dental checks to advice for managing long term illnesses, to talks regarding safety given by local police.

We gratefully acknowledge the support we have received from Deutsche Bank and Banking on Shadwell, Tower Hamlets Council and the J.Paul Getty Junior Foundation.

Young Audiences

sarah — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 15:49:46 +0100

This programme aims to introduce local children in years 4-6 to the experience of art and live performance. The children will become our essential audiences of tomorrow.

Our team of scenic artists, actors and musicians run interactive workshops where participants are introduced to different performance arts and given the materials to produce pieces of set that are used in a final show, performed at Wilton’s.

Past projects have included the performances of Peter and the Wolf, with live narration and artists painting the story on huge backdrops as the music is played live. The local school children made the leaves and animals, which became the set.

We have also produced Hansel and Gretel, which culminated in an interactive multimedia exhibition produced by participants. It took the audience on a journey through Wilton’s and the surrounding borough, inviting them to see the local environment through the children's eyes.

We run a special book making programme, using the rich history of the local area as inspiration. The children produce the artistic material for the books which are then professionally bound and given back to the schools. Volunteers from local banks help facilitate the days.

In terms of involving the full family our music making days are a riot. The whole families come to Wilton's and join in with professional musicians who help them compose their own music which gets recorded onto a CD for them to take home.

The partners for our Young Audiences programme are the Concordia Foundation, The Lyndon Arts Trust and The Academy of St Martin in the Fields, who make it possible for us to produce a multi-discipline project and performance once a term, involving around 600 local children and families.

Skills

sarah — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 15:48:20 +0100

There are a range of ways we help develop the skills and enhance the employability of local students and put them in touch with everything Wilton’s has to offer.

We allow the theatre to be used by the local community and schools for a range of projects, particularly encouraging those where we can provide training in managing events. For instance for end of term productions or youth club events we share knowledge on making programmes, production and stage management and all of the supporting tasks that are fundamental to a successful event, such as designing marketing materials, ticketing, security and front-of-house.

Very often young people will come back and work for Wilton’s during our own productions and we train an ever-growing team of volunteers to be ushers and tour guides for our shows and open days. In addition we provide work placements for up to six teenagers each year, giving them two weeks of work experience each.

Wilton’s is currently being used by Wimbledon College of Art, the Royal College of Art, Central St Martin’s, The University of East London and the London College of Fashion as a study project for final year students. To support their studies we allow students to come into Wilton’s, to examine the architecture and receive in depth briefings from the Wilton’s staff to inform their projects.

Currently we are planning a series of talks on music hall and local history, managed by our volunteers. Plus we provide guided tours of the building for specialist interest groups as part of further education programmes in architecture, traditional crafts, East End history, conservation studies and music hall history.

Wilton’s holds a wealth of history within its four walls and is a wonderful place for people to learn and fall in love with live performance and the associated theatre business.

We need to guarantee the sustainability of Wilton’s to ensure further generations of people can enjoy everything it has to offer. We would be very happy to talk to you about how your sponsorship, volunteering or donation could help. Please call us on 020 7702 9555 or email us.

For regular updates on productions and events at Wilton's please sign up to our email mailing list.