Stagewrite 2010

Stars of Stagewrite 2010

Shine at the Alley

With the expert direction of talented North West Regional College drama students, a treasure trove of original ideas from children across Strabane district and lots of hard work from local primary schools, Stagewrite 2010, the North West’s leading primary school drama festival, held at the Alley Theatre and supported by Consensus, has proved to be a massive hit this year.

Now in its second year, Stagewrite 2010, with the support of main sponsor Consensus and in association with the North West Regional College, has developed into a wonderful two day festival of top primary school drama under the theme of ‘My Place, My Community’. Starring eight local Primary Schools, each school was given the wonderful opportunity of seeing their original ideas come to life in the main auditorium of the award-winning Alley in front of a packed audience of friends, family and the general public, eager to see plays ranging from “The Castlederg Princess”, “Crime doesn’t pay” and “Fantastico the Movie!”

Taking to the famous Alley stage, in what was a first for many of the children, the eight participating schools acted, sang and danced their way through each of their individual 20 minute pieces on March 10th and 11th, thrilling packed houses on both nights and perhaps even creating stars of the future! One of the pupils who took part in Stagewrite 2010 was Molly Finlay from Edwards Primary in Castlederg, who not only performed on stage, but was also one of the co-writers, “I am so glad that I was able to be in a show at the Alley.  Everyone in my class was really nervous about being in front of the audience but when we got started we had great fun and really enjoyed it.”

“This year we had St Columba’s PS, Drumlegagh P.S, St Patrick’s, Ardstraw, Strabane’s Barrack Street Primary School, Ernagnagh P.S, Edwards P.S and the Glebe’s St Theresa’s all taking part” commented John Kerr from the Alley Theatre. “All the pupils and directors had a great time, with Stagewrite 2010 not only offering a fun experience but also taught young children presentation, confidence and team building skills, which are invaluable and lifelong lessons these children will take throughout the school careers and into adulthood. I would like to thank our sponsors Consensus for all of their support, the schools who took part, the pupils who performed and the NWRC students and teaching staff for directing two nights of great drama.  This year’s amazing Stagewrite festival has delighted both young and old, performers and audience alike and has certainly fulfilled its brief of allowing pupils to develop new skills and confidence and to strengthen relationships between schools, the college and the local theatre. “For more information about the festival check click here"

North West Regional College Students

take the directors chair

Drama students from North West Regional College are going to be swapping their classrooms for the directors chair shortly, as they prepare to take charge of pupils from eight North West primary schools who will be taking part in the forthcmoning StageWrite Schools Drama Festival 2010. StageWrite is the leading primary schools drama festival held in the North West, taking place each year at the Alley Theatre between March 8th and 9th.

StageWrite 2010 will feature eight 20 minute plays which will be performed by students from Edwards Primary School, Erganagh Primary School,  St Theresa’s PS, Glebe, St Patricks, Donnemana, Ardstraw P.S, St Columba’s P.S, Clady, Drumleagh P.S and Barrack St Boys, Strabane. “We are really excited about this project” commented one of the drama students taking part in the project. “Strabane’s Alley is a great venue and the pupils are really looking forward to it.  We have been busy preparing drama sessions for the primary school pupils, which I hope they enjoy as much as we enjoyed putting them together”.

Alley Manager John Kerr comments ‘We are very happy to see the second year of Stagewrite 2010 going ahead with our main sponsor Consensus, whilst working in association with the North West Regional College (NWRC). The NWRC drama students will be providing the children and teachers with all the practical directorial support they need to turn their ideas into workable ‘plays’, I cannot wait to see the final outcome.”

Designed to allow year seven pupils to develop new skills and confidence in the creation of original pieces based on the theme of ‘My Place, My Community’; this years Stagewrite hopes to strengthen the local community in the arts through working relationships between schools, the college and the local theatre. Tickets for each evening are £2 per person and can be purchased by contacting The Alley Theatre on 028 7138 4444 or booking online at www.alley-theatre.com

Stagewrite 2010 

My Place, My Community

Students from the North West College and local primary schools across Strabane District will be taking part in Stagewrite 2010, a project aimed at developing short performance pieces based on the theme of "My Place, My Community".

The Project will be co-ordinated by the North West College in Partnership with the DISC program under the umbrella of Concensus Lets Live and work together, the Strabane District Council and the Alley Theatre.

Is your Primary School interested in taking part?

To download an application and information pack please click here.

Stage Write 2009 School Festival

hailed a “great success!”

Strabane District Chairman, Cllr Jarlath McNulty brought the curtain down on the final night of the successful  “Stage Write” drama festival last week, hailing the new primary school drama festival at the Alley Theatre, Strabane, as a “innovative approach to education via the arts”. 8 local primary schools from across Strabane District took part in the festival, each performing a short play on stage on the theme of the “Environment” after an intensive 2 week drama course led by the North West Regional College students and funded by Creative Youth Partnership, Strabane District Council and North West Regional College.  

Cllr McNulty thanked the students, schools and the festival organizers for their "tremendous support and willingness" to push the boundaries of the arts and education in Strabane District. Schools which took part in this ground breaking festival included St Anne’s Girls School (Strabane), St Patrick’s (Dunamanagh), Erganagh Primary School, Drumlegagh Primary School, St Mary’s Girls’ Primary School, St Theresa’s Primary School (Glebe), St Columba’s Primary School (Clady) and the Model Primary School (Newtownstewart).

Stage Write involved P7 students, who were challenged to write a story, rehearse and then perform a 15 minute play at the Alley Theatre within two weeks. Each school acting troop worked under the expert direction of 2nd Year Drama Students from North West Regional College, whose course involved directing a show within the local community. Head of Drama at the North West Regional College, Anne McMaster commented “This has been a tremendous achievement not only for our college students but importantly the P7 students, who have given 100% commitment to this wonderful project and have produced some outstanding pieces of work.  For many of these students this is the first time on a professional stage, which will have created a new found sense of personal confidence, team building and presentation skills. Also P7 students will gain a deeper understanding of the arts and the theatre and added a marvelous memory to their school career, showing them nothing is impossible, even producing a show in a professional theatre, if you give 100% commitment.”

Stage Write, held at Strabane District Council's award winning Alley Theatre was a partnership project between North West Regional College, the primary schools in the Strabane District and Strabane District Council and supported by funding via the Creative Youth Partnership. Creative Youth Partnership receives funds from Dept. of Culture, Arts and Leisure, Arts Council of Northern Ireland and the five Education and Library Boards. Geraldine O’Reilly from Creative Youth Partnership commented “Stage Write has been an excellent partnership where everyone has reaped the benefits. The North West Regional College students have worked extremely hard under the excellent tuition of Anne McMaster, developing the skills of pupils across the Strabane District Area, with the two shows at the marvelous Alley Theatre offering an exceptional night of drama and entertainment.”

 ‘Stage Write has been a really exciting project, enjoyed not only by the primary school pupils and their teachers, but also the North West Regional College Performing Arts students, and lecturer Anne McMaster, who directed the shows." stated Basil Dalton from North West Regional College”A really strong creative bond has been formed between the schools, the college and the Alley Theatre, and it is something we will build on in future collaborations’. 
John Kerr, Alley Theatre Manager stated “Once again the Alley Theatre staff are delighted with the success of this event, which we know will leave a long lasting legacy amongst the participants of Stage Write 2009. As a Strabane District Council facility, we would like to thank Creative Youth Partnership and North West Regional College for their excellent support and involvement, without which this event could not have been the tremendous success it was.”