Ruckus in the Garden

MEDIA RELEASE COURTESY OF: Square Chapel Centre for the Arts

It’s been 18 years since Calderdale Theatre School members put on a play in 24 hours to save the youth theatre. Now current members, born in that year 18 years ago, are to do the same in celebration of the past members’ success and as part of the Halifax Festival.

They will be performing David Farr’s Ruckus in the Garden on Sunday 15 August at 7.30pm at Square Chapel.

The Theatre School has a long history, having been formed back in 1966 but its path has not always been a smooth one. Back in 1992, the staff and students turned up one Saturday morning to discover that the Theatre School had lost its funding from the local education authority and was set to close with immediate effect. However, the students had other ideas and set up a publicity campaign to draw attention to their plight. They organised a ‘Theatrethon’ and put on a play in 24 hours at Square Chapel. The building had only recently been saved from dereliction and although it had been made safe, there were no windows, no heating, and no toilets, in fact not much of anything. Undeterred, the young people, assisted by several intrepid staff members, spent a day and very cold night (it snowed) in the building to produce a performance of Under Milk Wood. They achieved their aim of attracting a lot of publicity for their cause. Calderdale Theatre School was saved and has become the success story that it is today.

18 years later and the young people who are about to leave Theatre School were born in the year that the Theatrethon cast worked so hard to save the youth theatre for the future. A group drawn from the current older members of Theatre School will perform Ruckus in the Garden in just over 24 hours.

Gillie Kerrod from Calderdale Theatre School says: “The original Theatrethon cast has been contacted and many of them will be coming to the performance. Some still live in the area; one is a staff nurse at Calderdale Royal, another is a knife throwing champion, one works for the BBC, one is still involved in theatre locally, one is a lecturer at Durham University and one is flying back from his job in Kiev specially for the performance.

“Come and join us to celebrate the talents of the current Theatre School young actors and the creativity of the members of the past without whose efforts and tenacity none of this would have been possible.”

Ruckus in the Garden by David Farr is from the National Theatre Connections Series. It’s a one act comedy and tells the story of a group of young characters from two very different schools who visit a garden on a school trip. All they really want to do is have a fight, but fate in the form of cupid intervenes. The plot follows a series of misunderstandings and transformations that send the young heroes into increasingly absurd situations.

Calderdale Theatre School is a thriving youth theatre for young people aged 11 – 19. It currently has 85 members drawn from all over Calderdale who have the opportunity to participate every Saturday morning in theatre skills sessions run by mix of professional actors and drama teachers. The youth theatre performs regularly at Square Chapel and recent productions have drawn great praise.

Several young members go on to some of the best drama schools in the country and recent members have gone on to study at Drama Centre London, Italia Conti Academy, the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama and Rose Bruford.

Sunday 15 August 7.30pm
Tickets: £9 & £6 concessions
Box Office: 01422 349422