BARRICADE ARTS

Our theatre in education work aims to combine live performances, interactive workshops, and university application advice into a single project that caters to the specific needs of the curricula at English-speaking schools. Whilst there is a direct focus on education within the arts (particularly in English Literature, Drama and Music), we also strongly believe in the power of using art and performance as an educational tool for subjects outside of the arts. We are now developing productions across primary and secondary age ranges, aiming to encourage students of all ages to engage with important concepts in a proactive and inspirational way.

 

Since our production of A Clockwork Orange in 2016, we have adapted various influential works of literature, including a new translation of Euripides’ Bacchae and a large-scale production of Bernstein’s musical adaption of Voltaire’s Candide. Last year, we developed a production of Orwell’s Animal Farm, touring to the British Council School in Madrid. It was hugely popular with the teachers and students, who used the production and workshops as the subject of their GCSE Drama paper.

 

For this year’s production of Lord of the Flies, we are expanding the tour, featuring a run at the OSO Arts Centre in London and adding an additional devised show for primary students (Wings). We look forward to bringing the benefits of the work we do abroad to schools in the UK, engaging more directly with the British curriculum.

 

Over the coming years we intend to grow this project further. We are currently securing additional grant funding to help us to bring our workshops and productions to school sites across the UK and abroad at an affordable price. Arts education should be accessible for all, and from 2020 we have plans in place to offer additional support and discounts that allow all schools and students to access our work.