The Idea
Several years ago I first read "The Boy Who Would Be a Helicopter", an account by kindergarten teacher, Vivien Gussein Paley, of her Storytelling/Storyacting work in a nursery in Chicago. In this work, through carefull questioning, a child begins to construct a story which is recorded verbatim. This story is then acted out by the child and his/her classmates.
More recently I read of a project in which puericultrici (nursery nurses) who worked with a theatre company, La Baracca in Bolgna, had created a performance/workshop - "Una Valigia .. Tante Storie" (One suitcase..many stories) which involved a suitcase containing an array of tactile objects. Anyone who has seen much of Theatr Iolo's work will know that both suitcases and stories feature regularly!
Having created and directed two productions for nurseries for Theatr Iolo - "Are We There Yet?" and "That's MIne!" - I was keen to develop the company's relationship with Early Years' settings, and when I saw an advertisement by the Clroe Duffield Foundation calling for applications for Performing Arts Education Initiatives, a source of funding for this project (which fell outside the core remit of Theatr Iolo) identified itself. An application was submitted and in April 2006 we received the wonderful news that out of the 351 organisations that had applied, we were one of only 15 organisations to have been awarded a grant.
Sarah Argent, Project Director
