Words in the Wood

In 2007, Theatr Iolo was approached by a team of dynamic women

• Amanda Gould (Associate Advisor for Early Years, Vale of Glamorgan)

• Sheena O’Leary (Forestry Commission Education Officer)

• Liz Stone (nursery teacher, Eagleswell School)

all of whom are connected with the Vale of Glamorgan Forest Education Initiative Cluster Group, and asked whether we would be interested mounting a project in Hensol Forest. Having been excited by both ‘A Suitcase Full of Stories’ (a story-making project in which 3 and 4 year olds created and acted out stories inspired by a suitcase containing intriguing objects) and ‘Under the Carpet’ (a professional theatre production for nurseries which developed out of the Suitcases project and in which every word of dialogue – and much of the imagery – was taken directly from the children’s stories), the team from the Vale wondered whether Theatr Iolo could use the beauty of Hensol Forest (rather than inanimate objects) as the inspiration for a story-making project with nursery and reception children. We were, in principle, very interested; the opportunity to devise a performance/workshop in response to a specific outdoors location, thereby inserting the artificial into the natural world, was a fascinating proposition. Sheena submitted funding applications to the Arts Council of Wales Lottery Fund and the Forest Education Initiative (FEI); both were successful – and so we were off into the woods!

Sarah Argent, Project Director