Following last year’s play Any Fool Can Start A War which told the story of the Cuban Missile Crisis with sixty Year 6 students, internationally acclaimed theatre company Stan’s Cafe are now working with 240 students from Saltley Academy. Each Year 7 class is responsible for a different scene depicting a moment in British history from the discovery of Guy Fawkes’ gun powder plot through the Suffragette movement and 2012 Jubilee. In each scene ‘St. George’ will metaphorically ‘slay a dragon’ that threatens freedom and tolerance. When completed, the installation will be used as a teaching resource and shared with the rest of the school, parents and children from neighbouring schools.

Launching on St George’s Day, St George’s Steps will be the 20th edition of Stan’s Cafe’s Steps Series which was originally inspired by ‘teach yourself to dance’ floormats. The series has included an Olympic focused Golden Steps in Camden, Revolutionary Steps at the National Theatre adapting Danton’s Death as well as versions in Los Angeles and Montpelier. The Steps Series invites audiences to perform dramatic scenes themselves following visual instructions printed out as vinyl footsteps, handprints, ‘objectprints’ and script fragments and applied to the venue’s walls, floors, windows and doors. The series is particularly enjoyed by young people who puzzle out the action by following the footsteps of the protagonists.

Peter Weir, Head of School says “We’re confident that by challenging our students to create this installation with Stan’s Cafe we will stimulate deep learning around themes of British values. Working with Stan’s Cafe is part of our strategy for making teaching and learning more engaging and for enriching our students’ cultural experience at school.”