Interactive exhibition is Rep draw.
Wardrobes, time travellers and WOOF heroes have been inspiring and educating Birmingham schools pupils this month. Over 600 five to seven-year-olds have taken part in Wardrobes – an exciting Adventure in Learning project and collaboration between Birmingham Repertory Theatre, Birmingham community libraries and .
Using the classic children’s story The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe as a starting point, the project explores the idea of wardrobes as magical objects and was designed to inspire children to read and write stories as well as introducing them to libraries as places of discovery and adventure. The youngsters have visited Birmingham Repertory Theatre to participate in an interactive Wardrobe exhibition and will enjoy an interactive theatrical finale at their local library during February.
The Wardrobes project used the adventure as inspiration and stimulus for literary and story writing and also explored other curriculum areas including citizenship and British values.
Tom Bowtell, Artistic Director of KIT Theatre said: “Adventures in Learning casts pupils as heroes in their own interactive story. We created our Wardrobe project alongside teachers, taking their learning targets and embedding them in the story itself. We then used storytelling, theatre and digital technology to bring the project to life.
“The Wardrobes adventure started at The REP where children were recruited to the secret agency, WOOF, which stands for Wardrobes of our Friends. They were then sent on a mission to care and look out for accidental time travellers who step into wardrobes in the past and emerge, confused, in the present. The adventure ends when children perform their own stories in libraries, and summon a time traveller to appear from the ether. The children have loved the adventure, created brilliant stories and their teachers have really embraced the project.”
Steve Ball, Associate Director at The REP added: “The Wardrobe project came about because the partnership with community libraries and The REP’s own work with children and young people alongside KIT theatre’s imagination gave us the chance to create a high quality learning opportunity for children in schools in Birmingham.”
Wardrobes has been developed in dialogue with teachers and educational consultants to ensure that its learning outcomes are in line with national curriculum targets. It was funded by Arts Council England’s Libraries Grants for the Arts fund. For more details on KIT’s Adventures in Learning work, visit www.KITtheatre.org.