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In 1974, musician and composer, Jo Collins, met Mary Ward, a teacher and director. With a shared belief in harnessing the creativity in everyone and anyone, they started a theatre company. In a chicken shed.
Their creative process worked. More members joined as church halls replaced the eponymous shed. In the early 1980s, the company included a boy with cerebral palsy for the first time. ‘If we’re open to everyone, why is he the only one?’ Asked teenage members. Enter John Bull and his pioneering work on integration. He joined with Mary and Jo, and Chickenshed became the first truly inclusive theatre company. Open to everyone.
Judi Dench and Trevor Nunn joined Chickenshed as pro-active Trustees. Their first CD, a record contract, TV and West End performances followed – and an increasingly public profile.
Amidst all this, 1988 was a pivotal year: Lord and Lady Rayne met Chickenshed – and Lady Rayne became Chickenshed President. She introduced their work to The Princess of Wales, who ‘got’ Chickenshed, heart and mind, from the start.
When Enfield Council pledged land for a theatre, it was Lord and Lady Rayne who raised the funds to build it. In December 1994, the company moved into a flexible space. At the heart of the building sits The Rayne Theatre, named after the family who turned Chickenshed dreams into reality.
From their new home, things took off. 1995 saw Chickenshed first national tour. 2 months, 20 performers, five cities and 20 schools, enjoyed by over 5,000 people. For Mary and Jo, the concept of inclusion that seemed so obvious at the start is now an international movement. The awards that recognise this – two MBEs, ‘This is Your Life’, Creative Briton Award, a Snowdon Award and Honorary Doctorates included – are as much for Chickenshed as for them.
Some of the original 1970s members are still the core of Chickenshed company. Most have moved on, outside performance art, but the Chickenshed experience remains within them all. Adult lives underpinned by the values and skills absorbed during their magical time at the Shed. And an understanding that diversity and inclusiveness should be a way of life. Chickenshed inclusive creative process values all their members as equals. It’s the way Chickenshed run their theatre company, their youth workshops, their outreach projects and their education programmes.
Chickenshed runs Children's and Youth Theatre workshops for 600 people, education courses for over 100 students, community outreach projects and a network of satellite 'Sheds' across the country (and two in Russia) so even more, can benefit. Every piece of theatre created at Chickenshed shouts out the same thing: anyone can thrive in an environment where everyone is welcome. Chickenshed has a membership of six hundred young people aged between five and twenty-one. It also offers workshop and performance to adults. Chickenshed has created and produced more than 1,000 performances of theatre since Chickenshed started in 1974. Chickenshed been invited to perform in some places you’d expect: The Royal Albert Hall, Sadler’s Wells, The Royal Lyceum, The Shaw Theatre, The Place, BBC, LWT, Sky Arts.
THE TEAM
Mary Ward, Artistic Director
Jo Collins, Director of Music
Jane Paterson-Todd, CEO
Paul Morrall, Director of Education
Louise Perry, Head of Performance
Chickenshed Theatre
Chase Side, Southgate
London, N14 4PE
info@chickenshed.org.uk
http://www.chickenshed.org.uk/
Here are few videos reflect some of their work.