Goodnight George Facebook page is now live!
Tuesday, 4th February 2014
The Goodnight George facebook page is now live! Please share and like the page: https://www.facebook.com/goodnightgeorge
Theatre Producers Alix Jones & Manya Benenson have received £9,400 from the Heritage Lottery Fund for a project, in collaboration with the National Theatre’s production of WarHorse, entitled Goodnight George, in Burton upon Trent. Awarded through HLF’s First World War: then and now programme, the project will focus on engaging young people and communities to discover local heritage of the First World War. Working with two local primary schools the project will enable children from year 5 to make sense of the impact the war had on the soldiers, families and horses from Burton. Using some of the original letters written by Private George Fearn from Tutbury and exploring themes from the National’s Theatre’s WarHorse, children will discover the role of Burton’s famous brewery Shire Horses in the war. The project will enable heritage to become more accessible using theatre workshops to provide opportunities and disseminate learning with the wider community through an interactive sharing event to be staged at the Brewhouse Arts Centre in Burton on Trent on Thursday 20 March 2014.
To mark the Centenary of the First World War, the Goodnight George Project will enable children from schools engaged by the Burton Co-operative Learning Trust; Richard Wakefield Primary School, in Tutbury and Horninglow Primary School, a variety of new experiences and opportunities to learn new skills through a programme of professional theatre workshops and educational visits to the Staffordshire Regiment Museum and the National Brewery Centre. East Staffordshire Borough Council are also supporting the project by offering a public exhibition space at the Brewhouse Arts Centre throughout the whole of March; to display the work created by the children. People can get involved by sharing their First World War stories and memorabilia with the project to preserve the memories and heritage of the people who lived through the First World War. The project has a group of voluntary historians who will collect photographs, newspaper clippings, documents, as well as family tales passed down to help the project build a clear picture of what life was really like and will be included in the exhibition; as well as other volunteering opportunities to participate and support the event.
The Goodnight George Project will hold a special commemorative event at the Brewhouse Arts Centre on Thursday 20 March 2014. A chance for children to showcase their work as a performance and share their achievements with the community. The whole event including the exhibition will be free and ticket information can be found by contacting the Brewhouse Arts Centre’s Box Office. With help from professionals from Project Wired based at the Brewhouse Arts Centre, the information gathered will be digitally recorded and a DVD will be produced of the project.