163 free theatre tickets were claimed by disadvantaged groups in Portsmouth to attend Little Angel Theatre’s Charlie Cook’s Favourite Book. A popular children’s book written by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler, Charlie Cook’s Favourite Book delves into the world of reading and how loving storytelling can spark creativity and imagination in children with the use of colourful sets, songs and puppetry.
Working with HIVE Portsmouth, the theatre was able to reach out to multiple groups including Looked After Children, Children in Foster Care, Refugee and Asylum Seeker families and Young Carers aged 5-18.
Knowing that one of the main reasons many of these families do not attend live theatre events is due to financial barriers, New Theatre Royal and Little Angel Theatre made these tickets available to groups within these networks so that children are able to access the joy of physical theatre.
The feedback from the ticketholders was amazing and the mum of one of the young carers who attended commented “We would like to thank you for the tickets we had an amazing time. It was so nice to get out as a whole family as this is not something we get to do very often”.
Gosport Voluntary Action have said that “it was a day filled with joy, culture, and community spirit!” after a small group of the Ukrainian community from Gosport enjoyed their special trip to the theatre.
“New Theatre Royal is always looking for ways to work with our community to enrich the lives of young people and make theatre as accessible and inclusive as we can” says Sarah Brandon, Marketing Manager of New Theatre Royal, “We hope this theatre trip has created a lasting impact for the families who came and we look forward to hopefully seeing them again in the future.”