Welcome to Stage Beyond Theatre Company!

Stage Beyond is a theatre company for young adults with learning disabilities. The company is made up of members from throughout the North West, who already have shown a keen interest in drama. These actors research, devise and tour shows as well as providing accompanying workshops. Based in the Millennium Forum, the company offers the opportunity to explore issues significant to the learning disabled community and present these as theatre pieces and open workshops to the general community.

The company offers theatre training in many art forms, including; dance, voice, physical theatre, music, set design, stage management, lighting directing, facilitation skills and script writing. These take the form of master classes with practitioners from throughout the UK.  

Our program this year will also prove to be a busy yet enjoyable and varied schedule.

After our summer break we had masterclasses from one of the country's foremost playwrights.  Oscar-nominated Dave Duggan facilitated a series of workshops focusing on Shakespeare.  The workshops offered participants a positive new experience with The Bard. The group created a short street theatre piece based on several of Shakespeare's key monologues which they then took on a mini-tour of our City of Culture.

In February 2013 Stage Beyond were delighted to welcome accomplished actor Peter Ballance. Peter led the group in a two day performance workshop that dealt with various theatrical methods including mime, movement and voice. Using well known fairy tales, the group created single scenes, tableaux and storyboards. After our workshop was completed, the group had polished their existing skills and picked up a few new ones too!

Our next project was very close to our group's heart. We discussed, workshopped and devised a pice called "Just As Important", dealing with the everyday issues faced by adults with learning disabilities. Creating this piece was eye opening for all concerned as members of Stage Beyond volunteered their own experiences to create an honest and powerful piece of theatre. We were delighted to be invited to perform this piece at the Change A Little, Change A Lot conference which took place in the Culturlann, here in Derry.

Currently we are working on an exciting collabortaion with Big Telly Theatre Company and Echo Echo Dance Company. 'Walter's Story' is a devised piece containing everything from Banana Man to Jedward! We are excited to perform this piece in the Playtrail in June 2013. 'Walter's Story' showcases Stage Beyond's many talent, including theatre, dance, music and writing. 

We are delighted to announce that Replay Theatre Company will be leading a series of theatre workshops for Stage Beyond in June 2013. These workshops will culminate in a short performance on Friday 14th June at 2pm in The Studio, Millennium Forum Theatre, Derry.

During Summer 2013 we will once again be taking to the streets of Derry with our 'Shakespeare Trail'. Building on our work earlier in the year, we will perform in several areas in the city throughout the Summer. Here in Stage Beyond we love to involve our audience, so if you're in Derry this summer, watch out! You might find yourself under the spell of three witches, or in the middle of a love scene between Romeo and Juliet!

You can catch our Shakespeare Trail every Monday in July and August at the following locations:

11am     Foyleside Shopping Centre, Derry

11.30am The Craft Village, Shipquay Street, Derry

12.00pm The Guildhall Square, Derry

12.30pm Ebrington Square, Derry 

 

Our show is absolutely free and squeezes as much Shakespeare as we can in less than ten minutes! We hope to see you there!

 

Any account of our work this year must include our weekly workshops with local primary and post-primary schools. We have had the privilege of working with pupils from Belmont House School, Troy College, Foyleview School, Sacred Heart Primary School and Lisnagelvin Primary School. These workshops were tailored to the needs of the pupils in each school and aimed to introduce our young people to the concept of theatre as fun, to increase self-confidence and team skills and to encourage creativity in a safe space.

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