The Election: Giving Local People a Voice

Trestle’s intergenerational project, The Election, kicked off last week with workshops in schools and a tea party at Trestle to give local people of all ages an opportunity to have a say about issues they care about by creating political parties and promoting their policies in a fun and engaging way.

Project leaders, Oliver Jones and Anna Reynolds, have been working with local schools to find out what young people think about national and local policies and explore how much they know. We’ve been very impressed so far by the young people’s ideas and desire to have a voice and we look forward to working creatively with these young people to have their say:

“The Election got off to a good start with some lively ideas coming from a year 7 class at Samuel Ryder Academy. Key ‘policies’ from the 11 and 12 year olds included; ‘Be less selfish’, ‘More things for young people to do, skate parks’ … the class were interested in creating their own political party, most felt that young people don’t have a voice or a say in politics” said Anna. “The Trestle Tea Party also gathered lots of young people and their ideas for new policies … looking forward to seeing the year 7′s again and taking things up a level, and starting work with year 5 groups at primary level”
We’d love more adults from the local community to join The Election to bring people of all ages together, understand the issues affecting different generations and to share skills and ideas through drama, digital media or other creative forms. Don’t miss this exciting opportunity to ‘Create, Debate and Have Your Say!’

If you or a group of friends would like to be involved, we are holding open workshops at Trestle Arts Base on the following dates:-

Wednesday November 21st, 6-8pm
Wednesday December 5th, 6-8pm

If you’d like come along, please call us on 01727 850950 / emailtakingpart@trestle.org.uk / Tweet @trestletheatre or just turn up! #TrestleTheElection

The Election is supported by St Albans City & District Council

Trestle to Tour ‘The Snow Queen’ in 2013

Trestle is delighted to have been awarded ‘Grants for the Arts’ Funding from Arts Council England to tour The Snow Queen across the UK in 2013.

Following a successful Summer 2012 run in India, where the show performed to over 3,500 people, we are proud to announce that this beautiful Indian retelling of the well loved Hans Christian Andersen story shall journey around the UK from April to June next year.

Trestle’s Artistic Director, Emily Gray says “This is a great opportunity to take a very special piece of theatre for all ages to audiences across the country. The Snow Queen was dreamed up by an Indian writer, created in London, taken to India and now it will tour England; have a look at the colourful trailer to get a flavour of the show!”

‘Brilliant! Fantastic! Very fun!’ – audience comment, 2012 tour

Check out our promo video above. More details about the tour and venues coming soon! #SnowQueenUK

The Snow Queen was originally commissioned and produced in 2011 by Unicorn Theatre, now a Trestle touring production.

www.artscouncil.org.uk.

Trestle’s Big Draw Competition Winner Announced

We’re very pleased to announce that a winner has been chosen from our Big Draw Mask Design Competition. Congratulations to budding young artist Isabel whose design has been chosen by professional artist Elaine Johnson. ‘I really like the cheerful use of colour and attention to detail‘ explains Elaine. Isabel’s entry will be recreated by our professional Mask Maskers on one of our unique hand-made Trestle Masks. It shall be awarded to Isabel at Trestle Arts Base where she can see how the mask was created.

Well done Isabel and a big thank you to everyone who entered the
competition and created wonderful designs. Above is a picture of Isabel’s original winning design that will be transferred on to a Trestle Mask – the only one of its kind!

Don’t forget! All the brilliant artwork from The Big Draw can be seen in our Gallery Cafe until November 8th. Come and see the enchanted tree, mini self portraits, film strip storyboards in our glass elevator, wonderful drawings and much more, all created by children and adults from the local community. #BigDrawExhibition #Free

Trestle Masks Go Global!

Trestle is proud to have emerged stronger than ever this past year. We have had an incredibly exciting and active 12 months taking our mask sets and mask workshops all over the UK and worldwide. Our team of professional practitioners have delivered workshops for an International School in Switzerland, worked for the National Youth Theatre on a project for young males in Saudi Arabia and run a summer school residency for Youth Arts Leaders in Cork, Ireland. These workshops, in addition to a training programme delivered for teachers and businesses in India, has really put Trestle on the map as an international leader in mask and physical theatre training.

‘…the three day workshop was a hugely beneficial and transformative experience’ - National Youth Council of Ireland

(Mumbai 2012)

Trestle mask sets continue to sell globally, reaching Italy, Norway, Brazil, Singapore, Hong Kong, Thailand and India in the past six months. We were therefore thrilled to win an award for Cultural Innovation earlier in the year, recognising Trestle’s work in delivering such a unique product across the world. It’s always great to hear where and how our masks are being used and we love receiving pictures showing the cultural diversity of the masks!
(Saudi Arabia 2012)


‘They are perfect for our needs’ – King George V School, Hong Kong (2012)

‘Thank you for a wonderful workshop. Am taking back a lot to share with the little ones at schools.’ – Workshop participant, Bangalore, India

If Trestle Masks haven’t reached your part of the world, be the first to order your set today and send us a picture! Email masks@trestle.org.uk or click on Mask Shop