School children from Priory Primary School are set to benefit from an innovative theatre project called News News News. It is aimed at engaging children in news gathering and storytelling about their local area.
The outcome of the project will be a television-style news show made by children for adults, it will be recorded in front of a live theatre audience and broadcast live on the internet in January 2022.
Working with world renowned artists, Andy Field and Beckie Darlington, ten Priory Primary School children will present bulletins from news gathered in Bedford, offering a distinctive look at what’s going on right here and right now in their hometown.
Elaine Midgley, Bedford Creative Arts’ Director, said: “Through story-telling, research and acting, News News News empowers school children to find their voice by sharing their views of the place where they live. It also reflects on the value of journalism by imitating and representing modern forms of media. This is a great opportunity for Bedford as this project has been successful all over the world.”
Artists Andy Field and Beckie Darlington will be working alongside the children for three weeks in January 2022. Andy and Beckie will help them decide what kind of news they want to tell and then they will carry out their investigations around Bedford to record and present it.
The final performance will be a site-specific, interactive theatre show performed at The Place, Bedford on Saturday, January 29, 2022. The audience will assist the children in gathering some last-minute news for their show, before watching the show itself, which is being filmed and broadcast from a child-size television news studio on stage.
Dave Hodgson, Mayor of Bedford Borough, said: “We’re delighted to be helping to fund the News News News project that Bedford Creative Arts are running in January 2022. The project gives young people from the borough the chance to become journalists for three weeks, alongside giving them a voice to tell us as adults what is important to them in our town.
“We’re very much looking forward to Bedford Creative Arts bringing the news show to life and empowering the young people of Bedford Borough to have their say as members of the community.”
To find out more please visit https://bedfordcreativearts.org.uk/projects/news-news-news/
