Our theatre company Wise Children was founded by Emma Rice to create world-class ensemble-led productions. Our shows are full of comedy, tragedy, music and movement and we send our tight-knit companies all over the world to perform. Wuthering Heights has just toured the UK and the USA, has played in Amsterdam and has more venues in the pipeline for next year. Our new show, Blue Beard, goes into rehearsals at the start of next year and there are a few other shows in development too. For a small theatre company, we keep ourselves busy!
The School for Wise Children
Alongside our productions, we run a professional development programme, The School for Wise Children, which I take the creative lead on. The school is our way to train and mentor the next generation of theatre makers. We run free, open-call, performers workshops and free online courses for creatives and producers. It also provides a way for us to find new creatives, performers and backstage staff for our shows. The idea of the Pick and Mix grew out of conversations with multiple drama schools. We thought that our School for Wise Children and its specific type of multi-disciplinary, ensemble-based, training could offer something unique to drama schools and a collaboration would also give us a chance to meet potential ensemble members.
Nine of the top UK drama schools signed up for the pilot including Mountview, LIPA and our local, Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. They agreed to hold auditions for their second-year performance students and select one to join us for a week of School for Wise Children style training. Nine performers joined us for a week of games, ensemble building, music, movement, puppetry and more under the direction of Emma Rice. Over the week, we watched them go from a group of strangers to an ensemble producing work of an incredible standard.
Going into our second year of the initiative, we've adjusted the selection process, so our team now runs an audition workshop at each participating drama school and interacts with all the auditionees. It's been a privilege to show these performers a slice of Wise Children's method, but it's also tough just picking one person per school! We've come away from auditions with lists of names to keep an eye on and audition for projects once they graduate.
On the lookout
The Pick and Mix is different to the other external awards. The student that's right for the Pick and Mix probably won't be the same person who is selected for the Shakespearean Sam Wanamaker opportunity or the voiceover Carlton Hobbs competition. Yes, we want our participants to be technically excellent in movement, music and acting, but there's something else we're looking for in a future ensemble member. There's a generosity of spirit that returning Wise Children performers share. Emma Rice prizes personality as much as talent. She wants her performers to go out there and make each other look good, night after night.
It always comes back to people and personalities. We've got a team at Wise Children that cares deeply about the next generation and enjoys teaching and creating theatre with them. Emma Rice creates a room where performers thrive and feel able to contribute. Our director of music Ian Ross is a genius when it comes to building confidence and teasing out the magical musical ideas, and we have a roster of incredible Wise Children who lead on movement, voice and puppetry.
The legacy of the Pick and Mix is already established. One of the of the 2022 cohort has joined our Wuthering Heights company and performers that we've got to know on our courses are always in our minds for more opportunities.