Our stories

~ 5 ~

Summarising 30 years in 30 simple

stories is a very difficult task. The

natural thing to do is base Travelling

Light’s history on its shows or other

creative projects. The challenge becomes

to identify how, and for whom, these have

influenced some of the key people associated

with the company.

Inevitably people, stories and impacts that have

had significance may not be in this book. But

that’s the beauty of it. We have a wide family,

too wide to capture on paper or film, and it is

an ever increasing one.

You can join the family too.

S

Just bring your imagination…

Our stuff lashed to

the top of the car

~ 7 ~

Jinny Paige and Kim Reuter were

friends, working as primary schools

teachers in Bristol, fed up at the lack

of quality theatre available to schools.

They went back to their creative roots and

decided to set up their own company, dedicated

to making plays for young audiences.

No-one can remember who came up with the

name Travelling Light but it stuck, even with

a sense of irony considering how much set,

costume, props and puppets were lashed to the

top of their car!

Right from the off, it was agreed children

and young people needed to be at the

heart of the work that was being made.

After becoming a registered charity, and as

the company grew in reputation, so the four

core values that Travelling Light is synonymous

with were formed:

J

1984

Our four core values…

Children and young people are at the heart of all our work1

2 We follow our passion and belief in what we do

3

4

We are bold in our decisions and not afraid to take risks

All aspects of our work are of the high-est possible quality

The Pink Panther

£350

~ 11 ~

Our first van was bought with a

grant from The Prince’s Trust.

It was a 1980 Cosworth Flyer

and cost £350. Paul ( Jinny’s

boyfriend – now husband) painted it bright

pink and ‘Travelling Light Theatre Company’

was emblazoned in huge lettering across the

side panels. It lasted for three years and was

affectionately known as The Pink Panther.

O

1984

Mrs Boglet

loads of kids

~ 13 ~

Our first show was Down at the

Dump. It was a made up tale of

Beryl who took it upon herself

to stop the local council building

a car park on a playing field. She was helped by

two mysterious creatures who lived at the nearby

dump: Mr and Mrs Boglet.

The show premiered at St Paul’s Community

Centre, then toured across Bristol to places such as

St George’s Park and Barton Hill Primary School.

With the confidence that came from the success

of that first show, Jinny and Kim were quickly

inspired to create more plays.

1984

O

1 2 3~ 15 ~

The first time we toured overseas

was in Poland with Streetwise.

Since then Travelling Light has

toured shows outside of the UK

fifteen times. The scale of international touring,

particularly in the late 1990’s/early 2000’s,

helped to build a strong reputation both abroad

and at home. Two of the company’s three

awards were won overseas (Ireland for Into

The West and Romania for Clown) while

relationships with international producers

and artists has helped keep standards and

aspirations high.

T

1984

1991

Katie

~ 17 ~

The Assistant Designer for our

production Horsebottle was Katie

Sykes, who had just moved to

Bristol. She worked with Designer

Peter Milner on the show, having seen our

production of The Stone Book the previous

year. In 1995 she was the Designer for our

production Sorted and for the vast majority

of our shows since then.

Katie has probably had the biggest influence

on Travelling Light’s aesthetic and our ability

to tour neatly into theatres, schools & non-

traditional performance spaces.

Her relationship with our work has been very

influential, but she has also created a strong

network across Bristol and far beyond as a

skilled and responsive designer.

T

1984

1991

1994

Tir Na N’Og

Into The West

~ 19 ~

Tir Na N’Og, which was later

retitled Into The West, is widely

regarded as our most influential

show. It toured eight times from

1995 – 2001, up and down the UK as well

as to Europe and throughout North

America. As it did, it inspired generations

of theatre makers.

The show heavily influenced people we work

with now: just for example, directors Sally

Cookson and Aaron Parsons both reference it

as a highly influential moment of inspiring them

to become directors, while for our General

Manager Dienka Hines it was the reason she

wanted to work in theatre.

T

1984

1991

1994 1995

~ 20 ~

Tir Na N’Og/Into the West

attracted a lot of critical

acclaim, none more so than:

1998 when it was nominated

the best show for children & young people

(Barclays/TMA Awards) and 1999 when it

won the Samuel Beckett award for best

children’s production (Dublin International

Theatre Festival).

T

1998 1999

~ 21 ~

For the show’s director Greg Banks

it opened an avenue of contacts

especially in North America. It

defined a style of creating theatre

that he was excited by and it captured the

imagination of everyone that worked on it.

It gave him a different direction to move in

and was a springboard to a brilliant career.

F

1984

1991

1994 1995

“Since I worked with

Travelling Light my career has expanded

exponentially.”

Craig

Carianne’s back

~ 23 ~

A ctor Craig Edwards was a member

of the original cast for the show.

He later toured extensively in the

show, in company with Cerianne

Roberts and Joe Hall.

The show was the beginning of an extensive

relationship with us that continues today. Since

performing Into the West, Craig has performed

in twenty Travelling Light shows and directed

three. He has also worked significantly with our

Youth Theatre. As a result of this, Craig has

built a well-respected career in theatre across

the south west.

But Tir Na N’Og/Into the West remains the

one he sets his benchmark against.

A

1984

1991

1994 1995

~ 25 ~

While we were based in a

portacabin at St George’s

School (now City Academy

Bristol) the Government

invested £50 million into Barton Hill,

Bristol’s most deprived ward. As a part of the

Community at Heart grant that came from

this large investment, we were invited to start

running a Youth Theatre in the area.

Martin Maudsley ran our first session on

Salisbury Street and such was the popularity

that we quickly added a second group.

W

1984

1991

1994 1995

2001

Liam

21TODAY

~ 27 ~

One of the first participants was

seven-year old Liam Kearns.

He stayed working with our

Youth Theatre until he was 19,

during which time he also took part in some of

our other projects including summer schools,

Truth About Youth and The Buzz (you will

read about those later).

He was a shy young lad but instantly made friends.

Taking part in a regular drama group helped him

to grow into a confident young man able to

communicate with the world around him.

As soon as she was old enough Liam’s sister Jade

joined to the same effect.

For the Kearns family and countless others have

been able to provide affordable, reliable and

positive experiences in a part of the city where

opportunities for young people to engage in

creative activities have been few and far between.

O

1984

1991

1994 1995

2001

~ 29 ~

Walking The Tightrope by

Mike Kenny performed at

Philadelphia International

Children’s Festival, and

represented the UK at the ASSITEJ 14th World

Congress in Seoul. It was the first time we

had been invited to share our work at such a

prestigious level, and it gave everyone involved

in it exposure to the best of the best around the

World at the time.

W

1984

1991

1994 1995

2001 2002

ZZZZZZ

Z

~ 31 ~

Our first show for under-fives was

Cloudland, based on the book

by John Burningham. Following

a performance at the Take Off

theatre festival at which the show was universally

praised, Cloudland embarked on what at the time

was our biggest UK tour. It was so popular that

the tour was extended twice!

The show also marked the beginning of several

professional relationships which have blossomed

in recent years, notably with director Sally

Cookson, musician Sarah Moody and performer

Lucy Tuck.

O

1984

1991

1994 1995

2001 2002 2003

SALLY

~ 31 ~

Sally Cookson’s career as a sought after

director specialising in devised theatre

has been heavily influenced by working

with us. She saw Into The West while

working for the Bristol Old Vic Young Company

and was so inspired by the show that it helped her

to define the sort of plays she wanted to make.

To date she has directed sixteen of our

productions and won two of our three

awards. She has developed relationships with

some of the UK’s finest theatre makers and

producers, and has also established firm roots

in Bristol.

S

1984

1991

1994 1995

2001 2002 2003

“Travelling Light is the reason I am a professional director.”

~ 33 ~

Our first co-production with Bristol

Old Vic was also our first wordless

show. It was Clown, inspired by the

wordless book by Quentin Blake.

Working without words was a significant milestone

for us and not only because it meant we could

reach audiences in a completely different way,

but also because it inspired a remarkable amount

of exploratory education work, mainly with the

action research organisation 5x5x5=Creativity.

This research was led by our Education team at

the time, Sandra Barefoot and Mike Akers

for whom it established an entirely new style

of practice.

O

1984

1991

1994 1995

2001 2002 2003

2004

Grrrrrr

~ 35 ~

Sandra Barefoot worked for Travelling

Light at a time when personal and

professional life coincided.

As she asked the question: ‘how do we

meet and understand the three and four year

old in theatre?’ she too was asking the same

question of her three year old son Theo when,

she realised, she didn’t really know who he was.

S

1984

1991

1994 1995

“With this, a new path opened up to me of researching the small child and to this day

I am eternally grateful for this. My journey will never leave me

in the richness of working so closely with the young

child... a true gift.”

2001 2002 2003

2004 2005

Ist

~ 37 ~

Clown won the Association of

International Theatre Critics

award for best acting at the

Bucharest International

Children’s Theatre Festival.C

1984

1991

1994 1995

2001 2002 2003

2004 2005

~ 39 ~

We worked with the Tobacco

Factory Theatres for the very

first time on a co-production

of The Ugly Duckling a

show which subsequently toured up and down

the UK, playing to thousands of audiences.

It was our first family Christmas show and the

beginning of an exciting tradition. Subsequent

co-productions have included: Ali Baba and the

Forty Thieves; Cinderella: a Fairytale; The Last

Voyage of Sinbad the Sailor and 101 Dalmatians.

W

1984

1991

1994 1995

2007

2001 2002 2003

2004 2005

~ 41 ~

Following on from Clown we made

Shadow Play which also had no

dialogue. It was the first time we had

made an entirely abstract production

with no central narrative as a basis.

It was the product from another fascinating

research and development period this time

delivered in partnership with Take Art Early

Years service, working with a number of

nurseries across Somerset. The Sticky Fingers

and Toes project encouraged innovative

storytelling techniques with very young children,

the results of which inspired Shadow Play.

F

1984

2008

1991

1994 1995

2007

2001 2002 2003

2004 2005

~ 43 ~

How Cold My Toes was our

first piece of dance theatre.

It was the first time we worked

with performer Laura Street,

and with Champloo Dance Company’s Wilkie

Branson and Joel Daniel.

Creating a narrative inspired simply by the

changing seasons, Toes captured the

imaginations of thousands of 2-6 year olds.

H

1984

20082009

1991

1994 1995

2007

2001 2002 2003

2004 2005

~ 45 ~

Wilkie Branson and Joel Daniel

choreographed How Cold

My Toes and as a result forged

a close relationship with us.

Both were Bristol based BBoys interested

in fusing their dance form with theatre or live

performance. As Champloo Dance they created

White Caps, which we helped them tour and

which subsequently opened avenues for them

with dance companies, venues and festivals

across Europe.

For Travelling Light they have been involved,

both separately and together, with Boing!,

Varmints, Cinderella: a Fairytale, Ali Baba and

Truth About Youth.

W

1984

2008

1991

1994 1995

2007

2001 2002 2003

2004 2005

2009

~ 47 ~

Wilkie and Joel co-

choreographed and

performed in Boing!

a co-production with

Bristol Old Vic where

it ran over Christmas 2010. The show was

remounted for the next three Christmases,

each time with a run at Sadler’s Wells, and

was also invited to perform at British Dance

Edition in 2012.

W

1984

2008

1991

1994 1995

2010

2007

2001 2002 2003

2004 2005

2009

~ 49 ~

We were invited to be a

delivery partner for a Truth

About Youth Performing

Arts Experience, produced

in Bristol by The Princes Trust. The Truth

About Youth is a 3-week course funded by the

Cooperative Foundation that is designed to

challenge negative perceptions of young people,

focussed at 16-25 year olds not in education,

employment or training.

We worked with ten young people from

Bristol, Bath and Swindon to produce an

original play that explored how the young

and old share characteristics.

One of the young people we worked with

was Xahnaa.

She had just finished school and didn’t know

what she wanted to do.

W

1984

2011

2008

1991

1994 1995

2010

2007

2001 2002 2003

2004 2005

2009

~ 50 ~

During the Truth About Youth project with

us, Xahnaa worked with a director, designer,

musician and choreographer over the week,

as well as making some new friends.

“It was great trying and learning new or different skills. But most of all it has been great because I’ve actually been getting out of bed

and doing something!”

But her story doesn’t stop there.

A year later, Xahnaa got back in touch with us

because she was looking at ways of raising some

money to apply to join in the National Youth

Theatre Summer School. We invited her

to volunteer with us – she helped on the set

of the short film Parallels we made with our

Youth Theatre – and in return we helped

sponsor her place.

~ 51 ~

And then again, she came back to us looking to

build some further experience – so we offered

her a paid job assisting with a short project at a

local school in Bristol.

We didn’t hear from her for a while but then

out of the blue she got in touch:

Travelling Light

Theatre Company

Barton Hill Settlement

43 Ducie Road

BristolBS5 0AX

“ I have good news! I started

applying to universities and

drama schools and a few

weeks ago I was offered

a place at the The Royal

Central School of Speech &

Drama to do the BA (Hons)

Drama, Applied Theatre and

Education course yaaay! I

wanted to thank you for

your help over the years as

it made a real difference.”

love from Xahnaa

~ 53 ~

Our co-production of Cinderella:

a Fairytale in 2011 broke box

office records at the Tobacco

Factory Theatres. In 2012 it

transferred to St James Theatre in Westminster

where it was nominated for an Olivier Award.

The following year it was remounted at the

Unicorn Theatre where it won an Offie for

best production for young people.

Cinderella: a Fairytale demonstrated a scale

of ambition and creativity that helped to

give the creative team and cast significant

opportunities elsewhere.

We also used the original production in Bristol

to give our Youth Theatre an opportunity to

create something alongside a professional show.

Our 11-13 group produced a short curtain-raiser

performance, Giant Heart, shared before two

shows in early December.

O

1984

2011

2008

1991

1994 1995

2010

2007

2001 2002 2003

2004 2005

2009

We offered Maria, a single mum

of two living in a cramped flat in

one of the tower blocks in Barton

Hill, the opportunity to volunteer

with us in the office.

Long term unemployed and with a history of

severe depression, Maria just needed a positive,

safe environment for her children and also for

her own sake.

Her daughter soon joined our Youth Theatre

and as a result Maria became even more heavily

involved in everything we did, eventually helping

us to produce the short film Parallels which

formed a part of our summer showcase at Arnolfini.

W

~ 53 ~

Later that year, Maria successfully applied for

rehousing and was able to move away from

the area. Although it meant that she could no

longer volunteer, and that Kaitlyn could no

longer come to Youth Theatre, they both left

with confidence, positivity and a bright future.

1984

2011

2008

1991

1994 1995

2010

2007

2001 2002

2012

2003 2004 2005

2009

Two of our longest-serving Youth

Theatre members Travis and Ruby

approached us with an idea. They

wanted to produce their own play,

in order to prove that young people can produce

theatre of a professional standard.

We were excited by their drive and enthusiasm

and so we invited them to pitch a production.

The result was Vita, premiered at The Station

Bristol in April 2013. It was written by Travis,

directed by Ruby and designed by Ella, all of

whom were aged 16-19. We provided support

through guidance and mentoring from professional

theatre-makers. They led a cast of 11 – 18 year olds

and entirely fulfilled their vision.

T

“What a professional

standard show! Well done!” Audience member

~ 55 ~

We were so inspired by their vision that we

followed it up with The Time Travelling

Detective in 2014 which was produced,

directed and designed by young people.

1984

2011

2008

1991

1994 1995

2013

2010

2007

2001 2002

2012

2003 2004 2005

2009Travis in the dark

Ruby

~ 57 ~

Cath Grieg, our Administrator/

General Manager from 1997 to

2014, was made a Member of

the Order of the British Empire

(MBE) for services to theatre for young people in

Bristol in the Queen’s New Year’s Honours List.

Following this in the Queen’s Birthday Honours

List, Jude Merrill, our Artistic Producer since

1987, was awarded an MBE for services to theatre

for children.

C

1984

2011

2008

1991

1994 1995

2010

2007

2001 2002 2003

2004 2005

2009

2013

2012

~ 59 ~

For Catherine, Louder Than Words has become

the only thing in her life that feels totally and utterly

and specially hers. She realised she didn’t have to

share it with her siblings or her friends, and that is

an important respite for her. As a result, it increased

her confidence around other people and helped to

unlock her creativity.

Fergus goes to a mainstream school but struggles to

fit in properly with the people around him. With

Travelling Light he doesn’t care – he comes and

expresses himself without a worry in the world.

Dhere was demand for us to run a

specialist drama group for young

people with additional needs, and

thanks to the kind people at St

James Place Foundation we were able to launch

Louder Than Words. Sessions were delivered

on a weekly basis and as a summer school by Zoe

Davies and Molly Holland, involving games and

dramatherapy techniques to support participants

become a team.

We aren’t allowed to publish people’s real names so

we have changed them here. However the stories

are true:

Thomas had never attended a group regularly

without being asked to leave or feeling as if he

wanted to be there. He was regularly beaten up

at school for wearing bright clothes – but he felt

really comfortable wearing them with us.

T

1984

2011

2008

1991

1994 1995

2010

2007

2001 2002 2003

2004 2005

2009

2013

2012

~ 61 ~

Lrancis joined our Youth Theatre as

a ten year old, brought here by his

best mate. He was a ball of energy!

He bounced off the walls! He caused

never ending disruption! School wasn’t a very

friendly place for him and he struggled to keep

any focus.

He soon found that Travelling Light was a

welcoming and safe space for him, somewhere

he could be himself and where it was easy to

make friends. His natural energy was successfully

channelled into creative activities.

As a result he started to take responsibility for

learning his lines or getting to rehearsals on time.

He did his Work Experience placement with us,

and shortly afterwards started to volunteer with

our youngest group.

F

1984

2011

2008

1991

1994 1995

2010

2007

2001 2002 2003

2004 2005

2009

2013

2012

During this time, he discovered a love and

a natural ability for working with young

children.

Once he had finished school, Francis

successfully applied to study Theatre Studies

and English at Oxford College.

~ 61 ~

3n Sunday 8 June 2014 we took over

Barton Hill Settlement in Bristol

to put on a free family theatre festival

for our community: 30Fest. It was a

major part of our 30th birthday celebrations and

featured live performances, workshops, films,

and some amazing food from our friends and

neighbours Dhek Bhal.

Throughout the day over nearly 400 people

came to 30Fest, to share in the exciting range

of arts activities we had on offer.

O

1984

2011

2008

1991

1994 1995

2010

2007

2001 2002 2003

2004 2005

2009

2013 2014

2012

With special thanks to…

~ 62 ~

All the children and young people who we

have played games with, had fun with and made

theatre with over the years.

All the wonderful people who have collaborated

with us, made shows and projects with us and

helped us to do what we love.

The people of Barton Hill for giving us a home

and a community to be part of.

The people at Home for all your design help

and support.

© 2014 Travelling Light Theatre Company

Barton Hill Settlement, 43 Ducie Road, Bristol BS5 0AX

www.travellinglighttheatre.org.uk

Here’s to the next thirty years