Women in War was a National Lottery Heritage Funded Project, the aim of the project was to uncover the true hidden stories of women in the First World War, centred around the immense history of Hanworth Park House. After months of research and working with local historians we were able to create a brand new play that combined all of this rich history. We worked with young people ages 11+ and directed them in their first every site-specific performance on the steps of Hanworth Park House. The first performance was watched by 100 people and become a fun family day for all to enjoy. The show was later performed at Bedfont Lane Community Centre for friends and family as well as the Annual History Day hosted by Feltham Arts. Some of the cast even performed snippets of the show at the International Women’s Day celebration at Hounslow House.
Small sample from participant feedback:
My favourite part of the project:
- “My speech about the Suffragette march”
- “Interacting with the audience and bringing them up”
- “Making friends”
- “Designing the poster for the show”
- “Learning about the history”
- “Enjoyed working with people I have never worked with before”
- “Getting to wear the costumes that looked like they were from that time”
Small sample from audience Feedback:
- “What a wonderful opportunity for the youth of the community to come together, perform and find out a lot about the history of the area in which they live. More should be done to encourage this.”
- “Well done to the cast. Very enjoyable”
- “It was so good! Wonderful way to share local history by involving local children + community.”
- “Events like this are vital for the community and I wish there was more organised regularly.”
- “This project is very valuable to our community. Thank you for a lovely day”
- “Fantastic performance. All were enthusiastic and did a great job. Looking forward to future productions. Love how they get the audience involved.”
- “Very successful performance and audience turnout”
- “Theatre group were excellent. They enjoyed themselves and so did I. More please.”
- “A lovely theatre production about the local area and war. The young people did an wonderful job and I would like to attend future productions”