Tom Davey, RADA trained and former RSC actor, is proud to be bringing this ground-breaking project to Wallingford.
In collaboration with Wallingford School and the Merchant Taylors’ Oxfordshire Academy Trust, Bright Torches is extremely excited to be bringing this ground-breaking new Key Stage 2-3 transition project to Wallingford, providing an amazing experience for Year 7 students and the English department. The Merry Wanderers Project aims to support the students as they settle into their new school and provides them with the opportunity to work as a team with their teachers to put on their very own performance of A Midsummer Night’s Dream supported by professional actors and directors. The production will take place in the school in November, for parents, carers and the entire school community to enjoy.
I founded Bright Torches in 2021, inspired by the experiences I had as an actor at the Royal Shakespeare Company and as an education practitioner around the world. The Bright Torches team, a highly experienced group of education practitioners, supports teachers and students around the country and abroad, introducing engaging classroom activities and designing projects for 3-18 year-olds. This work is inspired by our theatre background and love of Shakespeare. The team were all trained at UK drama schools and have performed in prestigious theatres around the country including the RSC, Shakespeare’s Globe and the National Theatre. Bright Torches’ mission is to inspire and encourage individuals of all ages to ‘burn bright’ and engage with the world of literature through drama-based activities that support the academic, social and emotional development of young people.
It has been an absolute pleasure to launch the project at Wallingford School. Students were introduced to The Merry Wanderers Project whilst still in Year 6 at Wallingford School’s Transition Day, through a 45-minute long ‘storytelling’ of A Midsummer Night’s Dream written and performed by actor and writer Fiona Drummond. Through this one-woman performance the young people were encouraged to reflect on the themes of change and transition in the play (the story moves from the very contained and disciplined world of court to the chaotic magical world of the forest) and to make connections with their own feelings as they move from Primary to Secondary. In September, the same students, now in Year 7, attended a drama workshop to explore Shakespeare’s text like actors, equipping them to take on Shakespeare’s words as performers. The teachers and the 240 Year 7 students are now rehearsing the play, using an abridged script, in their English lessons. The Bright Torches script includes suggestions for the teachers about how to direct the play along with transferrable activities for many texts that encourage young people to read closely, think critically and share their ideas with confidence. The script also provides opportunities for the art and music departments to get involved in order to make the event a celebration of the students and the entire school community.
Through this project Bright Torches aims to support students in making a smooth social and academic transition to Secondary School and to empower them to enjoy, understand and form their own personal responses to complex texts, something that will stand them in good stead as they progress through their secondary education. Every student has been given a Project Diary to record their experiences in rehearsal and to reflect on the relevance of the play to their own lives. It is our hope that this is an experience that students, teachers, parents and carers will remember forever.
- Tom Davey, founder of Bright Torches
Credits: Artwork - Laura Jazwinski | Photos- Jørn Tomter