A colourful book has been created by children from arts charity, Stand & Be Counted Theatre. It tells the story of an enchanted jungle with magical animals, who come together to save their families and find a place they can all call home.
There are five individual chapters, each of which are exhibited for those visiting The Montgomery Theatre & Arts Centre on Surrey Street. The specialist children’s theatre, which dates back to 1886, reopened in October after a major capital redevelopment.
Stand & Be Counted Theatre
Stand & Be Counted’s Youth Theatre of Sanctuary is a creative group where children and young people seeking sanctuary make live or digital adventures. The process of creating the book took place over several months. Designer, Alex Bennett, who is a paper engineer and illustrator based in Yorkshire, helped the children to piece together the story which focusses on a tiger called Jake.
The youngsters added in imaginative details, from houses made of jackfruit to three-headed cobras, sea creature monsters and ghosts. Artists and illustrators Naureen Hafeez and Nicola Storr also joined sessions, alongside the regular facilitators. Alex then painstakingly combined hundreds of their artworks, using paper and digital methods, to create the intricate pop-up books on the biggest scale he’s ever worked on.
Alex explained:
“I had an idea of where the story was going but then the children kept coming up with new developments – they kept me on my toes…There were some beautiful moments and special artworks created along the way.”
The project involved overcoming various technical challenges and making sure that elements of every young person’s artwork were included. Alex said the project had also helped the group to explore creating their own ‘mythology’ and stories.
He added: “The story, which ends with everyone finding a place of sanctuary, was very much based on what both The Montgomery and Stand & Be Counted offer to people in Sheffield.”
Theatre company of sanctuary
Alison Abankwa, Youth and Communities Coordinator explained:
“Children visiting The Monty can explore the book and go on a journey with it…It will help them realise that this theatre is their space…The children in the youth theatre group loved working on the story and bringing it to life through their artwork…Our aims as a theatre are to give children creative opportunities to explore and express themselves…The book project has the same aims, so having it on display is the ideal way to welcome our audiences.”
Stand & Be Counted Theatre is the UK’s first theatre company of sanctuary and The Montgomery is Sheffield’s first Theatre of Sanctuary. The book was officially launched at The Montgomery last week and is now on display for visitors.
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