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Ed Balls visit • Arts Council free ticket initiative • Locked In wins award • Wonderful World Film Wins Award • Half Moon to Host BBC Jam Event • Youth Theatre Appears in Hi8us South Film

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12 January 2009 Ed Balls, (former) Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families visited Half Moon On Monday 12 January Ed Balls visited Half Moon to watch one of our education projects in action. Half Moon are currently working in partnership with Southwark College on the new Creative & Media Diploma which was an initiative of the Minister.

Students from Southwark College are spending 2 weeks at Half Moon participating in the work experience component of the Diploma. During their time at the theatre students will learn technical and production skills and culminate in performances of the play that they have created - The Coin.

During his visit the Minister met with the students and saw them taking part in performance, writing and music workshops, their was also a lighting demonstration from one student.

Click here to see an interview with Ed Balls on Teachers TV
Click here to read an article in The Wharf about the visit

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January 2009
Free ticket initiative

Half Moon has been chosen to be a partner in the Arts Counci's landmark free ticket initiative, giving away free tickets for under 26 year olds to encourage more young people to watch drama. The scheme kicks off in February 09 and will run until 2011.

Half Moon already works extensively with under 26 year olds and will use this funding as an opportunity to target a new group of young people and further extend our reach. We will use our already successful outreach programme and strong community links to connect with parents under 26 and offer them and their young children their first experiences of theatre.

Chris Elwell director of Half Moon said this following the announcement:
"Half Moon is a vibrant theatre specialising in work for young people and although ever year we sell over 90 percent of our tickets we are continually striving to attract audiences who don't usually attend theatre.

" Our strategy for this award is to target young people and their children."

Click here to read the full press release about the venture.
Click here for more information about the free ticket scheme.

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Locked In Writer Honoured at Awards

Half Moon is thrilled to announce Fin Kennedy was named runner up in the Brian Way Awards 2008 for his script Locked In, commissioned and produced by Half Moon in 2006 and touring again in Autumn 2008.

From a shortlist of seven productions Fin's script was chosen by the panel of judges for an award and described as "Modern poetry, fast, clever, sometimes beautiful and never patronising." The Brian Way Awards celebrate achievements of playwrights who write for young people and were created by The Arts Council, in honour of Brian Way, a passionate advocate for theatre in education.

A highly awaited revival of Locked In is touring nationally this autumn. Check out the Locked In page for more information.

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Wonderful World Film wins award

In 2005 Half Moon were offered the opportunity to work with professional film company Pink to produce a short film featuring our youth theatre members. The resulting film Wonderful World premiered in June 2006 on the Community Channel.

Since the film was made it has won two awards. A silver in The British Television Advertising Awards and a bronze award in the European Awards for Creative Excellence

To find out more about the film or to see it now click here.

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Half Moon to host BBC Jam event

On Friday 16 February 2007 from 10am to 3pm we hosted a TV internet drama workshop for young people aged 14 - 25. This project was a collobaration between BBC Jam and the Shoreditch Consortium.

The aim of the project was to explore choices around independent living, work,
education and careers for young disabled people.

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Youth Theatre appear in Hi8us South film

Half Moon is pleased to announce the involvement of it's Youth Theatre members in a short film, A knife in the Life of...you? aimed at 11-14 years olds and produced by Hi8us South. The project was commissioned and funded by Tower Hamlets Crime Reduction Unit.

The film is aimed at young people who are not carrying knives but may be at risk of carrying them for protection in the future. It will be used as tool to raise awareness to the dangers and possible consequences of carrying knives and aims to lead to facilitated discussions amongst young people in schools and Youth Organisations in Tower Hamlets. It will also be supporting the Tower Hamlets Knives Amnesty being launched on May 24 2006.

Half Moon worked in partnership with Hi8us South to run a series of facilitated drama workshops with a group of young people, many of whom attend the Youth Theatres at Half Moon. In the workshops Derek Brown from Actor Shop worked through the outline to the scenario that had been devised with Hi8us South and Tower Hamlets. From these workshops a cast of young people spent three days filming in and around Tower Hamlets. The whole project has been an great opportunity for our young people to get involved with an issue that affects them and to explore the media of film.

For more information please contact Half Moon on 020 7265 8138 or admin@halfmoon.org.uk or use our enquiry form.

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