Half Moon at the heart of the local community

Half Moon has a new monthly column in local newspaper the Docklands and East London Advertiser, did you see it? The first story went out in the 23 December 2021 edition and talked about why Half Moon was at the heart of the local community.

You can read the article below, or take a look at page 5 of the e-edition at the link below.

Read the Docklands and East London Advertiser e-edition

With the festive season in full swing and family gatherings taking place across the capital, I’m reminded of Half Moon’s own celebrations earlier this year as we belatedly marked our 30^th birthday as a young people’s theatre, with a virtual showcase celebrating the history of Half Moon and the resilience and creativity of our young people.

It was a truly memorable event with 100 young people taking part, creating new work celebrating 30 years of Tower Hamlets, the people who work in our extraordinary borough and performances about world events that happened in 1990.

Half Moon has always been at the heart of the local community, allowing children to access the arts from our home in Limehouse, including seasons of professional plays for young audiences and an extensive Creative Learning programme, including eight Youth Theatres.

Attending live performances can provide a host of benefits, including improving emotional wellbeing and giving opportunities to discuss challenging subjects. Enjoyment and education rolled into one!

Outside of our beautiful Victorian building we also work in nurseries, children’s centres, schools and colleges, with over half of these engaging with at least two projects. In 2019/20 we worked with an incredible 86% of the schools in Tower Hamlets! This is no mean feat and testament to the wonderful people who work with Half Moon.

This time of year is also about looking forward and we are excited about the moths ahead. We’ve just launched our new season of theatre for young audiences, featuring 36 performances, 11 productions and 1 family friendly foyer exhibition, complete with an engaging gallery trail and interactive chalkboards.

With all tickets only £7, we offer some of the cheapest theatre tickets in London! If you haven’t visited us before, now is the time to get involved with your local theatre. Can’t make it to the theatre in person? Then our On Demand service – created during lockdown – puts your sofa in the front row with digital productions of some of our recent shows.

Incidentally, next year in 2022, Half Moon Theatre reaches another important milestone, the 50th birthday of the original theatre company! Watch this space.

Stephen Beeny is the Communications Manager at Half Moon.