Budding performers hope for Fringe benefits

8:50pm Tuesday 19th August 2008

TEN young people hoping to work in the field of performing arts are on the road to success.

The youngsters, aged between 16 and 18, left for the Edinburgh Fringe Festival on Monday and will spend a week watching both professional and non-professional shows, and attending numerous workshops.

The group, called Sixth Sense Theatre for Young People, meets at the Wyvern Theatre on Mondays and Thursdays and encourages performance and theatre making skills among youths.

Trainee general manager Jemma Baker, said the experience will be vital for the youngsters attending script writing, acting and film making workshops.

She said: “Hopefully this will help inspire the kids.

“Many of them will be going to university in September and they are staying in student accommodation in Edinburgh so this will give them a taste of it.

“They will also be watching shows and then reporting back to Swindon’s two theatres, the Wyvern and the Arts Centre, to share their opinions on what the youth of today really want to see.”

The trip, which is the first ever taken by the group, was funded in part by Flux, another arts group for young people.

Jemma says that many of the teenagers on the trip have been involved in the Sixth Sense Theatre Company for upwards of eight years.

Anyone interested in joining the group should visit the website at www.sixthsensetheatrecompany.co.uk or ring 01793 614864.

Remember When...