Grit – An Original Musical

A cast of performers reaching out to rows of chairs as if to say thank you. They are in front of a black drop and someone standing on a wooden constructed stage. There is a musician sitting in one corner. Most of the people are wearing black and som…

As assistant director and writer, Grit was my first major collaboration with performance. Much of the narrative was adapted to reflect the ongoing struggles locally and nationally for young people, promoting resilience and subverting the restriction on the formal education system. All original music and scenes were devised by the company. I also performed a supporting role.

Grit was an original musical, inspired by Madeleine L’Engle’s book A Wrinkle in Time and 4 other source materials. The story followed a young woman as she tried to rescue her missing father, resist the demand to be ‘normal’, and find her own destiny. It was devised and written by a company of early career theatre makers.

Grit was funded by the Arts Council England. It was part of a larger Torbay-wide project called The Resilience Web, led and was a case study of best practise in Theatre-in-Education at the national Inspiring Curiosity Conference at Belgrade Theatre on 22 October 2015.


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