Niall Fraser of TinRaven will be working in conjunction with Eastleigh Borough Council’s Culture Unit and The Berry Theatre’s Write Now programme to develop an app to support a trans-media storytelling trail across ten libraries and schools in Southampton and Eastleigh.
After an introductory drama workshop helping pupils unlock their imagination, participants will read a new short story version of The Tales of Sir Bevis, written by The Berry Theatre’s associate writer, Matt Beames. The story will include ten writing challenges that pupils will need to complete to help tell their version of the story.
The results of the children’s writing will be fed into the Story Shuffle app and the resulting content will be available to read alongside hundreds of submissions from young people, on all smart media devices. Children will then be encouraged to use the skills they have learnt to write their own Bevis adventure. These free-form creative writing passages will also be viewable through the app.
To access not only their story but hundreds of others, pupils will have to visit their local library to find a code and unlock the app.
The Story Shuffle app is partly funded by Artswork, the youth arts development agency, and is supported by Southampton and Hampshire Library Services.
-Story by James Hibberd, Tec Hub Press and PR.
Press Releases
Story Shuffle launches in Southampton and Eastleigh schools
Story Shuffle launches in Southampton and Eastleigh schools
The Berry Theatre has launched its innovative Story Shuffle creative writing project for 7-11 year olds across ten pairs of schools and libraries in Southampton and Eastleigh.
The project will encourage participating pupils to complete ten writing challenges throughout the Autumn term, which will then be fed into a mobile app, created by local developer, TinRaven.
Once completed, stories in the app will be unlocked by visiting the school’s partnering library, allowing the children to read their own individual creations and introducing them to an even wider range of books.
Following an initial workshop with The Berry Theatre’s Drama Development team, the schools will use the story of Southampton’s legendary hero, Sir Bevis, as the basis for the challenges, devised by the theatre’s associate writer, Matt Beames.
As part of the project, pupils will also work towards gaining the Discover Arts Award qualification by learning more about the drama team’s day-to-day roles.
Pupils that took part from Freegrounds Junior School in Hedge End were extremely enthused by the workshop, which brought a somewhat forgotten tale back to life.
Sam, age 9, said: ‘It’s really cool because lots of other places have legends, and I had no idea that Southampton had one.’
Tom, also age 9, said: ‘I feel quite honoured to live in Southampton now!’
The project has been supported by a £50,000 investment from Southampton-based charity Artswork, along with further funding from Eastleigh Borough Council and Arts Council England.
Story Shuffle forms part of The Berry Theatre’s Write Now programme aimed at developing new writers. For more information on Write Now, visit www.theberrytheatre.co.uk/write-now.
