Pennfields Special School Halloween Project

The year nine children of Pennfields Special School were studying 'Spooky Stories' for one of their English projects. The teacher involved felt that in order for them to have a complete understanding of creating mood and atmosphere, they should some sort of theatrical experience along this theme. Urban Voice felt that this really should be an experience in which they should be actively involved, rather than passive audience members. An interactive piece of site specific theatre was created especially for pupils with special needs.

The piece takes the form of a ghost-walk/murder mystery in which the young people are lead around the attic rooms of the Mansion House in Sherwsbury by an actor in role as a ghost. The children meet characters of the past and solve an ancient murder enquiry, using various clues and maps. the piece was very successful and has been repeated in other schools.

"In October 2002, myself and fourteen of my pupils visited Urban Voice Theatre Company at the Mansion House in Shrewsbury. The pupils, all with special educational needs and between the ages of twelve and fourteen, participated in a Halloween 'Murder mystery' event. The pupils were entirely enthused by the event and still, over a month later are desperate to repeat the experience. The three actors that worked with the children were both professional and considerate to the specific needs of the pupils. The pupils all participated fully in the drama and were extremely pleased when 'Baroness Pimplybottom' was found guilty, as they had suspected. The day was well structured and organised with act ivies appropriate to the needs of the pupils. Overall, an excellent day. I would recommend Urban voice without reservation."
Eve Charlton Pennfields School

Meir Today, Gone Tomorrow!

This huge, year-long project saw us working alongside Creative Partnerships Stoke & Crescent Primary School to create a whole school & community play! Over 400 pupils and staff took aprt in the performance that was specially written for the school.

Writers, Directors, Musicians and Film Makers worked on the project to produce

Urban Voice Archives......Coming Soon!

Urban Voice Limited will soon be posting a complete set of archives. This will take the form of a detailed catalogue of the work we've done since we started in 2000!

We'll be including descriptions of projects, photographs and videos of some of our favourite projects!

So.....if you want to find out more about Urban Voice Limited is all about......come back soon and find out!

Walsall Pan SRB Project

Urban Voice were approached to co-ordinate the drama element for the last Pan SRB project in Walsall. Working alongside Walsall Community Arts, artistic director Michael Richardson, Ace dance company, Cultural Sisters and Urban Voice assisted the young performers in celebratory piece of drama.

"Phoenix demonstrates how young people today deal with some of the issues which face them as they are growing up; and shows how the experiences, whether good or bad, can be used to help them develop into young adults who are ready to face up to the challenges of their future lives."
Walsall Community Arts

The Magical Christmas Tree

Urban Voice performed The Magical Christmas Tree as a Christmas special at Butts primary School. The story tells the tale of the Christmas tree no one else wanted but is eventually brought by the Appleyby family. When the tree is decorated, it comes to life, and magically turns the dreams of children into reality. Using classic storytelling fused with original songs and unique poetry.

Devonshire School Tudor Project

Devonshire School contacted Urban Voice with a request for actors to help them with a project based on the Tudors. Working also with curators at the Oak House in West Bromwich, Urban voice provided an on-going project in which two actors worked 'in-role' with the young people, as and when they solved the different sections of the Tudor mystery. The children were encouraged to interact directly with the characters, ask them questions, send e-mails and telephone them as they solved various clues to the story. the piece was completed in December with a final production from the children.

"It's working very well so far, the children actually believe it's real and are getting quite caught up in the story!"
Mary Flitcroft Deavonshire School

Living on The Never Never

Following research done in February and a meeting with Jan Norton from the Theatre in Health Education Trust, urban Voice were contacted by Nick McCartney, co-ordinator of the 'Mind Your Head! Health and Well Being Festival' at the MAC in Birmingham. it was felt that our working piece, Living on the Never, Never which focuses on debt, would fit well into the ethos of the festival. A short experimental piece was created for the festival as a 'work in progress' to test audience responses.

The piece was well recieved and as a result was funded by West Midlands Arts for a six week tour of the Black Country.

"Really enjoyed seeing your work. This is an important issue, you must get it out there locally!"
Jan Norton, Theatre in Health Education Trust