Discovery drama group achieve public film screening
Street’s Strode Theatre is set to show a film with a difference this June 9th.
The Future 4 @ Street Drama Group will be debuting their new film adaptation of Lewis Carroll’s classic Alice in Wonderland. In this film, though, the entire cast have a learning disability.
The group have spent several months making the 17-minute film.
Those who join the troupe’s trip down the rabbit hole will follow Alice as she chases after the White Rabbit and finds herself in a magical world of talking cats, mad tea parties and murderous playing cards.
The Future 4, who were formed through social care provider Discovery, have met every Tuesday for the past three years to devise a range of plays and musicals. This, their eighth production, will be their first film.
The piece was originally screened for family and friends (see our previous story, here) and was such a success that the theatre decided to air the film to the public.
Dave Palmer, alongside Leza England, produced and directed the show. He has been working with the cast for three years and has produced and directed their eight previous shows. He said: “It has been wonderful to be able to showcase all the hard work of the group in a professional community facility. This group has been such a success that with the latest production, Strode Theatre have offered us a public screening, to allow all members of the community the opportunity to see the fantastic work the group is producing.
There is the real sense of achievement and enjoyment amongst the group.
Dave Palmer – Co-Producer and Co-Director
“There is the real sense of achievement and enjoyment amongst the group. There is also a great enthusiasm to do more shows, with the cast suggesting new show ideas and enjoying the planning as well as the execution the pieces.
“The group have a growing confidence in their own communication skills and their ability to express their opinions on aspects of the production – owning the shows, as well as working collaboratively on them.”
As well as acting in the film, the ensemble even got involved in the production. The team discussed how a film is constructed out of shots and decided which backgrounds to create; recording live sound effects and additional dialogue to be added later. They also recorded a variety of music to suit different scenes.
Discovery Locality Manager Sandra Ware said: “The Future 4’s Alice in Wonderland is a production noteworthy for its many courageous performances.
As well as this, Discovery’s learning disabled cast made all the props, sets and backgrounds, and composed almost all of the music and sound effects.”
The creation of music and sound effects for the film were aided by a Soundbeam – a touch-free device which allows users to turn body movements into sound.
Also included in the programme is a film of one of the group’s live performances, the jukebox musical Gotta Keep Moving!
Tickets
Tickets for the film will be £4 and can be found here.