More than 350 primary school children from across Oxfordshire attended Oxford Playhouse this week to see their own original plays performed by professional actors as part of the theatre’s Primary Playmaker programme.

Now in its eleventh year, the flagship scheme of The Playhouse’s Creative Education programme sees professional theatre makers work with pupils to devise their own original scripts.

The Playhouse team have been working with twelve classes from across Years 5 and 6 since the start of the academic year, supporting children’s literacy learning through drama workshops and script writing in the classroom. The showcase is a culmination of the project, with each school invited to see their devised work, with one script selected to be performed from each class.

This year’s theme was “Belonging”. Attending the showcase on Tuesday, the pupils watched professional actors Daisy Ann Fletcher, Alex Ansdell, Kara Kavanaugh and Aaron-Louis Cadogan perform the short plays. They covered all sorts of imaginative ideas from a kraken causing havoc at a water park, a family holiday to Mars and a talking parrot who travels to Spain in search of Flamenco.

This year’s participating schools included Abbey Woods Academy, Bayards Hill Primary School, The Batt C of E Primary School, Botley School, Dunmore Primary School, Millbrook Primary School, St John Fisher Catholic Primary School, St Michael’s CE Primary School and Thameside Primary School.

The showcase is co-directed by local artist Lucy Findlay, who leads the classroom workshops alongside facilitators Harriet Gill and Helen Pearson. This marks the first time that a facilitator has also directed, following the project from its beginnings in the classroom to the final project.

She co-directs alongside Ben Newman, the current MCS Resident Director at The Playhouse and Associate Director of the theatre’s recent production of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?.

On co-directing the showcase, Lucy Findlay said:

“It has been a real privilege to work with another brilliant cohort of primary school children this year. After seeing the imagination, effort and enthusiasm they’ve shown in the classroom, I’m grateful that Ben and I were able to bring their original pieces to the Main Stage. The showcase is always a special moment – a chance to celebrate the pupil’s creativity and commitment, and to share with them just how valuable drama and theatre can be, both inside and beyond the classroom.”

The scheme is supported by St John’s College, Oxford, through the Creative Transformation Partnership, a three-year programme with The Playhouse, which aims to break down barriers to accessing the arts and creative learning for Oxfordshire primary school children. The project aims to address the pronounced inequality of opportunity for arts engagement and learning throughout the region.

Other recent funders who have made the scheme possible include The Doris Field Charitable Trust, The Emmanuel Kaye Foundation, The Hugh Fraser Foundation, Mr & Mrs J A Pye’s Charitable Settlement, Macfarlane Family Foundation, and MacTaggart Third Fund.

Primary Playmaker has been developed in consultation with teachers from across Oxfordshire. It is structured to provide clearer scaffolding throughout the process to help pupils better understand the scheme’s aims and how the project connects to their literacy learning.

The showcase is brought to life by an in-house creative team – Paul Simpson (Producer), Alice Whitfield-Jessop (Project Manager), Caitlin Kirby (Project Coordinator), Will Hayman (Lighting Designer), and Augustine Van Spyk (Sound Designer).