Summer at Kindred Key Youth Theatre

For the most dramatic way to spend the summer holiday don’t miss out on Kindred Key Youth Theatre’s Summer Schools

After the first few days of euphoria and freedom, the summer holidays can soon start to drag. It isn’t long before keeping young minds occupied becomes an ongoing battle of wits and they’re climbing the walls with boredom! If your youngsters have a habit of acting up when they’re restless, a week of intense drama could be just the ticket! The Kindred Key Youth Theatre’s Summer Schools have become a fixture in the Peterborough area, providing fun-filled adventure for children and young adults through acting, movement, music and singing. Summer Schools last a week and at the end of each week comes the opportunity to stage a spectacular performance on the Key Theatre’s stage.

Two Summer Schools run over the first half of August. Groups are split by age, with budding actors ranging from seven to 18. Acting experience definitely isn’t a necessity, but a willingness to have fun and give it a go is. ‘All of the children work with professional directors, musicians and choreographers. Then at the end of the week, on the Saturday, each group will put on its own performance to an audience of their family and friends,’ says Kindred’s Paul Collings. There are four age groups in total, roughly split: seven to nine-year-olds; 10 and 11-year-olds; those aged 12 and 13; then an older group of young adults 14 and up. ‘This year we’ve got some cracking shows to work towards: the Disney film Tangled, The Sound of Music, Shrek the Musical and Blood Brothers,’ adds Paul.

Intense fun!
Each of the shows is written by the director responsible for his or her group. Their challenge is to condense a two-hour-plus play into a half-hour performance so that the children have a realistic chance of getting to grips with the play, learning their lines and rehearing it within the tight one-week schedule. This year Paul will be directing Blood Brothers, a play he knows well having played the lead role some 3,000 times!

‘When you know the show as well as I do it’s difficult to condense it into a halfhour performance. There are quite a few storylines going on, so it’s a challenge to pick the ones to focus on. But the challenge is worth it. These two weeks are the best in the year, they really are. The atmosphere is just incredible. On day one everybody is quite nervous but by the time you get to Friday afternoon everyone’s become part of a big team and gets on really well.’ Each day runs from 9am to 5pm. Monday typically starts with some exercises to settle everyone into the week. You might learn the main song from the show and then there’s the process of auditioning to see where everybody fits in. Then come Tuesday it’s four clear days to put the whole thing together!’

All-inclusive
Everybody who wants to perform will have a chance to do so and every child is engaged in every show, right the way through. ‘All the children are always part of the action,’ explains Paul. ‘That’s a massive part of all this for us, because a show is only as strong as the people at the back. At the end of the day it’s not about being the most talented and doing it perfectly, it’s about the children being engaged and involved in what they’re doing. It is important to help them understand that just because somebody is playing the lead they aren’t any more important than someone who might have just one line.’

Of course, it’s not just the music and drama that the children get to grips with; as well as honing performance skills the Summer Schools represent an opportunity for your child to make new friends, many of whom will become friends for life. One thing’s for sure – a week at the Kindred Key Youth Theatre Summer School is anything but boring!

Kindred KYT Summer School
● The Summer School takes place at the Key Theatre, Embankment Road, Peterborough PE1 1EF.
● One week costs £160 with a 10% discount per additional child for families sending more than one child or for those booking more than one week. Every child receives a Summer School T-shirt, which they can keep at the end of the week.
● To reserve your place head to www.kindreddrama.com and complete the online form or email