Since mid-January we have embarked on a unique journey, a wonderful opportunity to create and produce a show from scratch to be featured as part of the Lewisham Live Festival. Did you say from scratch? Yes… that’s scary! Well, it’s ambitious, because although some of us have experience with events, and we all have the awesome support from industry experts, it’s incredibly complex to coordinate the passion and ideas of fourteen Young Creatives into one holistic experience.
We meet two or three times a week at the Albany, for planning sessions, rehearsals, seminars, and also pure creation. The only premise we had to start was the title ‘Move Shake Mango’ (created by the previous group of Young Creatives), which could become a theatre show, an event, a fair, or anything we wanted… So how do you trim the infinite jungle of possibilities into one beautiful bonsai? Well, we are discovering that along the way.
We are lucky to have fantastic people supporting us and our project, from start to end, our workshop leader Andy and our Programme Manager Zaylie always giving their best to create a substantial programme full of educational and professional content. But no matter what level of support we get, the responsibility of creating a memorable and valuable experience lies completely on us, the Albany Young Creatives, and that is a challenge that will build character in whoever takes it.
With a series of group exercises and brainstorming sessions we decided on a theme that felt important to all of us and relevant to the community. We followed the guidelines of our guest speakers to divide the roles and responsibilities among the members of the group and set up teams of performers, marketers, producers and so on. Then, with a strong optimistic attitude, we set up a timeline for the project indicating the dates when tasks should be finished and content ready to go. And after doing all this… we actually started creating the content. Funny how it works right?
Now we are less than a month away from opening night, we are getting there, we have created original dance, music, poetry and an inspiring storyline to bring our theme to life, and more importantly, to awaken it inside the audiences hearts. We have grown from a group of young people into a team, a professional working team that sometimes struggles with communication and grow together with understanding, patience and an eye on the horizon. A team of passionate millennials striving to step out of their cocoons to create something bigger, which can only happen if we work together.
By Ciro Reynoso
The Albany, Deptford 