National Lottery funding supports Glasgow deaf youth theatre

Descriptor: First we see a purple screen, where a caption reads, “The National Lottery Good Causes.” We then see shots of the city of Glasgow, finishing with a shot of National Lottery presenter John Partridge walking through the city.

John: Today I'm here in sunny Glasgow to see how National Lottery funding is helping a really special group of young actors.

Descriptor: We now see several fast shots of the Theatre Royal in Glasgow, finishing on shots of children walking into the theatre. We hear John in a voice-over.

John: The Solar Bear Deaf Youth Theatre helps deaf children from all over Scotland experience the excitement of live performance.

Descriptor: We now see the children inside the theatre. They are viewing the stalls and circle from the stage; some are exclaiming, "Wow!" in admiration. John is speaking to them. As John speaks, a woman translates what he is saying into sign language.

John: Well, here we are, Theatre Royal Glasgow, this is one of the oldest theatres in Scotland, this is for you, this is your rehearsal space.

Descriptor: The children cheer and applaud. We now see shots of the children rehearsing and preparing costumes. We hear John in a voice-over. Several of the children communicate with each other using sign language.

John: National Lottery grants from the Big Lottery Fund helped to set up this project, and Creative Scotland continues to fund the very important work that goes on here.

Descriptor: We then see John sat with Natalie MacDonald of the Solar Bear Theatre Company in the circle of the theatre. As she speaks, we see more shots of the children rehearsing and signing to each other.

Natalie: We have young people from age 12 to 21, and they come together for workshops and, em, drama experiences. The funding has enabled us to engage with young deaf people but not just that engage with the wider deaf community, all over Scotland.

Descriptor: We see more shots of the children rehearsing as we hear John in voice-over.

John: Nobody understands the enormous benefits of Solar Bear better than the parents.

Descriptor: We now see John sat in the theatre stalls with the parents of Cameron, one of the children in the workshop. As they speak, we see and hear shots of Cameron rehearsing, and holding the hand of another member of the workshop.

Father: It's changed Cameron's life that he, it's broadened his horizons and he's it's, learned him so many new skills.

Mother: They go out together, they go bowling together, they go to social events together and they all look after each other.

Presenter: Now recently the children did a big performance with the National Youth Theatre so tell us a little bit about that, how that felt.

Father: [Almost whispers] Oh... [He touches his chest.] It was so emotional.

John: Ah. [The father is overwhelmed with emotion. John touches his arm sympathetically.]

Mother: It was absolutely amazing, the excitement behind the scenes was phenomenal.

Father: Ah, and the fact that they got a standing ovation when they finished, just fantastic. [He is close to tears.]

Mother: Amazing.

Descriptor: We now see John and the children sat in a ring on the stage. A woman sat next to John is translating between spoken English and sign language.

John: What is the best thing about coming to Solar Bear?

Boy: I, I don't know where to start, I just, I love drama, I love drama, I love acting. I just, I love being part of it, and it's you know, a bit of friendship as well.

John: Being part of a family. As we say in Walford, [adopts East End accent] "Family!" [The group laughs.]

Descriptor: we now see John walk on to the stage, where the children are preparing to perform. He takes a position among the children on stage.

John: a little bit nervous now, so, em...

We see several shots of John rehearsing a scene with the children. Several of the shots are of John learning his lines in sign language. We hear John speak in voice-over.

John: It had been such an incredible day, but the icing on the cake, was when they asked me to get up there and perform.

We see John hug one of the performers.

John: [Laughs] Yeah! Right, come on, let's do it!

We see a close-up of someone playing a guitar, before seeing several long shots of the scene being performed. The children are reciting as a chorus, in both speech and sign language. John is part of the chorus.

Chorus: Once, upon a time, there was a forest, and in that forest, there was a boy, and his brother, a girl and her lover, a bird that couldn't swim, and the fisherman...

We see the group cheer and applaud each other. John throws his hat into the air. Finally, we see a shot of all the children and John on stage together, waving at the camera and cheering.