29 March 2006
The Beaufort Theatre & Ballroom, Ebbw Vale, recently staged a run of a hard-hitting version of Edgar Allan Poe’s famous tale “The Masque of the Red Death”, with a strong anti-drugs message to local teenagers.
Young people attended the shows from schools and organisations across the County Borough including Ebbw Vale Comprehensive, the Oasis Club, Coleg Gwent, Communities First and the Pupil Referral Unit, Tredegar. All in all, the week of shows was a great success with over 200 people visiting the theatre for the five performances and some very positive feedback received.
The ground-breaking piece of theatre told the gothic masterpiece in a completely new way, using puppetry, mask and a unique style of visual theatre. In this version of the story, the town was hit by drugs instead of being devastated by plague and the masked ball became a rave. The set was built as a fairground ride with waltzer cars for seats, which whirled the audience from scene to scene.
The challenging subject of drug use was tackled in an entertaining but thought-provoking way. Workshops after the shows also allowed the young people to discuss and understand the message of the drama.
Claire Murray, an English teacher at Ebbw Vale Comprehensive School, said that all the pupils had thoroughly enjoyed the performance and it was all they wanted to talk about afterwards. She said “The amazing set made the audience a part of the performance and being so involved really helped get the message of the show across.” The Year 10 pupils had studied the story before going to the theatre, which also added to their enjoyment of the show.
Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council’s Arts Development Team offers a range of arts activities for all ages and abilities throughout the year in areas such as DJ-ing, Breakdancing, Photography, Creative Writing and Visual Arts. The Arts Development Team also work closely with youth groups in the area to progress arts activities such as in the recent VISTA project, which saw young people creating works of art of various Blaenau Gwent landmarks.
The show was put on by the Fetch Theatre Company and supported and funded by the Arts Council of Wales’ Arts Outside Cardiff Initiative and the Welsh Assembly Government. The Beaufort Theatre & Ballroom, Ebbw Vale is recognised as a Regional Performing Arts Centre partner.
For further details on shows at the Beaufort Theatre & Ballroom, Ebbw Vale, please contact the Box Office on 01495 350360 or visit the website http://www.blaenaugwentvenues.com/.
