Purpose

The Folkestone Performing Arts -

 The Folkestone Performing
Arts Centre’s Community Theatre Drop-In Drama Sessions is
looking for a grant to make the sessions sustainable and to
continue to be free for the participants.

 

Decision

To provide
funding of £200.00 to the above project.

 

 
Reason for decision:

In February 2022, FPAC held auditions at the
Sunflower House to gauge interest in establishing a theatre company
in Folkestone. We had over 50 people come to the two-day auditions.
From those auditions, FPAC set up a Community Theatre Group which
is composed of people who have an interest in acting but little or
no experience or training. Since then, over 30 more people have
gotten in touch to express an interest in the Community Theatre.
They have either seen facebook posts about the group or have been
recommended by current participants.

Within the Community Theatre sessions, we not only
look at developing drama skills but also ‘soft’ skills
such as verbal and non-verbal communication, empathy, teamwork and
self-confidence. I was so pleased that from the Community Theatre
Group who performed as part of the Living Advent Calendar Event in
December 2022, 5 of the 6 participants had never performed in front
of a live audience. From their feedback and the audience’s
feedback, the participants had grown extensively in many of the
‘soft’ skills from above. Currently, we have a core
team of 8 who regularly show up for the Friday sessions.