From there, to here and beyond!
Stiltskin’s Soapbox Children’s Theatre
It may seem that Stiltskin’s Soapbox Theatre has just popped up from no-where in the last four years, but we have been on quite a journey to get here, so here’s a snap shot of some of the things we have done and how it all happened.
Jacqueline and Iain, co-founders and directors of Stiltskin Theatre and Arts and The Soapbox Theatre started out together as a street theatre company. We had both worked in theatre and the arts for a while, but when we got together as a couple (due to a costume and pair of stilts) we began to create characters and acts that toured across the South West and to London, Brighton and Oxfordshire.
In fact, I was still charging around in a very fetching “Peschky Pischkie” costume in Torbay whilst heavily pregnant with our first son Zaq; the bump made such a good feature so we replaced him with a cushion, not the baby Zaq obviously, but in the design of the costume.
We designed and made all our own costumes and puppets and devised all our own pieces, something we still do today.
Whilst performing on the street was a great thing to do, I had had the pleasure in the past of walking the boards inside theatres and for schools and so I persuaded Iain that he could perform in a show too. We received our first Arts Council grant to create a piece of theatre to tour across the South West called “Ruff Luck”. This was a story about two headless Elizabethan’s lost in purgatory, who discussed and debated their life and times and how they got there. A dark comedy for adults, this was Iain’s first ever proper theatre show.
Due to our two children, we needed to reinvent ourselves yet again. It became difficult to tour away from home with theatre shows, so we began to make work for primary schools. We had already done a lot of teaching and so we began to create projects for children based on current issues. Tasty Tales was commissioned by Plymouth City Council about healthy living and eating. Quinn was born two weeks after our last show of Tasty Tales, where I had been break dancing on stage with anxious teachers ready with the hot towels, thankfully he didn’t make an appearance, now that would have been something to write about!
As well as creating theatre shows we were designers of a number of arts projects and spent a lot of lovely therapeutic days painting silk banners with school children or building sets and puppets for shows. The creativity of children is something we will always cherish and we have been constantly proud of the work they have created over the years, from whole school plays to beautiful banners.
We received another arts council grant for our new show “Gogmagog: A Lost Legend Retold”, which was a play we created about the ancient legend of the Plymouth giant Gogmagog. We were delighted when Plymouth Records office invited us to see accounts of an Elizabethan gardener who was paid to look after the giant white figure of Gogmagog, that was once carved into the Hoe. After that I wrote a play that featured two Elizabethan gardeners looking after the figure and who retold the story of Gogmagog, which we toured around Plymouth schools and museums. We even built a figure on the Hoe with St. Andrew’s school. Look out for this show it will be returning to the theatre soon!
Around this time we were invited to create giant sculptures for the Lord Mayor’s Day parade. We worked with primary and secondary school children building giant structures and costumes and masks based around a theme linked to Plymouth such as when the Olympic torch came to Plymouth or the pre-historic creatures at Plymstock.
We were the artistic directors on the Lord Mayor’s Day Children’s Parade for 8 consecutive years and worked with over 1,000 children on the project.
We were also artistic directors for the Christmas lantern parades and created massive structures and little lanterns with over 4,000 children and young people over that time.
In 2014 the curriculum began to change, schools were unable to bring in arts and theatre projects. At this time we were looking for a base for Stiltskin as we found we were moving from one building to another to finish off our giant structures, rehearse shows and work with Shape Shifters our children’s after school drama group. In September 2014 we were in Devonport Park, checking out the bandstand for our storytelling festival, when we saw the building we now call the Soapbox. I happened to think, “that’s the sort of place we need for Stiltskin”, when low and behold it came up on the council’s website for buildings to lease a week later. We immediately asked for a viewing. It was dark, dank and dingy but we could see the potential. We had to submit a proposal and on the 14th December 2014 we were handed the keys and the next adventure in our story began…
Who are Stilskin Childrens Theatre?
We are a specialist childrens theatre in Plymouth
Stiltskin’s Soapbox Children’s Theatre is an award-winning specialist theatre, creating cultural projects for children and their families in Britain. As storytellers we develop pieces of theatre from well-known stories and write and produce new work. We write, design and perform all of our own material.
Within the theatre we have a super, independent toy shop, which is a great addition to the Soapbox foyer, with lovely, colourful toys that will bring plenty of joy for years to come for you and your children.
You can reach us on our Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages or simply fill out the form on our Contact Us page
