STILTSKIN - 20 YEARS IN THE MAKING
This year Stiltskin are celebrating 20 years of creating theatre, street theatre, circus, arts projects and children’s workshops.
Iain and myself, (Jacqueline) have been making theatre and arts projects for children, together as Stiltskin, since the turn of the century. It has been an absolute blast as we have transported children in their school halls to ancient Greece, Dartmoor or castle kitchens during our shows, paraded through the streets in fantastical costumes and at corporate events in London and Bath, lit up Plymouth city centre with 1000’s of children carrying twinkling paper and willow lanterns or massive puppets that they have made with us for the Christmas lantern parade and the Lord Mayor’s Day parade.
We have also painted silk banners, written plays, books and stories, told hundreds of stories, performed as mermaids, unicorns, giant fish, pirates, dragons, giants, fairies, Shakespearean characters, thrown and caught hundreds of juggling balls and diabalo’s and taught many children to do so too, stilt walked on cobbles, across bridges, down steep hills, decorated umbrellas, parks, halls, built a time machine and transported corporate clients for Plymouth University’s 150th birthday celebrations. We have collaborated with other arts organisations such including The Barbican Theatre and Theatre Royal Plymouth, Plymouth City Council, Plymouth University, Plymouth Marine Biology, Plymouth Libraries, Plymouth Museum-The Box, up to 70 primary and secondary schools across the city, storytellers, theatre companies and international choirs and theatre companies.
We have designed the stage for the Torbay Geo-Parks International Conference, costumes for Navet Bete, Barbican Theatre, The Royal Bank of Scotland Museum, Arc Theatre Ensemble, London. We have programmed the Clovelly Maritime Festival, performed at Polperro and Looe Festivals and held our own festivals for fairies, goblins, scientists and artists and on top of all that we have founded the Soapbox Theatre in Devonport Park in 2014 transforming a semi-derelict building into a haven of magic, mischief and mayhem.
It’s quite a list and that doesn’t cover everything. At the heart of all the work we do is bringing excellent culture and the arts to children, young people and their families. We hope to have passed on skills, made people laugh, brought a tear to the eye, created a bit of tension, inspired, taught and generally entertained whoever we have met over the past 20 years and we certainly hope that we can go on for another 20 years and beyond.
There have been many people who have helped us along the way. Firstly our two wonderful sons Zaq and Quinn who have put up with massive puppets or a flotilla of tiny ships taking over the front room, countless mess whilst things are being constructed and late nights, our madcap adventures to places across the country and Europe, ridiculous ideas across the dinner table, hilarious moments and moments of poverty, being dressed up in crazy costumes, stress, tension and living with the new baby the Soapbox Theatre. We hope our adventure so far has made you resilient, thoughtful and given you the broad brushstrokes to go out there and do what you want to do, without anyone telling you what you have to do.
Then there is our families, both sets of wonderful parents who have had to put up with our mad ideas, get used to the fact that we do what we do, babysit and helping us out of tricky situations. You are all brilliant and talented in your own right and offer a haven during holidays, tasty lovely dinners when things are crazy and support in all we do. Sisters who have driven miles to see shows, given time to babysit, understood when it is just impossible to meet up and just be lovely anyway.
We have so many friends, those who are near to us and share in lots of bottles of wine and gin you are beautiful and inspiring, and we would love to see you more!
Our friends we have made throughout our journey, whether it is on projects we have created together or through the theatre you are all incredible people. We thoroughly enjoy your company, your stories, sharing our experiences with you and without your support we would not be here today. We really love how so many of you can see and connect with our vision, supporting us through buying tickets to see our shows or events, supporting our Crowdfunding campaigns, Friends of the Soapbox, donating time as volunteers and cash, bringing your children to participate in our workshops and just enjoying life alongside us. We have enjoyed watching your children grow, hear then giggle during shows, watch their eyes light up when they love something we do and feel that the theatre is theirs to use and enjoy as much as they can. We feel very privileged to be able to share so much with you.
Our staff, who have become our friends. If it wasn’t for you we would not have grown as a company, our imaginations would not be able to go to the places they go to without you being there to make it happen. We thank you for your time, your patience, you positive attitudes and in sharing the vision with us too. We have loved watching you grow, discover new skills, help form our company and make it all happen. We look forward to our team growing over the next few years and hope you will continue to grow with us.
What’s New for 2020 and beyond?
The Soapbox Theatre has been an adventure Iain and I only dreamed of 5 years ago. In December 2019 we celebrated 5 years since we were handed the keys to the building by Plymouth City Council. When we first moved in the theatre was semi-derelict, but with the help of so many fantastic people we have transformed it into a thriving cultural hub for children and their families to use all year round. We have received funding from our Crowdfunders with 3 successful campaigns, SEIF from Plymouth City Council and other donations from the public. This has lead to us achieving our first phase of building work to make the theatre more accessible with a ramp, double front door, toilets, including a disabled toilet and running water to the building for the first time in probably 50 years.
This year we hope to receive funding to finish the 2nd phase of the building works, which will include a new roof (our roof leaks at the moment if you hadn’t noticed), insulation, solar panels and rainwater harvesting to support our environment and make us energy efficient, internal works for a new stage and acoustic wall to make the cafe more sustainable and to open a vegetarian cafe for our users. All of this takes time and money, but we hope to make it happen asap. Once that is done we can be more sustainable in our energy costs, our trading income and you can have an even better experience when you visit.
We will energise the park land around us with outdoor events and arts activities and of course we expect to keep making loads of theatre for everyone to enjoy. Look out for the return of our fabulous Spellbound Fairy and Goblin Festival in May 2020, which will be a big birthday celebration for Stiltskin and many more events throughout the year to celebrate as well including our AGM with lots of fun activities throughout.
We look forward to many more years of Weaving the Magic Within with yourselves and who ever we have the fortune to meet along the way.
Keep telling stories, reach for the stars and let your imaginations soar to add that magic touch to your lives.
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.
