A UNIQUE world premiere of four brand new plays written by Tameside schoolchildren will be performed by a professional cast – including some West End stars.
The ideas of youngsters will be brought to the stage at the Den Festival at Stalybridge Civic Hall this weekend.
Organisers of the festival, The Royal Exchange Theatre have been collaborating with four local primary schools – Bradley Green Primary Academy, Micklehurst All Saints Primary, St Paul’s CE Primary and St Peter’s Catholic Primary – to write four short plays with writers Lekhani Chirwa and Lauren-Nicole Mayes.
The plays are Beauty, Bloopers, and Rexie’s Big Break; The Frog Who Found His Funk; A Christmas Bond, and A Boy’s Mysterious Power.
Each play has been created from the themes of joy and surprise.
With the aim of amplifying children’s voices in Tameside, the plays have been professionally produced and directed by Tori Burgess.
The productions will be brought to life by a cast who play a whole host of characters – from a dinosaur to a lollipop and a zombie to a chicken nugget.
Amongst the cast will be Isobel McArthur, who wrote and performed Pride and Prejudice, for which she won an Olivier Award, and has starred in productions such as Wendy & Peter Pan and Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland at Edinburgh’s Lyceum Theatre.
Tameside-born Tom Varey has played William Shakespeare in the RSC’s production of Hamnet, which also went to the West End’s Garrick Theatre, and has also starred on screen in George Clooney’s The Boys in the Boat.
Kelise Gordon-Harrison has starred in a number of productions across the North, such as A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Shakespeare North & Northern Stage and Vignettes at Contact Theatre.
There will be two viewings of the show – entitled Best Mates, Top Bins & Venga Venga – on Saturday, May 24 at Stalybridge Civic Hall at 2pm and 6pm.
It will last around an hour and tickets are pay what you can, which you can book online here: https://www.royalexchange.co.uk/event/best-mates-top-bins-venga-venga/
The Den Festival is taking place over four weekends up until Sunday, June 1, with a packed programme of live performances, workshops, family activities and community projects – all designed to celebrate the arts at the heart of Tameside.
It got under way at the Street Fest event on May 9, with everything from circus skills, interactive pub quiz-cum-theatre, music, dancing and more.
To find out more about the festival, read our guide here: https://www.tamesidecorrespondent.co.uk/2025/05/09/royal-exchange-theatre-brings-the-den-festival-to-stalybridge/