Catherine Wheels' Theatre in Schools project

Catherine Wheels Theatre Company are currently touring schools and community venues in Scotland with their hugely popular and award-winning production of Lifeboat.  The company will tour Martha from January to March.

Over the 16 weeks of the two tours, the company will visit 10 different regions, tour to 100 schools and perform to over 12,000 children and young people.  These tours are supported by a lottery-funded audience development project.

This project has enabled the company to develop new marketing materials, an extensive database of schools in Scotland and free online resources for all teachers.  The audience development project came about from a real demand for good quality theatre for children in Scotland.  Martha and Lifeboat have been consistently well received by audiences and acclaimed by critics and Catherine Wheels wanted to find a way of helping more teachers and their pupils access the productions. Producer Paul Fitzpatrick said, 'The audience development funding has enabled us to communicate effectively with a range of agents – cultural co-ordinators, regional arts officers and, of course, teachers.  The audience is at the heart of all Catherine Wheels' work.  I want us to take the same approach to audience development.  I believe that real audience development comes through trust and understanding between the audience and the company, and the company and the audience. My ultimate aim for the project is to build trust and genuine dialogue between Catherine Wheels cultural co-ordinators, regional arts officers, teachers and pupils throughout Scotland, and that this dialogue can inform all areas of our work.'

Lifeboat is currently performing to schools in Aberdeenshire, Moray, Midlothian, Edinburgh City, Highlands, East Lothian and West Lothian. 

From January to March, Martha will visit Dumfries and Galloway, Aberdeenshire, The Borders, Midlothian, Highlands, West Lothian, Moray and Aberdeen City. For more information, visit Catherine Wheels' website.

Supported by the National Lottery through the Scottish Arts Council