Productions and projects

Dorking creative arts week

Laughter, singing, dancing, movement and a whole lot of creativity – Damn Cheek returned to Dorking Meeting House for a week-long arts adventure with 5 to 11-year-olds from local schools.

Thanks to support from The Arts Society Dorking and Surrey County Council – and the brilliant folks at Dorking Meeting House, who offered their space and a team of superstar volunteers – the week was packed with singing, movement, imaginative play and delicious meals shared around the table. From garden games to lunchtime giggles, every moment buzzed with energy.

Led by the ever-inventive Wambui Hardcastle, alongside Darren Cheek, the children explored drama, mask-making and sketch-building in a space where everyone’s ideas were welcome. Older kids helped younger ones, new friendships sparked, and by the end of the week, confidence was blooming all around.

On the final day, families and friends joined the fun – taking part in drama games, watching performances and celebrating everything the young creatives had made.

Read more about the week in these reflections from one of our facilitators and 2 teachers from the participating schools.

Alternative Roots

A new Theatre in Education performance project for secondary school pupils exploring lived experience of adoption.

A collection of 5 short plays and a musical presented in an interactive and experiential forum theatre format, alongside workshops and online teaching and learning materials.

The project is being developed with writer-musician adoptee Phil Freeman, and Damn Cheek – in partnership with:

• Adoption Matters, a charity and adoption agency based in the North-West
• service users from Teen Talk Adoption, an online teen adoptee community

Scheduled for schools touring in 2025.

St Alban’s creative arts week, Windy Nook

A week-long performing arts course for 5 to 11-year-olds, co-run with St Alban’s, Windy Nook, Gateshead.

Funded by the government’s holiday activities and food programme (HAF) and Communities Together Durham, the course provided a week of fun-filled, arts-based activities – and meals – to children who might otherwise struggle.

The children learned and practised a range of new skills together – from mask-making to character performance – in a safe, creative and laughter-filled environment. The week culminated in a ‘sharing’ with friends, family and carers – with roast dinner served for all!

Read more about the course in this blog post by Elaine Grant, one of our amazing volunteer co-facilitators: Nurturing a new generation of creators.

Extraordinary Bodies Young Artists

A mentoring project to support young, talented, performance-based artists with neurodiversity or disability. The project has already resulted in the mentees taking crucial steps towards their artistic aims.

Read more about the progress of the mentees during the project, one mentor’s perspective, and our mentees’ responses to their experiences.

• Nurturing young talent
• The power of dreams
• My mentoring success!