On June 20th 2017, we commenced our When Yesterday Was Young project. This is a fabulous heritage project funded by the Heritage Lottery. Our WYWY committee and students have been non-stop over the past week visiting the National Coal Mining Museum for England (Wakefield), Durham Mining Museum (Spennymoor), and Beamish Museum. They have been interviewing curators, keepers of industry, education officers and working with archivists from an array of establishments to collate facts and figures which will be utilised to develop performance ideas for our unique community heritage museum which will be open to the general public for a week commencing on the 22nd August 2017.
The heritage museum will analyse the impact of mining on our local town and community. Indeed our building now known as the Enter Centre (formerly known as Ferryhill Baptist Church) sits on top of the Dean and Chapter Colliery. There are many tales to be discovered and many memories which can be utilised, shared and carried forward with the next generation. Much of our work has been centred on heritage and this can be seen in our hugely popular musicals The Wind Road Boys (which has toured many theatres and sold out at The Edinburgh Festival Fringe) and Home Fires. Our young people are interested in the past and we actively encourage this interest because if our past isn’t to be lost, it is vital that the youth of today connects with it and finds innovative ways of sharing and keeping the stories alive.
Enter CIC is known for its amazing, high quality performances. However, every project requires careful planning and preparation, which is often unseen and driven by our staff. The When Yesterday Was Young project is different because it requires our young people to wholeheartedly engage with the research and development stages (often referred to as R&D in the performance industry). Our students and WYWY committee are working exceptionally hard. As part of the project our young people are working with heritage museums, gaining access to very unique experiences and working with an array of performers and experts. It’s quite easy to think of performance as an end product, but here at Enter our students are taught so much more.
Lots of photographs are now appearing on our WYWY Facebook page and separate website. To keep up to date with our students adventures and progression on the When Yesterday Was Young Project, please visit the projects social media and websites.