Saturday 14th September 2013 was a night to remember for Enter CIC as they embarked on another amazing performance opportunity for young people in County Durham. This time the young people found themselves in Durham Cathedral to celebrate the return of The Lindisfarne Gospels to Durham with a production entitled ‘The Young Person’s Guide to The Lindisfarne Gospels’. This is another production that has been specially written by Enter CIC’s in house production team.
Our young people worked incredibly hard in the lead up to this production. It was clear to see from initial meetings with the Cathedral that this was going to be a very special occasion and one that will be talked about for a long time. The talented performers from Enter CIC have blown away audience members on a number of occasions and this would prove to be no different. All the hard work paid off again as the young people delivered an outstanding performance with style, ease and professionlism. The audience were on the edge of their seats as the first number thundered its way through the Cathedral. The show was filled with colour, song, dance and humour that told an iconic story in a new and exciting way. It was unforgiving in its accuracy and was received with delight and tears in places. The standing ovation from every member of the audience and the loud cheers that filled the iconic building said it all.
We were absolutely delighted to once again welcome some special guests to our performance including Mrs Sue Snowdon, Lord-Lieutenant of County Durham who was eager to come along again after seeing The Wind Road Boys production at the Gala Theatre, Durham. We were also delighted to welcome Mrs Pauline Charlton, Mayor and Chair of Durham County Council and The Very Reverend Michael Sadgrove, Dean of Durham Cathedral who kindly granted us permission to use this fantastic venue.
We received some fantastic feedback from the dignitaries below:
“Gosh, what an amazing performance. Your students excelled in every aspect. They didn’t simply tell the story of ‘The Gospels’; they brought it to life. We have here in County Durham the most special Christian heritage and throughout this summer we have had so many opportunities to celebrate that heritage. Your creative interpretation through dance, drama and music within the magnificent setting of our cathedral was so very special. To all who contributed to the performance my sincere congratulations. All of the hard work came to fruition resulting in an evening which will always be remembered by those who participated and those who, like me, were privileged to be present.”
Sue Snowdon, Lord-Lieutenant of County Durham
The Very Reverend Michael Sadgrove, Dean of Durham wrote an incredible review of the performance which can be seen on his blog page by clicking the link below:
http://decanalwoolgatherer.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/lindisfarne-gospels-young-persons-guide.html
The Big Lottery provide our main funding for The Aspiration Project, which allow us to provide weekly provision for our young people. This has been the main source of funding for this project. We would like to thank The Hadrian Trust for providing us with funding towards tutor costs in the build up to this performance. We would also like to thank Councillor Brian Avery for providing funding to contribute towards cost of travel for our young people to get to the Cathedral. Take a look at the fantastic photographs from the performance below. Click on an image to enlarge.
The feedback we have received from this project has been phenomenal and very aspirational for our young people. Please take a look at the comments below:
“Well done to you all’
Mrs Pauline Charlton, Mayor and Chair of Durham County Council.
“Could you please let the organisers of Saturday’s concert know how much we enjoyed it and how impressed we all were by both the performance and the behaviour of the children. The standard of singing and dancing was incredible and the whole show was an absolute joy”
Margaret Wilson (on behalf of all the concert stewards)
“What a wonderful evening Enter CIC gave us on Saturday with the production of The Young Person’s Guide to The Lindisfarne Gospels in the magnificent Durham Cathedral. St Cuthbert’s life and the journey of his body from Lindisfarne to Durham Cathedral was performed with great reverence and professionalism. Great credit must go to Andrea Flynn and her staff for the great dedication they show to our youth and children. Once again, well done on your performance. When you get a standing ovation in Durham Cathedral, led by the Lord Lieutenant of County Durham, Mrs Sue Snowdon, you are certainly going places.”
Councillor Brian Avery
“We recently attended Durham Cathedral to watch ‘The Young Person’s Guide to The Gospels’, performed by Enter CIC. What an amazing production – dialogue, choreography, singing and dancing all brilliant. Each and everyone of the cast gave a first class professional performance. Congratulations and well done to everyone involved – the standing ovation at the end was truly deserved”
Doreen Barber and Zena Roddam
“Brilliant show worth travelling from London for well done”
Kat Winskill
“Awesome-so talented-an inspiration to all keep it up”
Enid Alderson
“Absolutely stunning, well done to you all. Very inspirational and fantastic dedication. A privilege to be here”
Andrew Howard (Mur of Ord, Inverness)
“Phenomenal performance I didn’t want it to end. Thank you!”
Phil Gibson
“Another amazing performance, so much talent from the young people”
T Cullen
“Amazing performance, so many talented children – excellent”
Susan Dent
