1 How much did you enjoy the performance?
Very Much 26
2 What did you like about it?
· The outdoor venue; the intimacy of the players to audience and their
friendliness. The kids were delightful!
· The outdoor setting and the educational experience
· The passion all people showed for it;' the variety of props, circumstances
and stories
· Being in the forest
· Very entertaining - interesting tales
· Being involved and historical interest
· Varied, humorous, clever use of time-shift and interconnecting sorties/themes.
Hidden speaker. Songs.
· The location. The connection of the play to the location. Moving with
the scene changes. The invisible speaker between scenes. The specially composed
music and songs. The children's performances.
· The beautiful settings; the historical aspects of the woodland; the
way some scenes were matched to various trees in the wood
· Modern approach to telling history; the school pupils were very good;
the mistress excellent; the puppet who was also very good for young children.
· I was brought up in Holt Forest; I love the Arts, country traditions
oral history, folklore, family history and the spirit of the woods. It was lovely
to share this with other people.
· The variety and the venue.
· It felt very inclusive. Use of natural light and location. I especially
liked the least self-explanatory images.. . . lone figures moving repetitively
or just 'being' up a tree, voices not quite heard.
· Social/communal atmospheres - chatting to others in audience as we
walked; - minimal 'distancing' from performers - Miss Booker including us in
her unruly class; Being in the woods - shelter, intimacy, mystery, beauty, communion
with nature. Use of the non-verbal arts to communicate important things that
words cannot: costume, stance, movement, dance, music/song. The 'author's message'
(and the fact that it came from the mouths of the children): Victoria-style
march for progress and subordination of nature must be balanced by a reverence
for the life principle, requiring above all the exercise of our powers of imagination.
· Integration of ages/engagement & empowering children
· Involvement of young children, music, enthusiasm and obvious very careful
planning.
· Local history; wonderful venue; the way we were led through into different
parts of the forest
· The clever dove tailing of 'message' and narrative and the interlacing
of the several subplots.
· Local interest, light humour
· The concept and setting were different to normal theatre.
· A unique experience
· Simplicity but well performed
· Being out in the wood especially in the warm rain under an umbrella
- you could smell the earth/trees
· Everything! The lights in the forest, the walking, the forest, the
stories, costumes, kids. . .all of it.
· The setting, the variety, the interest value, the entertainment - everything!
· It's different-ness' - the outdoor setting made it very special, a
completely new form of theatre for us.
3 Was there any aspect you didn't like?
· The walking between sets made the performance a jot disjointed.
· Thought perhaps half hour less would have been long enough for the
young children to watch.
· Not being able to hear every word spoken although most were.
· Perhaps a tiny bit too long? But not enough time to look properly at
the sculptures
· The first scene could have been developed a bit more. I was caught
cold by it - came over as a disjointed series of one-liners.
· Not sure how I feel about people visiting the woods after this performance.
I am used to being there alone!
· The rain
· Narrative is disjointed slightly
· Could not hear clearly the recorded voices on walk between scenes (not
deaf!)
· We didn't keep going on and on through the forest . . .
· None at all
· Nothing
No 9
4 Have you been to Holt Forest before?
No 18 (not in it, past it along the road many times)
Yes 13
5 Did you enjoy watching a performance in such an unusual theatre space?
25 (v much; magical)
6 Any other comments?
· Small disruptive children should be discouraged from attending!
· The choreography of the children acting was excellent - we never saw
or heard them when they were 'off-stage'
· Loved the way the stories were worked together with the wood
· Loved the children, the costumes and all the extra surprises in the
forest.
· The extras such as sound effects and clay models
· Glad to have the chance to explore the wood (without getting lost!).
Will try and go again.
· Very well done to everyone most enjoyable experience. Thank you to
all for putting so much work and effort into everything.
· More please!
· I took my children who loved being in the woods watching such a wonderful
performance. It was quite magical.
· I really enjoyed the interaction with the place by walking through
the wood, treading on twigs, sitting on logs rather than static location.
· Superb organisation; stalls really valuable; loved the English Nature
info pack; - portaloos greatly appreciated after long drive!
· The kids were great
· We attended Sat night - capacity reached, any more people would have
made movement between scenes difficult
wonderful use of groves and glad and dips and bushes - and the
children!!
· Well produced and an interesting subject
· More plays, please
· I never ever go to the theatre or cinema
· Very educational, enjoyed seeing children learning history on the hoof.
Well done to all.
· We were impressed at how well organised it all was, and how professional
the production was.
7 Have you seen previous productions by WCT
Yes 7 (if the same group that did the play about Allendale House)
No 20
8 How often do you go to the theatre
Once very 3 months 12
Once every 6 months 8
Once a year or less 9
Never 1
9 Please tell us why you think it's important for event of this kind to
take place
· They are entertaining and educational and give those taking part a
great experience.
· Because they involve a wide range of people in both arts and the community
and the natural environment
· To keep local history alive
· Involves people of local community to use their varied skills, and
shows the younger generation something of their children.
· To keep rural communities alive
· Involvement of local community; chance to do a different style of theatre;
show that theatre not always 'formal' and stylised.
· It helps people become aware of their local history. People then value
a place more as a result and might support its conservation.
· I think the participants, especially the children, must have learnt
a lot, and the audience as well only less so.
· To keep village and county life knowledge of history to the younger
generations and the many newcomers to the district, not may true locals left
in the area.
· To document the knowledge that is still, just - there in peoples' minds.
Such a lot is being lost as a generation takes this knowledge to their graves.
This knowledge is vital if the forest is to 'live' and ?? and not just become
some ? 'rustic theme park'
· A lovely way to learn about local history and appreciate our wonderful
surroundings.
· They help us see and feel that we are an integral part of the countryside
around us; that we share in its past present and future. Arts activities seem
to enable to feel I not just know it.
· An opportunity for arts participation open to all - arts participation
is inherently beneficial to individual s and groups - non-competitive, non-materialist,
it promotes community and concentration on the things that really matter in
live.
· To bring communities together; to remind us of our roots; to respect
our environment
· Site specific work is important/vital
· Because it opens our eyes to the history and magic of the forest
· It gets local people together; bring out creativity, good for integrating
different ages; brings about environmental consciousness
· Good introduction to acting for children; accessibility is good (we
wouldn't travel far, normally)
· Keeps local history alive and good for community spirit
· So that local history is not forgotten and passed on to the younger
generation
· Community activity
· It makes us appreciate the history of our area and the beauty we live
in
· We all learn about the local area, history and have fun in nature
· Both for its educational and entertainment value, but particularly
for the beneficial effect it must have on the children and younger members of
the cast
· It gives people attending a unique insight into the history (and existence
of!) unusual locations, plus it provides the youngsters involved in the production
with a wonderful educative experience.
10 What is your age
Under 16 2
17-25 1
26-35 4
36-49 8
60-75 12
50-59 8
11 Tick here if you would like to find out more about joining the group
· Glyn Jones
· Lyn Tate maybe (father if Len Hiscock)
· Olivia Keith - not very local but would love to work on installation/visual/maybe
costume
· If only I lived in Dorset!
12 How did you find out about today's performance
From a friend/family 9
Poster/flier locally 7
Local media 2
Excellent publicity!
School
EDDC mail out
· The many practise sessions that took place outside our house.
· Can I add that although you were all very friendly when we eventually
met up, a letter explainging your proposals to the few houses nearby would have
done wonders. We are nice people as well but we were all slightly upset that
no one bothered to tell us what was going to happen. Someone did knock and talk
to my daughter after about 3 weeks of practises but some PR at the beginning
was necessary. Grumble over - well done to you all, especially the young one
who played their parts so professionally.
· We were conned into doing a favour for my sister by taking and collecting
our nephew. We were delighted to have been 'conned'!