Watch behind the scenes of 'Scahldies Up The...

12 May 2011

Twenty-nine Primary Schools across Northern Ireland have taken part in the Pat & Plain drama project over the last three years. The response to all five of Dan Gordon’s plays has been overwhelmingly enthusiastic - in year 1, six schools presented The Boat Factory, then in year 2 twelve schools presented Kissing the Shuttle and A Lemonade Bottle for Clabberin’ Hitler. This year – the third year the Lyric Theatre and Ulster-Scots Agency have worked in partnership on the project, Dan turned his attention to school and country life in his fourth and fifth scripts: Sit There For The Present and Scahldies Up The Chimley, with a further 11 schools presenting drama productions.

This year’s scripts were arguably the most challenging to date, with many new devices to keep the team on their toes. Sit There For The Present looks back at life in the school classrooms of days gone by.  Scahldies Up The Chimley follows the fortunes of a group of city evacuees coping with rural life during the second World War.

Dan Gordon, who devised and wrote the plays, commented: “The Ulster-Scots Agency commissioned me to write the plays and now they have been directed by teachers from each school with mentoring support provided by the Lyric. The plays are designed to assist with the delivery of the revised curriculum utilising connected learning, as well as being an entertaining mechanism to up-skill teachers in directing and production techniques. Although aimed at key stage 2 (upper primary) I’m delighted to discover many schools are including younger children in the productions. We have provided each school with a dedicated Lyric Theatre mentor along with lighting, costume and set advisors as well as numerous support visits.”

Michael McCullough, Director of Corporate Services at the Ulster-Scots Agency commented: “The Agency was very excited to be working with the Lyric Theatre for the third year.  This drama project provides an excellent opportunity to educate young people on issues with strong Ulster-Scots cultural and heritage links. In addition the scripts provide an insight into the richness of the Ulster-Scots language.”

To view behind the scenes with the making of 'Scahldies Up The Chimley' in Kesh Primary School, Co. Fermanagh visit http://www.vimeo.com/22387202.