The life of the Bury born comedy legend Victoria Wood was celebrated by a diverse range of performers in a one-off sold out showcase at The Met.
Following this year’s hugely popular Victoria Wood: A Celebration, members of Met Express, Aiming High, Engage2Stage and Bury Youth Theatre staged their own showcase of sketches inspired by the work of Wood.
The groups took to the stage with recreations, adaptations and tributes from The Ballad of Barry and Freda (Let’s do it) to Chippy Night. While some groups focused entirely on reliving the original sketches that make Wood a household name, some of the groups took to reimagining sketches or displaying how her comedy influenced others over the years. The night very quickly sold out to an enthusiastic audience. We documented each group during their performances and asked them about what their workshops mean to them and how the big performance went.
Part 1:
Part 2:
Met Express
Met Express is an inclusive drama group for adults with disabilities who meet every Monday and Tuesday night at The Met to create drama and have fun! They focus on our abilities not disabilities and offer a safe creative space for all. Mondays and Tuesdays at 7pm
Bury Youth Theatre
BYT are aged between 8 and 14. Their main goal is to create high quality and ambitious pieces of ensemble theatre using various different performance styles and genres. They aim to develop the participant’s confidence and social skills with an informal approach to the sessions providing a relaxed and comfortable environment in which the children are encouraged to be themselves and express who they want to be. Discover – Wednesday 4.30pm-5.30pm (From September 25th) Develop – Wednesday 5.30pm-7pm (From September 4th)
Aiming High
Professional Actors and Directors create a safe place for young people with autism and additional needs to express themselves. They’re encouraged to improve life-skills like team work and communication. They will build confidence by devising and performing a short show every term. The young people have ownership of their performance, as the shows are created using their ideas. The Senior group focuses more on developing their acting skills and promoting independence. Aiming High Juniors 9-13, Saturday 10.00am-11.30am. Aiming High Seniors 14+ Saturday 11.30am-1.30pm
Engage2Stage
Engage 2 Stage are a theatre company for the visually impaired along with sighted volunteers, based at The Bury Met Theatre. Mondays 4.30pm
A big thank you to all of our sponsors that made this possible.
Find out more about our participatory workshops and how to get involved here.