The Opportunity
We’re reaching out to ask for your support in bringing an extraordinary theatrical experience to life for the students of Trinity School in Barking and Dagenham, a SEND school providing education and care for students with a wide range of special educational needs:
- Autistic Spectrum Condition
- Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulties
- Severe Learning Difficulty
The project is a first-of-its-kind: an immersive Macbeth production designed with the most able students, specifically for students with profound and multiple learning difficulties, autism spectrum conditions, and severe learning difficulties.
Why This Matters?
Barking and Dagenham has one of the highest child poverty rates in England, with 46% of children estimated to live in poverty and a growing number of young people with complex needs.
Trinity School is one of the largest special schools in the area, but opportunities for students to engage in the arts - particularly immersive theatre - are extremely rare. This project will change that.
The Project
With initial funding from the Arts Council, drama specialist Kate Hopewell (National Theatre, Unicorn Theatre) has been working with Trinity students to bring Macbeth to life in a fully sensory and immersive way.
Phase 1 introduced students to Macbeth through sensory storytelling workshops tailored to their unique needs.
Phase 2 will see students design and build an immersive theatre space, using sensory elements to make the world of Macbeth accessible to all.
For many students, this will be their first-ever theatrical experience—an unforgettable milestone in their school careers.
Quotes from the school's senior leaders:
"The project has enabled a cross-phase approach that has encouraged colleagues to share practice and gain delivery skills that have been expertly modelled with Trinity students. The framework has enabled us to bring Drama and performing arts to our curriculum, in a way that is accessible for all pedagogies. The approach of this project has brought Drama to the classroom in a way that would not be possible through typical CPD."
"Trinity students have been immersed in this project, it has become a focus point and something that students look forward to. Many of our students would find accessing this level of provision away from school, an impossibility. Within school we are roleplaying and experiencing sensory journey’s that are inclusive of everyone."
How You Can Help?
To fully realise the students’ vision, they need support in securing walls to divide the space, props, set pieces, and equipment to meet the wide variety of sensory needs.
£4000 will buy every element of the show the students have designed and will create a stock of set supplies that can then be used time and again for further productions in other settings. BUT that is a large number and we know we are aiming high. ANYTHING we receive will help us in giving the students an incredible experience and will still work towards creating a stock of set supplies that will be used time and again.
If you or your organisation can help in any way, it would make a profound difference in bringing this project to life.
Show Details Load-in: w/c 12 May 2025
Show week: w/c 19 May 2025
Any support, no matter how big or small, will ensure these incredible young people receive a truly unforgettable theatre experience.