'Dido Through the Looking Glass – The Musical' is a community-cohesion, intergenerational project aimed at the BAME members from the borough of Lewisham who would not usually be involved in performing arts. The production is based on the historical character Dido Belle one of Britan's first aristocrats of African descent. The participants will be mainly BAME and members from disadvantaged backgrounds or communities, aged 7-16 and 55+. They will take part in a 4-week Boot Camp to develop skills in performing arts and improvisation in preparation for a press night and 2 public performances at the end of August. Additional workshops will include African drumming, exploring animation and music video production, which will all be incorporated in the live performances and DVD that will be available to purchase. All cast members that complete the project will be invited to an awards ceremony that will be attended by their family members, sponsor, funders and backers of the project.

What we'll deliver:

• Pre-production of animation for two key songs in the production that expresses characters' thoughts and feeling.
• 4-week performing arts Boot Camp during the month of August
• 1 day animation workshop using simple mobile phone apps
• 1 day African drum workshop to create musical piece for the production
• Music video workshops the represent each song in the production
• Press/open dress-rehearsal for press, sponsors and backers
• Live show to paying audience; Matinee & Evening show Saturday
• Live show and awards ceremony to paying audience, sponsors and backers Sunday Matinee
• Evaluation from all participants, sponsors and audience members

Why it's a great idea:

Covid-19 has had a major impact of the arts and the abilities to engage individuals in activities to help reduce stress and develop cultural awareness within their communities. This project uses music and performing arts as a bridge to engage community members of all ages, cultures, backgrounds and abilities in a fun collective creative learning activity. Musical theatre gives individuals an opportunity to express themselves, be exposed to difficult situations and manage those situations in a creative way. Dancing, acting and music teaches new forms of communication and helps improve children’s academic performance, self-expression and social skills. For the older members it will give them a sense of belonging and helps to reduce isolation and loneness. The vast majority of participants are from communities and socio-economic groups that have been hard to reach for theatre and massively under-represented in their access to the arts as participants and audience.

Steps to get it done:

• To get local schools involved in the project insight of cover-19
• To get the older members involved and committed to the full duration of the project
• The final delivery of the performance, which is covid-19 dependant

As a community project we aim to use local talent and volunteers where possible. Developing partnerships with other community groups to deliver workshops, support the administration and the boot camp activities is a core part of the project. The Whitefoot ward, in Lewisham has some of the most disadvantaged and disengaged young people and older people in economic deprivation. Therefore, it is vital that they have a range of opportunities of accessing the project.