Surprise meeting of theatre and sculpture in Wakefield

In the last year there have been two important additions to the Wakefield cultural scene. The Hepworth opened its doors last May, a highly acclaimed new gallery with major work by Barbara Hepworth – and, on the theatre front, John Godber formed a link with the Theatre Royal, the base for his eponymous theatre company. Now gallery and theatre are working together on a splendid new initiative that is bringing theatre and art to some 1300 Key Stage 2 children in a two-week touring period – and will do the same again next Spring.

On March 13th a special presentation of The Sculptor’s Surprise! took place at The Hepworth. Having already played seven schools in Wakefield and neighbouring areas to uniformly enthusiastic groups of children, the play was staged in The Hepworth’s auditorium for a more adult audience of teachers, journalists, etc., with a leavening of seven-year olds to boost the necessary audience participation!

The Sculptor’s Surprise! is a fine example of two art forms working together and inspiring each other. First of all there is the sculpture of Barbara Hepworth providing Jane Thornton with the material for a play which, in the production by her husband John Godber for the Theatre Royal, directs its young audience back towards The Hepworth. So who inspires whom? Well, one intention (very successful, I would guess) is to inspire 7-11 year olds to realise their abilities in either field – or any other creative activity. Coincidentally, that message is not so very different from the one that came out of The Hepworth’s previous foray into drama, the site-specific Encounters.

Jane Thornton knits together various different strands with consummate skill in The Sculptor’s Surprise!. Ruby is a sculptor (generally doing little things!) who has been inspired to do something on a grander scale by seeing Barbara Hepworth’s work. Energetically played by the dynamic and versatile Amy Thompson, with droll support from Frazer Hammill as her assistant, she explains sculpture techniques, gives a potted biography of Hepworth and testifies to the inspirational qualities of a trip to The Hepworth while spreading fun and good humour among the young audience. Judging from the performance I attended, the clever pacing of the script and production and the engaging personalities of the actors result in children happily taking in chunks of information. As Theatre in Education the intention is “to develop their understanding of the creative curriculum” which can be further developed through an hour-long workshop session.

Inevitably the designs of Mark Walters are crucial and he excels with his creation of Ruby’s Hepworth imitation and her own new, somewhat eccentric sculpture. The whole thing has been a happy collaboration, the first between the Theatre Royal and The Hepworth, surely not the last.