Saturday April 1st was the South Street Kid's 'I.P.S.W.I.C.H' showcase at Eastern Angles theatre and what a day it was! Each letter of IPSWICH stood for an element of work we have been doing at South Street Kids this term, much of that decided by the young people themselves, which included song and script writing and the show programme curation.
SSK 'I.P.S.W.I.C.H' Showcase
After the completion of a focused dress rehearsal there was much excitement and some pre-show jitters, so we decided to do some mindfulness activities backstage to soothe the nerves. After a powerful and unified chant of 'South Street Kids!' we then made our way to the stage, greeted by a theatre full of people.
Every single young person participated in multiple parts of the show itself including creating art for the foyer, dance, poetry, singing, acting, affirmations and even sharing the history of a family favourite recipe, Pierogi. We saw incredible focus, confidence, invention, projection and listening, and some young people even stepped in for friends at the last minute who felt a little too shy to deliver their contributions. The showcase ended with two young people delivering their 'Hope Not Hate' poem to the audience.
The session ended with some shared snacks and pizza, vox pops with our videographer, lots of chats with family and friends and both young people and adults were invited to contribute to a 'Hope, Not Hate' wall display, culminating in an array of positive thoughts including; "peace", "plant more trees" and "equality for everybody".
A huge thank you to the South Street Kids staff and volunteers who the show couldn't have happened without, and to Eastern Angles for their support with the show and weekly sessions themselves.
“Why I love South Street Kids is because it helps me to be myself” - A “I feel so grateful to be part of this community and part of a club that supports everybody and makes everybody feel like they’re special” - K “It’s a show about Ipswich and how we want Ipswich as a community to improve as the years go on. Ipswich community should start taking part in things that actually help each other and not be against each other. Trust and communication between each other is the thing that makes Ipswich what it is” - SSK yp R "It was a wonderful, warm and thoughtfully curated event where every young person got to show some of what's great about them... It was such a great celebration" - SSK Volunteer and Dad Shamser "It was an amazing event and truly inspirational. The atmosphere was electric." - PC Garrod
Finally here's Kasper and Marta's Pierogi recipe:
