What does The Scottish Opera and a West End Primary School have in common? A commitment to saving the planet.
By Tracy Mukherjee
If you’ve wandered down Gibson Street of late, you might be forgiven for feeling a bit out of the ordinary, a bit strange. A bit alien in fact. For behind the unsuspecting walls of Hillhead Primary School, aliens have landed!
The school’s latest production ‘The last Aliens‘ saw the local primary stage The Scottish Opera’s new school’s show. And the world premiere was out of this world…
Rehearsal Time
It’s not the first time Hillhead has brought a Scottish Opera show to life. Indeed, the school has been enthusiastically backing the Scottish Opera’s schools programme for many years. Head Teacher Andrew Robson explains. “Our school has enjoyed a fantastic partnership with Scottish Opera for more than four years now. The materials that Scottish Opera have developed for schools has provided pupils with an opportunity to engage in a musical form that may have otherwise been very challenging to deliver.”
The schools programme sees the children taking part in rehearsals within their classes well in advance of the show. With innovative media resources provided by Scottish Opera, the class teachers and school staff can be well prepared for show day. The shows are usually performed to a Scottish Opera video backdrop. For ‘The Last Aliens‘ the primary six pupils taking part learnt the songs, actions and story before the Scottish Opera Teaching Artists arrived in person for this extremely exciting and relevant performance.
Awareness through Arts
For the show has a particularly important theme: climate change, and the premier coincides with Climate Week. During the week, organisations from all over the nation are encourage to take action against the very real dangers of climate change. And with our children likely to be most affected by its consequences, their awareness is at the forefront of a solution. Mr Robson agrees. “‘The Last Aliens’ represents a subject that our pupils feel very strongly about; sustainability is a key issue for our school and the messages delivered through the script and songs are powerful reminders of the positive impact this generation of young people will have on climate change.”
It’s a challenge that the pupils of Hillhead are more than up for. And as well as delivering this message, they have had a huge amount of fun preparing the show. Mr Robbie Sinnott, class teacher of P6C explains the importance of arts within the academic syllabus. “Creative expression supports children’s emotional wellbeing allowing them to shine on so many levels. ‘The Last Aliens‘ has brought our class together in such a positive way as they represent themselves, their thoughts and feelings on the world around them. Self-expression is the children’s way of showing what they understand about the greater world.”
“The rehearsal period was joyful as we engaged with the online materials provided by Scottish Opera. The workshops were engaging and children outdid themselves with their incredible performances on the day.”
The Curtain’s Up
And on show day, how did the two performances go? With gusto! Having attended a few of the previous productions, it’s fair to say that both Hillhead Primary and The Scottish Opera outdid themselves. Alan Penman’s incredible score and the poignant lyrics of Ross Stenhouse were beautifully performed by both Scottish Opera artists and the up and coming operetta of the future. Having the “real life” artists taking part in the performances most certainly added to the children’s enthusiasm and may encourage performers of the future. Lois Lurinsky, Depute Head – who’s remit is the upper school – couldn’t agree more. ” On the day of the performances our pupils took part in workshops and rehearsals with a full cast of professional opera singers, lighting and sound engineers and directors. I am sure this provided real inspiration for our children for future careers in the creative industries.”
To mark such a special occasion, it was only fitting that the primary six pupils had a VIP audience. In attendance were Phil Raines, joint Deputy Director of Domestic Climate Change Division at the Scottish Government, Climate Activist Laura Young and the Lord Provost Jacqueline McLaren. Also in the audience was Jane Davidson MBE, Director of Outreach and Education at Scottish Opera. Jane said “We were thrilled to help the Scottish Government celebrate and raise awareness of Scotland’s Climate Week by staging these special performances of ‘The Last Aliens‘. The pupils and staff at Hillhead Primary have worked very hard, and put on a fantastic show for friends, family and our invited guests.”
Encore!
How did the children themselves find the whole process? Ten year old Rohan Nazir of primary 6C said “I was really excited to take part in the show. It’s a great opportunity that I don’t think many people will get. It’s also a really interesting and easy way to explain climate change to people.”
And with many more school’s shows to come, The Scottish Opera have found a perfect formula to encourage children to take part in the creative arts in an innovative way. Jane Davidson sums it up “As ever, our intention is to demonstrate what an effective learning and teaching tool the art form of opera is, with this unique blend of science, technology, literacy, communication skills and responsible citizenship.”
To find out more about Scottish Climate Week visit https://netzeronation.scot/climate-week
For more details about The Last Aliens, please visit www.scottishopera.org.uk/join-in/opera-for-schools/the-last-aliens where you will also be able to see the the company’s Education & Outreach programme, which is the oldest in Europe.
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