Welcome to The Point Becks Granger!
Becks will lead our new Youth Theatre for anyone aged 5-14 on Saturdays from Saturday 24 September. In the Spring term, school Years R to 9 will begin working together to create a very special production which will be performed at The Point during the Easter holidays! We'll release its title very soon...
Becks grew up in Whiteley and performed on the stage at The Point on many occasions. She received her BA (Hons) in European Theatre Arts from Rose Bruford College, where she co-founded the theatre company Soft Pedal Collective. She completed her MA in Drama Directing at Bristol Old Vic Theatre School and spent two years working as a youth theatre director between the UK and Geneva.
Are you excited to get started with the new Youth Theatre?
I am feeling amazing about it – diving into it has been so fun, thinking up this new programme. We have core principles we’re focusing on which are play, imagination and fun. They are the key driving force behind everything. I am very excited to be in the role, finding a new ensemble and a company in Eastleigh.
To come back as a professional and to give back to my community is incredible, to be in the position working with very cool upcoming ideas in a place I grew up in – I did all the Shakespeare for Schools festivals at The Point as a performer. Local friends who have started with me have become West End professionals. To come back here to where it all started is amazing and it really feels like coming home.
What do you love about Youth Theatre?
I was a teaching assistant at the age of 16 for my youth group in Hedge End and from there did all sorts of facilitation and realised you could create all sorts of worlds for younger people. I always wanted to bring it back to children and how I could make worlds for them and make shows embracing children’s theatre.
The show we have chosen is the perfect kick off show because it’s such an ensemble piece and soooo much fun! It also offers key character development work and the language and storytelling is a great introduction to world-building. There’s so much potential for performing; you can move away from the group so that each person also has their individual moment, so it’s a fantastic (hint hint) combination of one-on-one and ensemble.
How do you think participation in Youth Theatre benefits young people?
The exercises and games are all about being silly with each other and having that creative freedom, rehearsing as a team, feeling the strength of the ensemble as you build an idea. We will set the precedent as the leaders. We are not afraid to go in and be very silly too and you’re not going to get in trouble if you pull a funny face; that’s what we want you to do.
There’s permission to be yourself, to be vulnerable, to be confident - and to get it wrong because there can be so much fun in failure. Post COVID, it’s getting people comfortable even with speaking to each other again, to build an environment they are safe in, they can speak and have fun. There are so many times you see children stand at the door at the beginning and by the end they are playing an enormous part in the show. What they need is not the actual performance but the process; building that confidence, building the character, standing on stage and having fun, enjoying the community of it all.
How would you encourage someone who’s new to the Youth Theatre experience to give it a try?
If you want to meet some new friends, have an hour of freedom where you are under no pressure to be in anything, come and join us – our Youth Theatre is for each individual and will supply what each child needs. In our safe space you will meet other people and be free to be yourself as you’re learning who that person actually is.
You’ll be able to be silly and enjoy it, and then you’ll be able to give 100% on stage. And you can then take that confidence into other areas of your life. It’s also not about the performance at the end – it’s about the creating and the confidence building we do along the way.
Find out more about Youth Theatre at The Point
Book a free Youth Theatre taster session: 3 and 10 September.
Join our creative revolution with our Young Companies
