South Bristol Send Pupils Bring Professional Show To Stage
The Bristol pupils worked with industry professionals to create new theatre
A theatre company with a base in Bristol, has been working with young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (Send) to give them an opportunity to access the industry and create their own show.
Shooting Fish Theatre Company came together with Knowle DGE, Knowle West Media Centre and Tobacco Factory Theatres for The Knowle West Literacy Project.
Funding was secured from Arts Council, The Quartet Foundation, The Jackson Family Fund, JJ Charitable Trust and DJS Arts to enable it to take place.
It provided young people with Send a chance to develop their creative writing skills as well as get hands on work experience with theatre professionals.
Creative Arts Lead at Knowle DGE Academy, Joshua Evans explained: “Students from Knowle DGE Academy worked with industry professionals to create their own play. Students have gained knowledge from practitioners, gained work experience and this has helped in building the students resilience, passion for reading and writing and love of performance.”
Students worked alongside Shooting Fish Theatre Company on all the elements of the show. This included developing the idea and script. They then went on to cast the show, design and set build and create the sounds and lighting.
Shooting Fish calls the work a “true celebration” of the young people’s achievements.
The result is two pieces of work, performed by a professional cast, that will take place in the Spielman Theatre of Tobacco Factory Theatres this February.
Jack Payne and the Abnormality is set in London during the 1950s.
A murder has taken place, committed miscellaneous slime.
American Detective Jack Payne embarks on the strangest case of his career. Under pressure from The Met to follow procedure and do things by the book, Jack must not only battle the case but the entire system. But as hes pulled deeper into a web of surreal clues, unhinged suspects, and a reality that seems to be fraying at the edges; Jack must decide whether hes chasing the truth… or losing his grip on it.
Jack Payne and the Abnormality is an absurdist and fast paced detective story filled with big characters, unlikely heroes and a whirlwind of mystery and madness. Should Jack change to fit the world – or is the world that needs to change to fit him?
Director: Emily Bignell
Writer: Theo Toksvig-Stewart
Fangtastic Bites (Curtain raiser)
Vampires, zombies and… a dinner date? When a vampire and a vampire hunter meet at the most damned restaurant in town, thrilling conversation might not be the only thing they sink their teeth into.
Supernatural creatures run rampant in this horror-comedy, hellraising curtain raiser which has been devised and performed by the students of Knowle DGE Academy.
Director: Georgia Casimir
Jack Payne and the Abnormality and Fangtastic Bites (Curtain raiser) will be at the Spielman Theatre of Tobacco Factory Theatres 15-16 February 2026
For more information or to book, visit: https://tobaccofactorytheatres.com/shows/knowle-west-literacy-project/
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