Charlie And The Chocolate Factory is launching two brand new awards to encourage young people to engage with the creative process of making theatre, including a prize for budding costume and set designers.
The Imagination Awards will launch in 2016 and offer two opportunities: Charlie’s Challenge, which will ask students aged five to 15-years-old to take inspiration from the show’s sparky and idealistic title character to come up with new solutions to problems facing the world, and the Young Theatre Design Award, which aims to seek out emerging artistic talent.
Speaking about the Olivier Award-winning show’s new initiatives, the show’s producer Caro Newling explained: “The Imagination Awards are our way of reaching out to young people across the nation who are creative and interested in the arts and the business of theatre making. We hope the awards can encourage the creative thinkers of tomorrow.”
The latest in a string of opportunities for young people dreamt up by the Sam Mendes-directed show, the two awards will offer young people of all ages the chance to become more engaged with the process of making theatre.
Charlie’s Challenge, which is designed to bring creativity into the classroom, will be supported by a number of resources to be released by the production throughout the award’s process to help young people gain a greater insight into the process of creating theatre and the opportunities available to them.
The Young Theatre Design Award take things a step further, encouraging 16 to 18-year-olds who have already begun their interest in costume or set design, are aspiring artists or have relevant skills but may not have considered a career in the theatre, to apply.
More details about the Imagination Awards will be announced in the New Year and people can sign up to receive a newsletter here to be the first to hear more about the exciting schemes.