REHEARSALS IN RESIDENCE

ABOUT

Box Clever Theatre Company is offering schools the exciting opportunity to host rehearsals of our productions during the 2026/2027 & the 2027/2028 academic years. Rehearsals take place daily (except for Sundays) over a 3-week period.

In exchange for providing a dedicated rehearsal space during office hours, a Box Clever Residency will allow students access to a professional creative team as they prepare a new production.

“Having the students be part of the play and reciting the lines, guided by the actors was great. It gave them an experience of a real-life setting as an actor. It was extremely effective as a learning experience as they got to participate and see and learn how to use gestures and tone by copying the actors. It was a truly great experience for them and for me. The actors were really warm, enthusiastic and encouraging”

Teacher. Host school for ‘Jekyll & Hyde September 2023.

IN YOUR SCHOOL

Advantages to the school

Free Preview of the production on the final day of the residency.
Key scenes explored in front of students. (One class-sized group for one hour per day at mutually agreed times).
Student participation in the rehearsal process through discussion, contribution of ideas, and practical involvement.

Common to all areas of the curriculum is witnessing the rehearsal process and how something is made. When students see actors and a director in rehearsal, they see people making progress, getting from A-B through discussion, by listening to each other, by coming up with ideas, by witnessing how ideas are sometimes rejected but then sometimes inspire new ideas. It is in essence a blueprint for creative learning.

The Company

Box Clever is a professional theatre company, a registered charity and a National Portfolio Organisation of Arts Council, England. The Company is acclaimed by schools, funders and Arts Council England for its dynamic, inspiring, and accessible productions and workshops. It is experienced at delivering school residencies. All Box Clever personnel on site will carry enhanced DBS certificates and completed the NSPCC’s Introduction to Child protection course.

Requirements

The residency would take place from Monday to Saturdays, during which time the company would need a dedicated space such as a hall, between 9.30am and 5.30pm. The actors, usually three in number, the director and the stage manager would be present throughout, with visits from the costume and/or set designer, the movement director, and the Artistic Director. Essential use of the hall by the school, such as for assemblies or parents’ evenings, would still be possible and built into the company’s timetable.

Costs

There is no money involved. In exchange for rehearsal space, the company will give daily workshops and a free preview. In monetary terms, this provides excellent VFM for the school.