Theatre group invites you to join their 'Mad 12 Hours'

At 9am on Sunday 29 June, Stomping Ground & Shetland Arts will open the doors of the Garrison Theatre to anyone aged 16+ to come together and create a brand new piece of theatre, all in the space of 12 hours.

As part of Mad 12 Hours, participants will work with John Haswell and Sian Thomas, who will provide a stimulus for the project, facilitate the devising process and take the lead in directing the final result. However, the creative onus is on the participants to generate ideas and work together to develop this new piece of theatre!

At the end of the day, the workshop participants will perform their piece to an audience in the Garrison and, instead of charging a set price for tickets, the audience is being asked to pay whatever they think the performance is worth. Tickets can be pre-booked via Shetland Box Office for free, and you can choose how much they pay on the night.

The emphasis of the project is promoting creativity in an inclusive and fun environment. The aim of Mad 12 Hours is to bring together anyone interested in acting and creating new work, to operate as a team and ultimately be part of a chaotic yet captivating community project.

Sian Thomas said: "Mad 12 Hours is an opportunity for anyone, with any level of theatre experience, to come along and have a really enjoyable, creative, chaotic, and ultimately adrenalin-fuelled, 12 hours of making theatre. We are putting the focus on the process of creating brand new theatre, created by the Shetland community. For me theatre is always about bringing people and ideas together in a creative space and creating something enlivening, and for this project we are consolidating that process into a whirlwind 12 hours.”

She added: “I'm really excited about the day as it will give everyone a chance to truly explore their creativity, and be part of something special. Who knows what the product will be - why not come along and find out!”

• Workshop participants must be aged 16+. Workshop participation costs £12. Places are limited so early booking is recommended.

• Tickets to be in the audience for the evening performance can be booked for free in advance and audience members are invited to pay what they think the performance is worth on the night. We recommend that audience members should be aged 12+.

• Booking is via Shetland Box Office at Mareel and/or Islesburgh, over the phone on 01595 745 555, or online at shetlandboxoffice.org and/or mareel.org..

Stomping Ground is run by Sian Thomas, and is a theatre company dedicated to creating diverse and inclusive theatre by and for communities and young people. Since May 2013 the company has delivered drama projects with Shetland Arts, Shetland Museum & Archives and numerous primary and secondary schools in Shetland. Previous to this Sian was based in the South East, directing both professional and youth & community theatre productions in theatres across London.

John Haswell has been creating theatre in Shetland for over 20 years. One of the foremost directors of youth theatre, he is equally experienced in large scale community productions for all ages, and in the professional theatre scene. He is well known to local audiences and practitioners for his innovative and distinctive style and the quality of the work produced.