Chickenshed

Chickenshed was founded by teacher Mary Ward and composer Jo Collins in 1974. Mary and Jo hosted their sessions in a disused chicken shed in Wrotham Park, kindly gifted to them by local landowner Lady Elizabeth Byng. The theatre troup went by “The Lady Elizabeth Theatre Workshop” for a while in her honour, but soon the name “Chicken Shed” stuck and the former was dropped. Chickenshed truly was founded in an old, disused chicken shed! After meeting John Bull in the 1980s, who ran local children’s home “Cheviots”, Chickenshed’s journey of true inclusion had well and truly begun.

 

Chickenshed has a purpose built theatre complex in Southgate which opened in 1994 after a national-scale fundraising effort, supported by the likes of Dame Judi Dench and Princess Diana of Wales. The theatre has four performance spaces: The Rayne Theatre which seating 300, a smaller Studio Theatre, and Amphitheatre and a Bar/restaurant that regularly hosts music and comedy evenings.

Chickenshed is registered as a charity under the name The Chickenshed Theatre Trust. In 1996, company founder Mary Ward was awarded the MBE for Services to the Arts followed in 1999, with a Creative Britons Award, to acknowledge her 25 years of work with the theatre,^[1] while co-founder Jo Collins was awarded the MBE in the 2001 New Year's honours, for Services to Music.^[2] Chickenshed has performed at a number of public events, including Queen Elizabeth II's Golden Jubilee celebrations in 2002.^[3] A show to commemorate 100 years of J. M. Barrie's children's story Peter Pan was staged by the theatre company at the Albery Theatre, London in 2004, in order to raise funds for Great Ormond Street Hospital.^[4]

Since 2000, Chickenshed has established 19 'Sheds' in the UK, Finland, New York and two in Russia. These Sheds have been set up and trained by Chickenshed but then go to run independently, linked to Chickenshed by a shared vision of inclusive practice and philosophy.^[5]

Notable patrons of Chickenshed include Diana, Princess of Wales, Lord and Lady Rayne, Judi Dench, and Micheal Williams.

Notable alumni of Chickenshed's membership and education courses include Jamie Demetriou, Miriam-Teak Lee and Natasia Demetriou.

Chickenshed present original and entertaining productions for young children, families, and adults, inspired by our community and the world around them. Chickenshed's membership programme comprises four Children's theatre groups and two Youth theatre groups for young people aged 5–21 years. They hold weekly theatre workshops for children, young people and adults.

Chickenshed take performing arts training to the next level, by bringing together young people from all social and economic backgrounds, cultures, and abilities to study creatively alongside each other. Over 200 students join the BTEC, Foundation Degree and BA courses every year.

Chickenshed's work incorporates many varied performing arts activities, and participants develop skills in acting, music and dance, as well as building a range of life skills such as teamwork, leadership, adaptability and interpersonal skills.

The first musical writers for Chickenshed were Jo Collins and Anthony Filby, who together formed Colby music, through which they published a collection of musicals that Chickenshed performed. The music team has since greatly expanded. In December 1997, Chickenshed released a single, entitled "I Am In Love With The World", performed by children from the theatre. At bookmaker's odds of 4/1, the song was one of the contenders to become the UK Christmas number-one single.^[6] However it reached only #15 in the chart, remaining in the Top 75 for six weeks.^[7] The song was included on Diana, Princess of Wales: Tribute, a charity album recorded following the death of Diana, Princess of Wales. Diana had been the royal patron of the theatre along with Dame Judi Dench.^[1][8]

Late 2003 saw the release of The Chicken Shed Album, a compilation that marked the 30th anniversary of the theatre company. Contributors to the album included supporters of the organisation, such as Cliff Richard, Emma Bunton, Bob Hoskins and Kenneth Branagh, as well as three tracks by Chicken Shed itself. Jo Collins & Chickenshed recorded a song, "Talk Through Me" for the 2007 show tunes album Over the Rainbow.

In 2023, Chickenshed auditioned for Britain's Got Talent, where they performed their own version of 'Wonder' by Naughty Boy and Emeli Sandé. After their performance, Alesha Dixon pressed her Golden Buzzer, sending the group directly through to the Semi-Finals. Amanda Holden remarked 'It was amazing, the choreography was fantastic [and] you were all in sync', with Alesha adding 'I love every single thing that you stand for and what you represent [as] inclusivity is so important'. In their Semi-Final, they performed 'If You're Out There' by John Legend. Alesha described the group as 'Incredible ambassadors for young people out there', with Bruno Tonioli adding 'This was a powerful message delivered straight from the heart'. They failed to reach the final.^[9]

"Have A Heart At Christmas" (single, 1994)

1. "Have A Heart At Christmas"
2. "Rhapsody In Blue" (featuring Larry Adler)
3. "I'll Build A Stairway To Paradise" (featuring Larry Adler & Issy van Randwyck)

"I Am In Love With The World" (single, 1997)

1. "I Am In Love With the World"
2. "Don't Know If I Believe In Christmas"
3. "Little Tommy"
4. "Chicken Menace"

The Chicken Shed Album (album, 2003)

1. "Watch Me Come Alive" - Cliff Richard
2. "As Far as the Eye Can See" - Gabrielle
3. "I Am In Love With the World" - Chicken Shed
4. "Sometimes" - Emma Bunton
5. "The Wedding Dance" - Dmitry Sitkovetsky
6. "Can I Love Him?" - Sam Brown
7. "Bits and Pieces" - Bob Hoskins
8. "Trail My Soul" - Chicken Shed
9. "Looking For Love" - Richard O'Brien
10. "Will It Happen To Me?" - Barbara Dickson
11. "Elijah" - Kenneth Branagh
12. "First Love" - Chicken Shed
13. "Mad Little Sad Boy" - Kenneth Branagh
14. "Still Waters" - Misty Oldland
15. "We Need Each Other" - Elaine Paige
16. "Dream a We Real Yew" - Kenneth Branagh

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