Watermill Theatre Will Dedicate CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG to Late Greenham Trust CEO
The Newbury production honors Greenham Trust's Chris Boulton, a key supporter of the theatre's community arts programs.
As The Watermill Theatre gears up for its summer musical, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, the team has announced that the production will be dedicated to Chris Boulton, the Chief Executive of Greenham Trust who passed away earlier this year, and celebrates the wealth of local support that is powering this epic summer adventure.
During Chris' time at Greenham Trust, he supported the theatre both professionally and personally. This included large-scale outdoor performances for hundreds of community participants; a fully accessible strand of the Watermill's outreach provision helping everyone to engage with the arts, and Careers through the Arts (in partnership with the Corn Exchange) which encourages and enables young people to develop life-long, transferrable skills through the creative arts. Following Greenham Trust's support of Jesus Christ Superstar last year, Chris supported the Watermill to secure a grant in support of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, enabling the theatre to offer 6 local primary schools a series of bespoke workshops and contributing to a production which features 26 local children along with 16 actors, five of whom are embarking on their first major professional production since graduating.
Artistic Director Paul Hart commented "Chris was a man with a zest for life and an ability to use his expertise and passion to help realise great, transformative projects, so dedicating this production – full of ambition, hope and love, feels perfectly fitting. We're enormously grateful to him and to the whole team at Greenham who have enabled us to invest in both the talent on our stage and in our schools this year."
Outreach Director Heidi Bird added “Chris brought kindness, joy, and generosity to us all. We hold very fond memories of our time together, from early morning interviews at Kennet Radio to dancing at awards ceremonies and viewing his beautiful artwork. Chris had an undeniable, infectious passion for life. We will honour his legacy by keeping his energy at the core of our work, continuing to support the community he served for so many years.”
This year's musical extravaganza features 16 multi-talented performers, five of whom are recent graduates supported by Greenham Trust; 26 local children including 4 teams of Jeremy and Jemimas; a pack of puppet dogs; 370m of bunting, lovingly made by an army of local sewers and, of course, one magical car.
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang also offers a range of access services across the run, including a relaxed performance, BSL interpretation, audio description, captioning, and the theatre's first dementia friendly performance. The Watermill is delighted to be working alongside local organisations on this performance, including Berkshire Age UK and the Dementia Café in Hungerford.
Claire Murray commented, "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is going to be an epic adventure and it's all being made possible thanks to the hard work, talent and generosity of our local community. From Greenham Trust's support of our work in local schools, to 40 volunteer bunters who have helped to bring our fairground to life; from two local sponsors and a small group of donors who have joined us for this magical ride, to the 26 families who are supporting their children to be part of the adventure, this show is born of our brilliant communities. A perfect way to honour Chris Boulton's legacy."
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