Charioteer Theatre students perform self-penned play in front of large Universal Hall, Findhorn audience

MORE than 100 drama fans attended a final performance from a group of theatre students in Findhorn.

The young people from Findhorn - and as far away as Italy - performed at Universal Hall at the end of a week of intensive training and practice organised by Forres-based Charioteer Theatre run by Laura Pasetti.

She said: “The show was well received. I’m very proud of their achievement as they devised the story for it in a very short time.

“We had 120 spectators and raised £390 towards the fund for a local person to participate next year.”

Charioteer Theatre aims to get funding and offer bursaries to local young people to attend the camp for free or at a considerably reduced rate.

The 10-day course for 15 to 19-year-olds combines creativity and ecology. The first camp happened in Findhorn in 2015 - it still combines artistic experiences such as sensorial drawing, physical theatre, drumming and choir singing.

The course is intensive with sessions in the morning, afternoon and evening. At the end, the participants devise a short play, sharing their learning and the results of their exploration.

The title of this summer’s final show was ‘The Longing’.

Ms Pasetti said: “A group of young people go on a journey to find their longing: they feel unhappy, disconnected and lonely so they decide to look for what the are missing.

“The story is full of metaphors: there is a ball keeper who has a ball but nobody wants to play with him; and there is a character who carries a small plant in a pot, representing the caring for nature that the group expressed during the course.

“During their metaphorical journey, the group has several encounters. First they meet Kindness and invite her to join the group. Then they meet Nature - represented by a mountain and a crow - for advice. Then they meet Imagination and realise its importance, then the Saboteur as we all have a hidden part of us that sabotages what we want to achieve.

“At the end they understand that their longing is satisfied when they become a community and learn to count on one another: our longing is our belonging.”

Feedback sheets filled in by the audience at the end of the show included the comments: “Moving, touching, engaging and more; absolutely marvellous. Beautiful show.

“Heart touching; a proper group performance; the whole experience made me want to be part of something like this.”

Ms Pasetti finished: “I was surprised by the depth they reached with the story.

“I proposed that they didn’t have their phone with them during the course so they could focus and discover new sides of themselves; 13 of 19 accepted the challenge - they survived!”