Bea has always been a performer, starting dance classes at 2 years old. She has shone in every dance show she has performed in and gained distinctions in dance exams.

What she has always wanted to do was act. This is something that makes me so happy as theatre was my first love and I spent my childhood, teenage and early adult years acting and directing in shows.

After a few false starts, this year we have found a local performing arts group for Bea to be part of. The theatre group is made up of children aged 7 – 18. They seem to be a lovely group of children with three teachers who specialise in dance, drama and singing.

Bea has loved attending the classes from the start but as an anxious mother of a young daughter I have had my concerns. The communication is quite limited between the teachers and parents which I must admit I struggle with and Bea seemed to be disadvantaged as at the age of 8 she does not have a phone and she was not given printed lyrics or scripts.

Anyone who knows me knows that I am an anxious person and I over think everything and I do worry for my children. Bea, as with all her siblings, is home educated so when she does attend classes it is a huge thing for her and for me. I need to feel that I know and trust the leaders and teachers of the groups. We have been incredibly lucky with Bea’s dance school and I think I am beginning to realise that we have been lucky once again to find a brilliant theatre school.

For the last 6 days, Bea has attended summer school with her performing arts school. They put on a play in a week. She has been attending 10 – 4 every day which has been a big deal for Bea. The first time she has ever done anything like this. She has been utterly exhausted but she loved every minute of the week.

The week ended today with a performance of their show, The Addams Family. It was AMAZING!

Before the summer the children had been invited to audition for parts. Bea auditioned for Pugsley knowing that most likely it would go to one of the older children and she would be cast as one of The Ancestors. She was not deterred. She learned the lines for the audition duologue and got everyone practising with her at home. She worked hard learning the dances for the audition but Bea has dyslexia which means that learning routines takes extra time and extra effort and extra coaching. Still she was not deterred. Bea also is not a very strong singer but she rehearsed two different numbers for the auditions determined to show what she could do.

All her hard work paid off as she was cast in the show as Lurch.

Finding out what Bea had been up to each day at summer school was impossible. She did not say much about what she had done and did not always seem to know what she was supposed to be practising. I had no idea what to expect from the show.

And so to show day, and just WOW!

The Addams Family. Performed by about 16 children aged 8 – 16. They had one week to rehearse the whole show. It was just wonderful what they achieved. Helped enormously bt the fact that the two actors playing Morticia and Gomex were absolutely stunning. Fabulously funny and completely committed to their characters. The chemistry between the two of them was brilliant. Every child on the stage knew what they were doing. They were all so good, so confident and they worked incredibly well together as a team, supporting one another when things went right and when they went wrong.

Bea as Lurch was so good. So so so good. The casting of her, the smallest member of the cast, in a role usually played by the tallest member in a cast was genius. It added humour and also an element of cute. Bea knew all her dance routines. She was very Lurch-like and stayed in character the whole time she was on the stage. I was so so so incredibly proud of her. She made one mistake near the end of the show and when she realised she broke her heart. The other children on the stage clearly felt for Bea and were trying to comfort her and include her while not coming out of role themselves.

What I saw today was not only a talented dedicated hard working bunch of kids but a group filled with kindness and concern for one another, children who were supportive of one another and really worked together as a team to achieve something very special. And behind a group of children like that there are always talented dedicated hard working teachers with kind hearts and supportive souls and a real passion for nurturing and developing children.

To everyone on and behind the stage today, to everyone involved in the summer school this week I want to say a hearty congratulations and a huge thank you for welcoming and looking after Bea. She is so excited for Saturday club to start again next month and I know now that she is in safe hands. Thank you YT93 Performing Arts Academy.

To Bea. Just WOW! I am so very very proud of you and I cannot wait to see what the future holds for you. Be proud of yourself. You are a star!

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