School: St Mary’s primary, Largs, North Ayrshire; school roll 180, classes involved P1-7 Headteacher Ann McCulloch
What was the best arts company to visit your school in the past year? M and M Productions from Ayr.
How did you hear about them? From another school they’d visited.
How long did they spend with you? A morning, during which they set up and then performed their play.
What did they do? They performed their own adaptation of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. They provided absolutely everything - props, costumes, music and special effects.
Did you do any preparation beforehand? No, except that the teachers told the children about the story in advance.
Did you do any follow-up work? No, the performance really was just for the children’s enjoyment, a way of bringing live entertainment to them rather than having all the fuss and bother of arranging bus trips.
What did the visit cost? Pounds 350. They were so good that we’ve booked them to do Aladdin for us at Christmas, and that will cost Pounds 500.
Who paid that? PTA and the school fund.
What was so good about them? The actual quality of the performance. Their adaptation of the novel was excellent, all the props and costumes worked very well and they had a very good rapport with the children.
How relevant was it to the curriculum? We really did just want to give the children some fun at the end of the session.
Contact M and M Productions, tel: 01292 560903
