Author: Mama Mei (Sophie Mei Lan)

We know this Easter will be different from normal due to Lockdown and the Coronavirus Pandemic… but we want to make sure that you still have fun whilst staying safe at home during Covid 19.

So here’s our alternative Easter ‘What’s On Guide’ of activities and things to do at home this Easter…

• Easter Crafts: Now’s a perfect time to get crafting! There are so many things to do from cutting out egg shapes and decorating them to creating bunnies out of the middle of all that toilet roll with cotton wool. Or you can easily bunny face masks or hats made out of a paper band with bunny ears. Or you could have an Easter Nail Art salon!
• Easter Egg Hunt: Whether is be with chocolate eggs or other treats or even just clues on their own or a treasure hunt. We love a good old Easter Egg Hunt (with or without the chocolate).
• Easter Baking: Depending on what you have in there’s a few simple recipes you may be able to make (or create your own!). From chocolate corn flake buns and cakes to hot cross buns and we always enjoy a Sunday Dinner so it is Yorkshire Puddings for us! Use your imagination or even create a mud kitchen in the garden! (But obviously don’t eat mud!).
  
• Hatchimals Easter Bouquet is a great alternative to chocolate and flowers for children. We were gifted it to try it out and the girls loved hiding each flower in their own hunt they created. It’s a great gift too if you have more than one child as they ‘could’ share the bouquet and open a different flower each. They’re available here: https://amzn.to/2QViqmQ

• Pay-as-you-feel world class Ballet:
  Get watching & dancing at home! Pay-as-you-feel…Ballet… such a great idea from @NorthernBallet to make their shows digital and accessible … https://northernballet.com/pay-as-you-feel-season

• Have your own Easter Dance Party! Put on some Easter songs and play party games.

• Easter Bunny Live streaming at Home:

  A new experience has been developed by the creators the Easter Bunny Live event, an annual live experience that was due to be touring the country to deliver the full Easter experience. Helen Nurse, Director of Fun for Wonder Adventures, explains; “Despite having to cancel the event, we didn’t want anyone to miss out on the magic of Easter so we’ve been working hard to take all the fun online for children to still experience at home.”

  The live-streamed event will deliver the same fun, imaginative entertainment as the live experience, all designed to get children involved and active together with their parents.

  After registering for a chosen event date and time ‘visitors’ will be directed to join a private Facebook group where the event will be securely broadcast.

  During the online event the Easter Bunny will deliver storytelling, interactive games and riddles all of which the children join in at home. He will also run an egg hunt which families can do around their space and they will learn the new ‘Easter Bunny Hop song and dance’ – a special single will be released especially for the event.

  Helen Nurse adds; “During the event we’ll be encouraging parents to send messages for personal Easter Bunny shout-outs as well.”

  The team behind the event, wonderadventures.co.uk, are a family run business include their own children as chief fun testers. They specialise in interactive experiences for under 10’s including live events and online interactive treasure hunts. Helen added; “With our experience covering live and online content – taking the Easter event online seemed the obvious thing to do.”

  
  Helen, Director continues: “We are passionate about providing imaginative play experiences, inspiring kids and encouraging children and parents to play interactively together and so it is actually more important than ever to provide this at home at what will be a challenging time for a lot of families. We want to still provide opportunities for families to experience special, fun moments together and make memories. And being able to bring this into the home as a live experience means families can mark Easter and do something together that is memorable.”

  Registration for the event is £5 per family. To register or for more information on the Easter Bunny Challenge LIVE online or the interactive treasure hunts go to http://www.wonderadventures.co.uk

Where is your favourite family day out in Yorkshire? Whilst a day out might not be on the agenda for a while… we wanted to recognise some of the best days out for families in Yorkshire so we have a list of things to do when we are allowed to explore the region again safely.

Our accessibility correspondent Dan Cross writes…

Here’s some ideas of the best activities in Yorkshire for families, when they are allowed to, and what type of things to expect:

• York Dungeon with shows and history. It’s a 75 minute tour which takes you through the city’s gory past, using actors and special effects to make history loads more exciting. This is based in York.
• Eureka Museum in Halifax with interactive exhibitions, designed to make learning fun, covering everything from the desert to human biology. This is based in Halifax in West Yorkshire.  It’s the perfect day out in Yorkshire!
• Flamingo Land, this is not just a theme park it’s a zoo too, you can even meet a Creature as the Chief Education Officer brings out a range of animals  such as snakes or frogs for you to get up close and personal with. This is based in Malton North Yorkshire.

• York Maze with different types of mazes – illusion, mineshaft and finger fortune Maze, there’s also play zones, including a jumping pillow which is a bouncy castle without walls, and there’s also a climbing Zone. This is based in York North Yorkshire, and is open from mid-July until September.

• The Deep in Hull tells the story of the world’s oceans with interactive exhibitions, and loads of sea creatures: fish, turtles, sharks. The whole tour takes 2 to 3 hours and there’s also a café if you or your kids get p=peckish. This is based in Hull, East riding of Yorkshire.

• Snozone in Xscape Castleford, where you can ski or go tobaggoning. They offer lessons as well as activities, such as: sledgling or ice slides. This is based in the Xscape, Colorado Way Castleford.

• Jorvik Viking Centre. They’ve reconstructed Viking streets so you can see what it was like 1,000 years ago , and there’s interactive displays  telling you about their 5 year- long dig on Coopergate, so it’s both fun and educational. This is based in York, North Yorkshire.

• National Coal Mining Museum.  You can venture 140 metres underground to explore one of Britain’s oldest working mines, and learn about the lives of who worked there. You can go outside and meet ponies, walk around nature reserve and even have a mini train ride. A great day out. This is based in Overton, Wakefield , Caphouse Colliery.

• Scarborough is one of the most popular seaside resorts in Britain. You can go on loads of beaches, there are arcades, you can take a boat trip out to sea, or you can visit the Scarborough Sealife sanctuary. There’s so much to do in Scarborough. This is based in Scarborough, North Yorkshire.

• Yorkshire Wildlife Park.  There are loads of exotic animals for the kids to see close and personal as you walk round the park. There’s lions, polar bears, meerkats, giraffes, tigers, zebras and more. There’s also a chance to learn about them with the various talks throughout the day. It’s definitely one of Yorkshire’s best days out. It’s based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire.

Where are you most looking forward to visiting in the future? Let’s share the love for our wonderful Yorkshire attractions who will need our support!

Three page-to-stage productions are heading to Leeds Playhouse this spring, giving book-fans the chance to see their favourite characters in person.

As we celebrate World Book Day on Thursday (5 March), the Playhouse is asking readers to make a note in their diaries for THE LOST HAPPY ENDINGS (27 – 28 March), THE KITE RUNNER (31 March – 4 April) and HOLES (7 – 11 April).

This bestselling trio follow in the literary footsteps of OLIVER TWIST, playwrightBryony Lavery and director Amy Leach’sbold new reimagining of the Charles Dickens classic in co-production with Ramps on the Moon (28 February – 21 March).

THE LOST HAPPY ENDINGS is a new family show based on an original children’s story by former Poet Laureate and Whitbread, TS Eliot and Pinter Prize winnerDame Carol Ann Duffy.

The Lost Happy Endings_balletLORENT, Choreographer;Liv Lorent, Job, Goldolocks; Natalie Trewinnard. DANCERS; Gwen Berwivk, Gavin Coward, Toby Fitzgibbons, Yen_ching Lin, Ray Roa, Virginia Scudlletti, Benedicta Valentina, Jordaine Lincoln, Ellen Vollner,

The Lost Happy Endings_balletLORENT, Choreographer;Liv Lorent, Job, Goldolocks; Natalie Trewinnard. DANCERS; Gwen Berwivk, Gavin Coward, Toby Fitzgibbons, Yen_ching Lin, Ray Roa, Virginia Scudlletti, Benedicta Valentina, Jordaine Lincoln, Ellen Vollner,

Retold as dance theatre for family by balletLORENT, with narration by actor (and Absolutely Fabulous national treasure) Joanna Lumley, it’s the story of a magical girl called Jub who lives deep in the forest and has six fingers on each hand. Her job is to guard the happy endings to stories and fairytales. But one day a witch steals them, leading Goldilocks to change the locks on the cottage of the three bears; Cinderella’s foot to grow too big for the glass slipper; and Pinocchio’s nose to keep growing (so much so that he arrives everywhere a whole day before he sets off).

“Both as a poet and as a parent, I’ve always loved revisiting and retelling our traditional myths and fairytales,” said Carol Ann. “As we developed the story, we found we weren’t only dealing with The Lost Happy Endings, but also the alternative middles.”

THE KITE RUNNER – which is returning to the Playhouse for a third time – has been adapted by Matthew Spangler from Afghan-American author Khaled Hosseini’sinternationally renowned novel, which was on the New York Times bestseller list for more than two years, was translated into more than 40 languages and sold more than eight million copies worldwide.

Originally produced by Nottingham Playhouse Theatre Company and Liverpool Everyman and Playhouse, this haunting tale of friendship spans cultures and continents, tracing one man’s journey to confront his past and find redemption. Described by The Stage as ‘the best page-to-stage show since War Horse’, it’s based in Afghanistan as it stands on the verge of war.

The third book-based production in Leeds Playhouse’s spring trilogy, HOLES is an inventive new stage show from the Children’s Theatre Partnership, Royal & Derngate Northampton and Nottingham Playhouse, based on the multi-award-winning novel and blockbuster film of the same name. Originally written by Louis Sachar, it won the 1998 US National Book Award for Young People’s Literature and the 1999 Newbery Medal for the year’s most distinguished contribution to American literature for children.  

This thrilling off-beat comedy adventure tells the story of palindromically-named Stanley Yelnats, who is born into a family cursed with bad luck and finds himself accused of a crime he didn’t commit. Sent to a labour camp as punishment, he is tasked with digging a hole, five-foot wide by five-foot deep, every day. He is told it is to build ‘character’, but the tyrannical warden is definitely hiding something.

How will Stanley and his fellow inmates deal with her demands, her two cronies, a fearsome rattlesnake and a host of yellow-spotted lizards? And will Stanley and his new friends unearth what’s really going on?

You’ll have to put a bookmark in your current reading matter and pop down to the Playhouse to find out.

The Lost Happy Endings, Quarry Theatre, Leeds Playhouse

27 – 28 March. Press night: Friday 27 March, 7.30pm

The Kite Runner, Quarry Theatre, Leeds Playhouse

31 March – 4 April. Press night: Tuesday 31 March, 7.15pm

Holes, Quarry Theatre, Leeds Playhouse

7 – 11 April. Press night: Tuesday 7 April, 1.30pm

Box office: 0113 213 7700; leedsplayhouse.org.uk

Award-winning playwright Bryony Lavery’s new adaptation of OLIVER TWIST is now open at Leeds Playhouse, with every performance featuring integrated creative sign language, audio description and captioning.

New images of this co-production between the Playhouse and Ramps on the Moon show how designer Hayley Grindle’s visionary design choices have introduced dynamic new layers of interest for audiences while increasing accessibility for deaf and visually-impaired theatregoers.

Her starkly brutalist yet stunning set, monochrome base palette and bold colour coding for key characters like Fagin, played by Caroline Parker MBE, and the Artful Dodger, played by Nadeem Islam, bring the harsh realities of Dickensian England to life with vivid clarity.

The captioning screen is not an add-on but is, instead, a key part of the design, standing proud in the middle of the Quarry stage with the period-style text timed to work with and enhance the dialogue. Similarly, audio description is seamlessly weaved into the script.

Directed by Amy Leach (There Are No Beginnings, Romeo & Juliet), this new production delves into the dark heart of the original novel to bring us Oliver, played by Brooklyn Melvin, brutal Bill Sikes (the spelling taken from Dickens’ original text) played byStephen Collins, his canine sidekick Bullseye, expertly crafted by Puppet Designer and DirectorRachael Canning, and feisty but doomed Nancy, played by Clare-Louise English (One Under,Graeae/Theatre Royal Plymouth, commissioned by Ramps on the Moon).

The cast is completed by Katie Erich as Rose, Rebekah Hill as Luna, Georgia Jackson as Fingers, Steph Lacey as Mrs Thingummy, Jack Lord as Mr Brownlow, Craig Painting as Mr Sowerberry, Mitesh Soni as Charley Bates and Benjamin Wilson as Mr Bumble.

OLIVER TWIST runs at Leeds Playhouse from 28 February – 21 March ahead of a UK tour, taking in Birmingham Repertory Theatre, Nottingham Playhouse, Sheffield Theatres, New Wolsey Theatre Ipswich and Theatre Royal Stratford East, who are all part of the Ramps on the Moon consortium alongside Graeae, the UK’s leading disabled-led theatre company.

Oliver Twist, Quarry Theatre, Leeds Playhouse

Fri 28 Feb – Sat 21 March. Press Night: Wed 4 March, 7.30pm

Box office 0113 213 7700. Book online leedsplayhouse.org.uk

Writer Bryony Lavery was born in Wakefield and is one of the UK’s most well respected and prolific playwrights. She is best known for her award-winning play Frozen which recently played in the West End featuring Suranne Jones. Bryony’s adaptation of A Christmas Carol played at Leeds Playhouse in 2010. She has had a long and varied career, including writing plays for the National Theatre and Frantic Assembly.

Director Amy Leach joined Leeds Playhouse as Associate Director in 2017. She directed Hamlet, A Christmas Carol and Road during the theatre’s acclaimed Pop-Up Season. She previously directedTalking Heads, Queen of Chapeltown, Romeo & Juliet, Kes, The Night Before Christmas and Little Sure Shot.

Amy is committed to placing accessibility and inclusion at the centre of her work. During the Pop-Up Season, her production of Road included integrated live audio description, her production ofHamlet was the first Leeds Playhouse production to trial the National Theatre’s groundbreaking caption glasses, and she was instrumental in forming the Playhouse’s partnership with Mind the Gap’s Staging Change initiative which encourages professional opportunities for learning disabled actors and creatives. In autumn 2019, Amy directedThere Are No Beginnings by Yorkshire writerCharley Miles, the first production in Leeds Playhouse’s new studio theatre the Bramall Rock Void. This production featured creative audio description at every performance. For Christmas 2019, Amy directed The Night Before Christmaswith every performance D/deaf friendly using integrated creative sign language.

Ramps On The Moon is a consortium of seven major theatre companies committed to putting Deaf and disabled artists and audiences at the centre of their work; to accelerate positive change, explore opportunities and stimulate awareness of disability issues within arts and culture. The project is supported by public funding through the Arts Council’s Strategic Touring programme – the largest award of its kind. The consortium venues are New Wolsey Theatre, Birmingham Repertory Theatre, Leeds Playhouse, Nottingham Playhouse, Sheffield Theatres, Theatre Royal Stratford East and Graeae Theatre Company.

Leeds Playhouse is celebrating its 50^thanniversary in 2020. It is a cultural hub, a place where people gather to share stories and to engage in world class theatre.

The Playhouse makes work that is pioneering and relevant, seeking out the best companies and artists to create inspirational theatre in the heart of Yorkshire. From large scale spectacles to intimate performances, the Playhouse develops and makes work for the stage, found spaces, tours, schools and community venues.

A dedicated collaborator, Leeds Playhouse works with distinctive, original voices from across the UK. Its Artistic Development programme, Furnace, discovers, nurtures and supports new voices, while developing work with established practitioners. It provides a creative space for writers, directors, companies and individual theatre-makers to refine their practice at all stages of their career.

The Playhouse’s sector-leading Creative Engagement team works with more than 12,000 people aged 0–95 every year. It runs a range of weekly workshops and exciting creative projects using theatre to reach out to refugee communities, young people, students, older people and people with learning disabilities.

Leeds Playhouse now has a building to match its wide-ranging, far-reaching ambitions. As a result of a £15.8m transformation in 2019, it now offers improved access to and around the theatre, a city-facing entrance and a new studio space, the Bramall Rock Void.