Hold the Drama creates and delivers immersive shows that use high-quality live music to tell stories that explore issues around mental health. Their shows are non-verbal and trust audience’s imaginations to make sense of dramatic, visual, and musical cues. Almost five thousand children across England have seen their first show, Stripes, since its debut tour of North London in 2018, in conjunction with the Royal Academy of Music and Spitalfields Music.

First brought together as Open Academy Fellows at the Royal Academy of Music, they have since received two rounds of Arts Council England funding, forging links with schools and venues from Chatham to Sunderland. Individually, Hold the Drama’s members have worked on projects performing and devising music with people of all ages in association with some of London’s leading concert venues including Wigmore Hall, Glyndebourne Opera, The Royal Festival Hall, and the Royal Albert Hall.

This residency will build on our previous visit to Snape in 2019, completing the development of our second show which explores ideas of belonging and community. We will premiere the show and work with experts on dementias and working with young people in pupil referral units to build our skills and ensure that our show is appropriate for the needs of these vulnerable audiences. These are audiences for whom our non-verbal, music-led approach to supporting mental health will be particularly valuable.

Website: https://holdthedrama.co.uk/