Richard III – Has anyone seen my Horse?

by Altrincham Creative Theatre School

This March, Altrincham Creative Theatre School (A.C.T.S) will be performing their main production ‘Richard III – Has anyone seen my Horse?’ on the 28 and 29 March at the Unitarian Chapel Hall in Altrincham. This is a light hearted and condensed version of Shakespeare’s well-known play ‘Richard III’.

A.C.T.S. was officially launched on the 11 September 2010 by Head Tutor, Valerie Harris, a local and well-respected teacher and her partner, John Banks. We are a voluntary organisation and were delighted to be able to celebrate our 15th birthday last year.

Valerie Harris

A.C.T.S aim is to teach all aspects of theatre including mime, voice projection, improvisation and performance. The focus is always on learning in a happy and a safe environment. We are grateful that the Unitarian Church welcomed us and provided our first meeting place and still continues to do so today. 

It is always nice to have our work recognized and to date, we have gained 58 awards. These have been given for Best Play, Best Director, Best Actor and also Best Supporting Actor. In the same categories, we have also had 42 nominations. 

A.C.T.S does not produce ’kids (How we abhor that word!) shows’. We set our students challenges. The fact that over the years we have directed young people in productions such as ’Under Milk Wood’, ‘Oh What A Lovely War’, ‘Blood Brothers’ and ‘Oliver Twist’ clearly demonstrates that! Nor have we ignored the ‘Bard’ having performed ‘A Midsummer’s Night Dream’ back in 2015 and another play based on ‘Macbeth’ in 2018. 

As well as acting, we teach students about the importance of backstage work. Several have undertaken such roles, from stage managing, to doing props, running sound, helping with costumes and being stage hands. Some have also had the opportunity to direct and write plays that were then performed. What has been wonderful is hearing about students who have afterwards gone on to do screen and acting courses. While others are now working at making their own mark in the very cut throat business of acting. 

We have several values that we have always held very dear and they are - Trust, Loyalty, Commitment, Dedication and Friendship. They are our founding stones and have helped us get to where we are today.

We continue to keep to a size where all students are able to gain the full benefit from their membership while all tasks are approached in a professional manner. Recently, some members have gone onto college and University so we now have vacancies for new students.

We are always happy, as well as new students, to welcome anyone who would like to help with A.C.T.S in any way. To find out more email: info@acts4u.org.uk or visit our website: www:actsdrama.wordpress.com