Why It Matters
One creative experience can inspire a child for a lifetime.
Every child can benefit from music and theatre
As a collaboration of musicians and actors, we know first hand how powerful the arts can be for the emotional and social development of young children, especially those living in particularly difficult circumstances such as refugees or asylum seekers, those who are vulnerable and/or those living in poverty. We believe that once a quality piece of theatre is seen by a child, it's never forgotten and a single creative experience can inspire a child for a lifetime.
Through our work, we can bring performance, creativity and laughter to those children who many not have access to it but so deservedly need it.
All children have a right to just be children
Play, creativity and laughter make a huge difference in the lives of children who are forced to grow up too quickly.
We have seen time and time again that children in these difficult situations, whether it be through war, poverty, abuse or instability, absorb adult worries or the worries of their parents and are forced to become older than their years.
We believe that children have the right to safety, play, adventure, creativity and ultimately have to the right to just be children. And we can see through our work that even just one theatre performance can increase a child’s confidence and happiness, and can give them a precious memory of live theatre that every child deserves.
The Benefits of Live Theatre
Access and engagement with live theatre in childhood can:
Improve social bonding
Allow for emotions to be explored in a safe space
Improve concentration and develop cognitive skills
Boost confidence
Help refugees to understand and adapt to the new cultures
Heal division within and between communities
We are building the next generation of altruistic performers
We want to build a team of altruistic performers who bring theatre and live music to everyone, not just the privileged few. Through our work, we are producing a generation of distinctive artistic citizens who enrich the lives of others and make a positive impact in the world.
Wind-Up Penguin use only highly skilled and conservatoire-trained artists throughout all of our projects. Through our unique and inspiring performance opportunities, we take musicians, actors and artists out of theatres and concert halls and open their eyes to communities and cultures they’d otherwise be isolated from.
Our tours have reached thousands of some of the most underrepresented and marginalised children in the world. Through engaging marginalised communities in the power of professional theatre, we ensure that we send the message to our industry that music and theatre are for everyone, helping to create an environment where the future of the arts is inclusive and varied.
‘The Wind-Up Penguins produce really dazzling and colourful productions to entertain children throughout the world’
- Jonathan Vaughan - Principal of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, London
The best way to understand why our work matters is to hear what our audiences have to say:
Through musical instruments, theatre and imagination the girls, boys and teenagers from our three community centres had a wonderful time, sung, danced and laughed at the same time, without the use of language. It was a very sensitive, empathetic and fun show which we all enjoyed a lot.
— EDNICA
An amazing performance from the Wind-Up Penguin Theatre Company who are the best thing that ever happened to children’s theatre. All the children (and lots of the mothers) from the squat came along and were totally entranced for more than two hours. … We all had a wonderful time from the smallest (about 3) to the biggest (about 70). These guys are just the best and everyone was SO happy by the end of the show.
- The Art of Living, Athens
Truly, thank you for your altruism, for your patience with the children and care towards vulnerable people, we send you a huge embrace!
— Foundacion Proniños
The kids at the Together We Learn summer camp in Al-Baqaa had so much fun with Wind-Up Penguin Theatre Company’s visit! … Their performance brought laughter and smiles amongst the kids. It was interactive, exciting, and so fun!
- I learn Jordan
You radiate happiness and empathy and we would obviously love to see you again.
-CLIMA ( Mexican Autism Clinic)
Thank you Wind-Up Penguin for your performances at Casa de Maria e Marta. The children really enjoyed it! My son was asking for ‘more show’ for the rest of the day, even though he’d seen it twice!