Story shapers - NEW creative courses for ages 12-16

Brand new for summer 2023, we're launching our Story Shapers workshops for young people aged 12-16.

Come on an immersive week at The Story Museum to discover all the different ways to tell a story and create a storm, from thunderous soundscapes to Minecraft shipwrecks at sea. Working alongside professional theatre producers and story makers, you’ll be introduced to our Story Shapers scheme for young people, and all the ways you can find and develop your talent with The Story Museum.

MONDAY 14 AUGUST: ESCAPE ROOMS
Today we’ll discover the storms at the heart of dramatic storytelling, from Thor the God of Thunder, through to Shakespeare’s The Tempest, and Storm from the X-Men. Plus we'll explore The Story Museum through an escape room activity, and create a story to bring to life throughout the rest of the week.

TUESDAY 15 AUGUST: PODCASTING
Working with professional podcast makers from Fun Kids Radio, we’ll go on a treasure hunt through the city, looking for stories that have created a storm, as well as the ghosts that walk beside us in the streets of Oxford. We’ll spend the afternoon creating and finessing the podcast from the scratch recordings we’ve created.

WEDNESDAY 16 AUGUST: STAGE DESIGN
Today you’ll work with professional theatre designer, Nomi Everall to explore how designers go about bringing the impossible to life! Asking the question, how do we create convincing floods, fires and storms when we can’t bring the real thing indoors? We’ll explore a toolkit of tricks and techniques that stage designers use to transport audiences into other worlds, before going on to design and make our very own shadow puppetry storm-stories.

THURSDAY 17 AUGUST: MINECRAFT
Explore the Minecraft Museum, a fantastical recreation of The Story Museum built in Minecraft. Tumble down the rabbit hole into the Enchanted Library, in which you'll discover story worlds inspired by classics such as Theseus and The Minotaur, Jekyl and Hyde, Alice in Wonderland, and The Secret Garden.

FRIDAY 18 AUGUST: SPECIAL EFFECTS
Spend the day in our fully equipped Woodshed Theatre learning how to use lighting, sound and special effects to bring a raging thunderstorm howling to life in our empty space. Get hands-on learning to design, rig and programme dramatic theatrical lighting; explore how to create and record atmospheric soundscapes, and experience the magic that special stage effects can add to your storytelling.

Days run from 10:00 - 16:00. All sessions are led by our skilled Story Leaders. Suitable for ages 12-16.