Islands that Shape Us is the outcome of the Island Young Creatives project, piloted by Stonecrabs Theatre in a partnership with Prettyr Ltd last summer.
A group of young people on the Isle of Wight were commissioned to digitally respond to themes our Young Directors in London were exploring on the stage.
They spent an intensive month and a half with StoneCrabs, receiving mentorship on storytelling, scriptwriting, directing, casting and editing.
Three short films
Sam Lapham, Charis May Sedgwick and Lucas Berry wrote and directed three short films, collectively titled Islands That Shape Us, featuring actors Tommie Vernier, Andrew Butcher, Stephanie Dickson and Krysia Mansfield.
Over 70 guests were welcomed to the premiere of their short films at Cineworld Newport on the Island, including BBC South News, who interviewed StoneCrabs’ Artistic Director Franko Figueiredo, along with our group of young creatives and audience members.
Watch again
The short film about the project was aired on BBC South last week and can e viewed on the Stonecrabs YouTube channel.
Cry by Sam Lapham
Sam’s film Island’s Cry is written in verse and deals with the dichotomy many young people experience living on the Island: whether they should stay or leave it. At the premiere, he explained that the project taught him a lot about collaborating, communicating, and going through professional pre-production phases.
Sam added,
“We need more opportunities like this. You see them in universities, but very rarely you get such schemes on the Island.”
The cast of Island’s Cry includes Krysia Mansfield, Andrew Butcher and Tommie Venier.
Alone by Charis May Sedgwick
Charis explained that making her film Alone helped her deal with a lot of mental health issues and,
“it also made me feel more confident on my writing ability.”
She said that it was great to be shown another route into creating new work. Alone casts Stephanie Dickson in the main role.
In Passing by Lucas Berry
Lucas, who wrote and directed In Passing, explained,
“I learned loads from this collective project, particularly when having to respond to deadlines and having a professional approach to making the work”.
His film In Passing deals with the theme of Identity. In Passing’s cast includes Lucas Berry, Andrew Butcher and Tommie Venier.
News shared by Franko on behalf of Stonecrabs Theatre. Ed
