Arts Awards

Ovalhouse Celebrates Gold Arts Award Winners

Ovalhouse offers Arts Award accreditation at Bronze Silver and Gold level. Our accredited drama class participants work towards Bronze and Silver and our young apprentices work towards Silver or Gold. To find out more about Arts Award visits www.artsaward.org.uk To find out about our first Gold Award success see below.

Ovalhouse is proud to announce that Zephryn Taitte and Shavani Seth, two graduates of the Ovalhouse Youth Theatre Group, have been awarded GOLD Arts Awards.

The GOLD Arts Award is a national qualification that recognises how young people develop as artists and arts leaders, assessing a wide range of arts and wider skills including creativity, communication, planning and teamwork. The programme, planned by Arts Awards and the University of London, and supported Shoreditch Festival, involved five arts organisations which were each partnered with a Higher Education Institution.

Zephryn and Shavani represented Ovalhouse and were two of only twelve participants who prepared and worked towards the GOLD Arts Award. Prior to this the award had only been achieved by two other people in London, and Ovalhouse congratulates Zephryn and Shavani on their great achievement.

The programme participants formed a group ‘Co Lab Arts’ and their creative projects were showcased to capacity audiences at the Shoreditch Festival on 19 July. Their arts projects were also filmed for a local TV show which was used to showcase both the Festival and the Gold Arts Award scheme.

Shavani and Zephryn worked with a group of five young actors to develop `Grandma’s Legacy’, a piece of part-improvised physical theatre, supported by Rose Bruford College. The story celebrated grandma’s life through the experiences of a Caribbean family disjointed from their cultural history, exploring morals, family, celebration, Caribbean folk tales and calypso music. `Grandma’s Legacy’ was produced by Shavani and written by Zephryn, who worked together to direct it.

When asked what the Gold Arts Award meant for her, Shavani answered that "The Gold Arts Award was a fantastic experience. It is a hands-on way of learning that has given me skills that will help me immensely as an artist. Networking and meeting such creative people has inspired me in many ways. With the support from Oval House Theatre and Rose Bruford College I have grown as an Artist. I have been empowered to continue learning and creating art. The Award has now given me the opportunity to go to university where I hope to study Acting.”

Ovalhouse is proud of its involvement in the GOLD Arts Award as part of its ongoing programme of work supporting artists and arts leaders of tomorrow.