Work in schools
Pupils from five primary schools along the lower Teifi worked with West Wales Rivers Trust, spacetocreate and Small World Theatre to create Theatre and make artwork about the River Teifi through a variety of art forms including collage, drawing, mixed media and drama workshops leading to performances using shadow puppetry. The pupils were already well informed about the river's rich biodiversity and understood the importance of protecting and restoring the Teifi. Through exhibitions and performances, the children and the project effectively reached intergenerationally across communities.
Through drama workshops with Small World, pupils created still images that evolved into scenes of river life, exploring its past, present, and future. They shared personal stories connected to the river, forming the basis for their shadow puppet narratives.
Over five creative sessions, each group co-created a story. Through drawing they explained what they wanted to animate then designed and built puppets, and selected Welsh and English narrators to write and rehearse their parts. With only one rehearsal, the live community performances became authentic expressions of the pupils' creativity and reflections on the river. The shows were filmed—see Shadow Puppet Performances on this website.
