Renowned theatre group Stan’s Café and a Birmingham primary school are collaborating on a production which tells the story of the Cuban missile crisis.
Sixty 10- and 11-year-olds from Billesley Primary School will relate how Fidel Castro's revolution in Cuba resulted in John F Kennedy and Nikita Khrushchev leading the world to the brink of nuclear disaster.
Staged with live video link-ups to newsreaders and set on a giant map, Any Fool Can Start a War outlines the Kennedy / Khrushchev stand-off as a playground argument, with involvement from all 60 children who will also be making the props and helping to devise songs for the production.
Stan’s Cafe artistic director James Yarker said, “I'm really scared. We're working with 60 children devising a show with very complicated subject matter and an audience which combines the rest of the primary school with the paying public.
“It's exactly the kind of project Stan's Cafe is here to do. If the idea of making the show isn't terrifying, it's not worth making.”
He added, “Billesley must be one of the most adventurous primary schools in the country. They want learning in their school to be exciting and creative. So far we've managed to stretch the staff and pupils a lot.
“This is the first project that’s putting us under a lot of pressure. We've tried to be as bold as possible. I think you have to raise the stakes very high if you want to win big—this could be fantastic.”
James Yarker and Craig Stephens direct Any Fool Can Start a War which will be staged at mac, Birmingham on Wednesday, 16 July at 1.45PM and Thursday, 17 July at 1.45 and 7PM.