Side by Side off to seaside festival

10:51am Wednesday 14th May 2008

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STOURBRIDGE College's award-winning theatre group Side by Side will be performing for the first time at the Brighton Fringe Festival next week.

The group, who walked away with a string of awards at the Dudley Festival of Music, Drama and Dance and the Worcestershire Theatre Festival for their latest piece The Bird, will be bringing the moving piece of dance drama to life at the popular seaside festival from Tuesday May 20 to Saturday May 24.

The 14-strong group of people with learning disabilities - who rehearse at St John's Church in Stourbridge - will be presenting the show, based on the Ugly Duckling fairytale, at Dorset Gardens Methodist Church in Brighton.

Group leader Sue Wallin said: "We're always trying to find a new project or challenge for them and Brighton is a very big festival, so they're very excited."

The group have performed three times at the prestigious Edinburgh Fringe Festival, and hope to make a fourth appearance next year; and last year they trod the boards in Sweden.

It costs thousands of pounds each time for the students and their carers to hit the road, with the Brighton trip alone setting them back around £12,000.

Sue said: "We have to pay for coach hire, a van, the hotel, hiring out the venue and the fringe fee, so we just have to keep applying for funding all the time."

A £5,000 grant from the National Lottery's Awards For All fund has helped towards this outing - plus money from the college's access fund, £1,000 from The Freemasons Lodge of Worcestershire, £500 from Mencap and a pledge from Stourbridge Rotary Club.

Sue, who won a Dudley civic award in 2004 for her work with the renowned group, added: "It's nice to have the support of Stourbridge people."

Side by Side will also be performing The Bird at Stourbridge Town Hall from June 25 to 27; tickets are available from Books Unlimited, Lower High Street, Stourbridge.

Anyone wishing to make a donation to the group can call Sue on 01384 395350 or check out website www.stourbridge.ac.uk/sidebyside