In the last twelve months I imagine all of you dear readers have had some sort of drama in your pyjamas as that’s the only thing we tend to wear now as the outside world is mainly off limits.
This article does not aim to explore those dramas though but celebrate a local thespian, Lizzie Willis and her free online classes that are acting as sweet relief for home-schooling parents here in Sandwich and as far as the Mediterranean. CommunityAd caught up with Lizzie to talk about her free offering to the community in the form of Drama in Pyjamas.
Tell our readers why you started Drama in Pyjamas?
Every Sunday morning at 10am, I teach a free Drama session on Zoom for 30 mins. This is aimed at children 5-8 years old and each week I include some movement and voice exercises inspired by a theme. So far, we have had The Animal Kingdom, Space and Food as themes!
Obviously, teaching over Zoom is a bit different! I have to put the children on ‘mute’ until the end of the class but I can see that they are all really engaged from their faces and actions! It also means that I can deliver to a wider audience – one little boy joins in all the way from Ayia Napa!
It must be a godsend for home-schooling parents to get kids to burn off a bit of energy and enthusiasm, have you had any nice feedback?
I have had some amazing feedback and several parents have told me that their child wakes up and asks “mummy, is it Drama in Pyjamas today?” Which is really lovely to hear! If I am making a positive impact on people’s lives then that is amazing.
I wanted to offer this for free as I know that this is a challenging time financially for many parents. I grew up in a big, working class family myself and it is really important to me to encourage accessibility for those children who may not be able to afford to attend a drama class.
The children love seeing each other on screen so it is fantastic for creating that sense of connection and community. One part of the session, we literally just dance around our living room to music – it’s a great way to start a Sunday for the whole family!