Spotlight on @natasha_splash

Natasha Kim Chapman is another one of our Artist Imagination Fund supported artists who’s been funded by Big Imaginations Artist Imagination Fund to research & develop her new show for children and families, called ‘The Jewellers Daughter’

About Natasha

Natasha’s passion is to use creativity to build community. As a theatre maker – facilitator, performer and project co-ordinator – she has used her wide set of skills to engage people with the arts for 15 years.

Since training in Community Drama at LIPA Natasha has worked with a number of different Theatres in the North West- including Collective Encounters, 20 Stories High, Black Box CIC, FUSE, Theatre Porto and The Octagon.

With a specialism of community engagement, she has regularly and successfully forged relationships between theatres, community groups, libraries and schools. Her focus is work with children and young people, particularly those deemed at risk or on the outskirts and she has a heart to use theatre and the arts to bring about awareness and change – socially, emotionally and politically.

Career highlights have included; taking a show to the International Community Arts Festival in Rotterdam, establishing and running Drama@theLighthouse (an intergenerational arts project in Wavertree) for 8 years, leading an annual Youth Residential, delivering an arts programme with young prisoners in Cape Town to encourage behavioural change; writing and directing ‘My 4 Years’ with a group of teenage performers- a show raising awareness about the impact of genocide.

More recently she is proud to have performed solo in ‘Every Brilliant Thing’ by Duncan MacMillan, supported her local primary school to gain a Platinum Award as an Ambassador for their Outdoor Play and Learning Programme – encouraging imaginative play and creative outdoor engagement, as well as leading Theatre Porto to become the first dedicated Children’s Theatre Venue in the UK to receive Sanctuary Status in her role as Sanctuary Lead.

She is honoured to have had the opportunity to work with thousands of children and young people so far – to learn from and with them and continually develop her practice.

About the Project

The Jewellers Daughter is a project which aims to encourage welcome, build community cohesion and raise awareness – all through creativity.

Sharing the story of a jeweller’s daughter from Zanzibar, an island off the east coast of Africa, the project looks to celebrate culture, diversity and colour. Engaging the audience/ participants in creative and playful ways it will ultimately look at the story of a teenager who has experienced forced migration.

Through practical engagement and storytelling the project/ piece offers opportunity for children to learn – it aims to increase empathy, embrace difference and bring joy.

The initial stages will involve interviews and research as it is based on a true story and then it will go through a development stage with a performer, director and designer to seek the best and most successful ways in which to break down barriers of misunderstanding, particularly amongst children.

Aimed at all ages, the idea is that an interactive storytelling show is created following the research and development stage, which can be easily adapted for audiences and respond to those in the space – encouraging others to share experiences of seeking refuge, migration and ultimately building friendship and stronger communities.

It will be full of colour, music and celebration!