As part of The Physical Fellowship 2024

Highly Sprung’s Physical Fellowship was established fifteen years ago to give young people the opportunity to explore their understanding and experience of physical theatre.

Each year features a programme of original physical performance work from participating schools and Sprung Youth groups, followed by a headline show from Sprung Advance Plus.

Young performers holding up white paper infant of white lights

This year's Sprung Advance Plus show was Say No More, written by Mark Worth, directed by Sarah Worth and co-produced by young people from Sprung Advance Plus.

Say No More explored what would happen if a young person was forced to become the next Prime Minister.

A chance to test an opportunity for them to have their say to make the change they want or just another opportunity to exploit the inexperienced...

When Alex is forced to lead the country he is put in a position where he must challenge his previous lack of concern for politics and find out whether he really is strong enough to make a change. But the big question is what kind of change can he really make?

Rehearsal to 1st night...

"Say No More looked at the idea that each of us have our own power and the choice over how we use it was something that this show highlighted for me. I think sometimes we can feel our opinion or actions are overlooked, and Say No More shows in real time how that's so not true. But it's also knowing that you have the control over your power and not letting anyone manipulate you into thinking otherwise in the way that Alex did." -Eve, Performer

"Rehearsals are such an important time to develop not just the performance, but the strong feeling of ensemble that is essential to getting the team through the challenges of making new theatre. It's a secret mix of serious work and serious fun!" -Sarah, Director

Technical Rehearsal

A finished Scene Plan

These are used backstage to keep everyone on track

The Belgrade Theatre, Coventry

Each year the Belgrade host The Physical Fellowship.

Costumes ready

Costumes hanging on a rail backstage, ready for the dress rehearsal

Technical rehearsals are the moment where everything comes together... the show starts making sense as all the elements combine and become real in the theatre space... the sound, lights, costumes and spacing all realised as one, coming together to let the story be told.

The technical rehearsal is where cues for lighting and sound are tested and cemented. These rehearsals can be long, but allow you to see the show in slow motion. And from that experience we can often discover new ways of seeing or portraying moments of the performance. This process pulls everything apart so it can come back together stronger and more meaningfully.

Long periods of time can be spent waiting in a suspended moment within the piece...

Frozen in place while lighting is re-focused, sound levels changed and adjusted...

Sometimes magic happens in those moments... you realise something about your performance you didn't know before, or you end up on stage talking to other cast members who you might not have spent much time with before and becoming great friends.

A moment held in time.

Dress Rehearsal

The show is finally brought together with all elements working as one...

"Sitting down to start writing any piece is daunting, for Say No More, it felt even more so; teenagers and politics?! We always try to show teenagers as teens, not playing people much older than their actual years. This deliberate artistic decision meant that we were having to place a 17 year old boy in the position of Prime minister, and thus, a delicious twist was born. Young people are always full of such promise and optimism, where things are often black or white. Placing ‘Alex’, a disillusioned teenager in the highest position in the land, he and all the young cast soon realised that the world really is a multitude of grey and where every decision has a consequence." - Mark, Writer

"When we first started Say No More, I felt slightly cautious because I have never really been into politics or had any care as to how they affected me. Once we got into the final rehearsal and eventually the performances, I realised how important it is for our generation to understand politics and how much they truly affect us. Say No More allowed me to learn so much about a topic I knew near to nothing about and I’m so grateful I was able to be apart of it!" -Lucy, Performer

"Playing Alex really pulled my focus to the cycle of confusion and disorder within and around politics. We have Alex - a teenager who doesn’t understand or care for politics at all, and: Alex - the politician who “can’t please everyone all of the time” and is hated for doing what he thought was right. In the week that this show was performed (the first week of July), with the election bearing down on us, the show felt really apt as a young person, actor, performer, and someone whose future is constantly affected by the actions of those with power, reminding me (and, hopefully, those who came to watch) that we all have an equally important amount of power; it’s what we do with it that counts." - Kian, Performer

"At this point it is hard to see how Alex will be able to remain in post as Prime Minister for much longer. The country’s anger is clear; They do not agree with the new law and are willing to fight for what they believe in. As people take to the streets, two questions come to mind: How much longer can the Prime Minister stay in power? And what will the people and more importantly, the courts do when his power is removed?" - Say No More

"Struggle no more. We, as a country, have plunged to new depths, that we never thought we could. With my party’s manifesto, we will answer any questions you have. With just one policy, we will ensure energy and food security for the next generation." - Say No More

Opening Night

Warm ups are an essential part of preparing for the performance

Some final notes from Mark

Sarah's good luck message to the cast...

First Performance

From the wings...

"I think the crowning moment of say no more for me was something that we all felt in different ways. The fact that this show was performed in election week and especially election day was particularly poignant for a lot of us. Particularly those of us who voted for the first time and then came and performed such a powerful show with the backdrop of politics made it land even more."- Eve, Performer

The final moment of the show...

"Much of what you saw tonight was fiction, wasn’t it?" - Say No More

"Because the easiest way we can all give up our power is by thinking we don’t have any." - Say No More

All images thanks to the very talented Andy Moore- https://www.pixeltrix.co.uk