Mainstream Theatre Arts

About

Mainstream was formed in 1981 as a company dedicated to teaching children to perform. The company's creators came from a background in professional entertainment, both on the creative side of production and choreography and the business side of management. Initially there were just dance classes, but the centre in Denton, Tameside, Manchester quickly grew to become the largest private dance school in the area before introducing drama and later singing classes. Mainstream now has schools in different areas teaching similar subjects.

For quite a few years now, a very important area of Mainstream's work has been carried out in full-time schools throughout the north west.

Mainstream's theatre-in-education company tours both primary and secondary school regularly with its issue-based plays and activities that use theatre performance to teach other important subjects. Many of these projects are invited back year after year to the same schools to teach the same lessons to the new members of a particular year group using methods that are considered by teachers, pupils and experts to be extremely effective as well as enjoyable.

Mainstream's specialist performing arts teachers are also in great demand for teaching drama, dance and musical theatre classes in primary schools right across the north west. Our weekly classes are integrated into the curriculum of many schools, and we also run a large number of after-school clubs in the same subjects.

Mainstream's teachers are all specialists in one or more areas of the performing arts with performing experience as well as experience of teaching. Between them, they bring their many and diverse skills into different areas of Mainstream's work from classes to productions.

Mainstream's core management team consists of a group of dedicated theatre professionals, most of whom have been with the company for a number of years. Their specific skills and specialisms include directing, producing, script writing, choreography, lighting, sound, theatre education and teaching. Every theatre-in-education programme is written, directed and produced by this team, which also writes and directs most in-house productions as well as producing them and providing technical support. The team has also created the comprehensive curricula that are followed both in Mainstream's Academy classes and in the classes they teach in full-time schools.