Creative climate change project for Bedales student

Announced on Earth Day (22 April), Block 5 student Freya Hannan-Mills has been awarded a prestigious commission from the National Youth Theatre (NYT) to create a new work for their major three year environmental project MELT in partnership with the University of Hull.

MELT will feature an initial cast of 200 responding to the climate crisis for a programme of digital and physical dramatisations culminating in a large-scale outdoor promenade piece exploring climate change with a 1000-strong cast to take place across coastal sites in the East of England.

Freya will take part in the online research and development phase over the next two months, as part of a collective of young writers working with a team of experienced theatre directors.

Rehearsals will start digitally in May 2020 and a digital sharing of the work will be live-streamed on 20 June 2020, the 'longest day of the year' and summer solstice in the northern hemisphere.

Freya has enjoyed significant success in the recent past. She was invited to co-curate an online short film festival, The Front Room Film Festival, for NYT last Sunday, which featured her short film Swallow, which had previously picked up two awards at the 2020 Film the House Awards.

Head of Bedales Magnus Bashaarat commented: “Congratulations to Freya. It is really pleasing to see this recognition for her creative talent. She is going from strength to strength, and is working on some fascinating projects. She will no doubt continue to learn and develop from this latest initiative.”

NYT Melt project | Double national film award win for Block 5 student | NYT Front Room Film Festival