Southern Education & Library Board
Title: Romanian Arts Project
Artform: Puppetry, Visual Art
Organisation: New-bridge Integrated School, Loughbrickland, Rossetti Special School, Romania
Creative Partners: The Banyan Theatre Company, Twiglet Theatre Company ( New-bridge Integrated College )
Participants: 20 young people (New-Bridge Integrated), 50+ young people ( Rossetti Special School ) 16 – 17 yrs

Synopsis: Drama and Art students from New-Bridge Integrated College , Loughbrickland worked alongside artists Karen Torley and Rae Curran (Banyan Theatre Company) in creating a puppet show to be performed to young people from the Rosetti Special School, Romania. The resulting work, based on the story of ‘The Children of Lir', transcended any lingual barriers as the students created a 20 minute puppetry piece that could be understood through visual interpretation, sound and movement alone.

The students also devised art and drama workshops that could be delivered to the young people in Romania .

Prior to their journey, the students performed their puppet show in primary schools across Northern Ireland . This acted as a fund raising and awareness- raising opportunity for the project, as well as a ‘trial run' for the puppet show.

In July 2005, the New-Bridge College students travelled to Romania for ten days to deliver its arts programme. The Rosetti Special School , situated in the city of Lasi in North West Romania has 600 pupils, with an additional second campus - an orphanage for children suffering from HIV/AIDS.

Since their return, participants have had time to absorb their experiences and reflect individually and as a group on their visit. They presented some of their thoughts and experiences to their fellow students in October 2005 .