Published: Friday 25th November 2022 | 10.12am
Children from across Cannock Chase District were in for a treat this month when they were invited to their local theatre to see a special performance of Binworld.
Binworld is a place where people do not think to consider others. The litterbug within every person has got out and together, they will continue to destroy any attempt to clean up this planet.
This special musical enforces local environmental messages with characters MC Crisp Rapper and Professor Poop taking the audience on a musical journey, where they learn more about issues like recycling, fly-tipping, littering, dog fouling and climate change.
Children had the opportunity of meeting humans as well as litterbugs!
Children attending the performance also took part in a mock vote where they had to vote for their favourite litterbug’s plan. They could choose to continue destroying the planet or making a difference and following the 3R’s - ‘REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE’. This gave children a brief insight into local democracy and the voting system.
Binworld was originally written by Majella Turner in 2008 and has since been adapted by Tom Truby and performed by Split Mask Theatre Group. All cast members who performed this month are currently students from Kingsmead School in Hednesford.
The project was developed by the Council with the support of Inspiring Healthy Lifestyles and forms part of the Council’s wider environmental engagement programme with young people.
The performances followed on from a series of environmental awareness sessions which have been delivered by officers from the Environmental Protection and Street Cleansing teams over the last four weeks.
A total of 19 primary schools from across the District signed up to the progamme, reaching over 1,550 children aged between 9 and 11 years old.
Councillor Justin Johnson, Portfolio Leader for Environment and Climate Change, said: “The performances by the cast of the Split Mask Theatre Group, from Kingsmead School were superb and everyone involved really enjoyed them. Just as important, though, the children took away the important environmental messages and how to ‘reduce, reuse, recycle’.
“We want to encourage children to think early about using resources again instead of wasting them and Binworld achieves that magnificently.”
“This environmental engagement programme not only brings recycling and the way we dispose of waste to the forefront, but also challenges people’s behaviour towards the environment they live in and how children can help with the impact of climate change.
“It is hoped that participating schools will take some of their learning and embed it within their own schools’ teaching”.
Tom Truby, Assistant Headteacher from Kingsmead School said “Kingsmead School were thrilled to be a part of BINWORLD. We are passionate about the arts and about promoting positive change within our community and this project enabled us to combine these. Our incredibly talented students loved the experience of being able to create a professional production that has reached so many primary school pupils. The feedback from the children and other stakeholders has been incredible and we will always be proud bearers of the mission to, ‘reduce, reuse, recycle!’”
Following on from this work, the Cannock Chase Cultural Education Partnership with the support of the Council and Inspiring Healthy Lifestyles, will continue to work with these primary schools and will be delivering a creative consultation session to help shape content for an Eco Film Festival which will be rolled out later next year.