Island Life Magazine Ltd April/May 2007 | Page 26

life - FEATURE ‘Treading the Boards to the West End’ How many students on the Island can say that they have performed in the West End? If your offspring join Theatretrain then there’s a good chance this will happen. Quartet - Root Ginger Back left: Barbara Norwood Back right: Annette Domoney Front Julieand White Picture: Theleft: tutors Manager of Theatretrain Front right: Shirley Lauren, Laura, Julie and Denne Chrissie. 26 JUST a few hours a week spent treading the boards can equip children with some important life skills. That’s the opinion of the branch head of the Isle of Wight’s Theatretrain group, which meets for three hours each Saturday morning at Bishop Lovett Middle School. Businesswoman Julie Caudle set up the island branch of the group four years ago. She says “Many ye ars ago I was involved in Theatre management. I had a bit of a career change here on the island but still wanted to have an interest in performance”. Julie explains that Theatretrain is different to some of the other theatre groups in that it is the only one where children get the experience of performing on a West End Stage. “In September we performed at the Albert Hall. Many professionals don’t even get a chance to perform there. Island Life - www.isleofwight.net