ShedMK

In 2003 Inter-Action MK brought Chicken Shed Theatre Company's National Training Programme to Milton Keynes and set up Shed MK, an inclusive theatre project for 7-16 year olds. Cloud Cuckoo Land was Shed MK's first production in November 2004 at Stantonbury Campus Theatre, Milton Keynes.

From the programme:

Shed MK... more than just a theatre company.

"Hey kids, let's put on a show!" Hannah said to us all like something from an old movie. So she booked the venue a year ago, now all we needed was a play.

"I think I have an idea," I said and mumbled something about runaway children, imaginary friends, lost in a surreal land of talking animals. Though they knew nothing of my previous work, I was allowed to let loose my imagination in Cloud Cuckoo Land.

However, in the end it wasn't just by me. Words on paper are nothing without the help of many other creative people. Of the two directors: one wanted Imps, Clouds and more fun, the other wanted  more movement, clarity and feeling. Both helped change the play for the better. Of the inexhaustible drama practitioners and volunteers: one had had a similar experience to the Grubbs, two wrote wonderful music, another boosted my ego when I most needed it, another refused to be called a Fairy, and everyone contributed to the final draft.

The children of course have had an enormous input: one youth theatre member contributed song lyrics, and all of them helped devise Riley the Fox's lair. Also, there is the general warmth and support everyone gives to each other, and this is where Shed MK , based on the Chicken Shed model, is so special. At the risk of being called cheesy (and I shall be!) I'd even go so far as to say I've seen lives changed, and I think my life has been changed too. Not just because they let me write a play, but because it's made me look at life differently. That's why Shed MK isn't just a theatre company, it's something much more special than that, and it's great to be a part of it.