FANTASY COULD BECOME REALITY FOR SALFORD STARS

The 15 year olds from Ellesmere Park High School will help bring to life part of the children’s fantasy book The Heartstone Odyssey in a special dance performance at Manchester Cathedral.

But waiting in the wings are plans to turn the story into a tv drama, before taking it to the big screen as a trilogy of movies. National charity Heartstone, which worked with young people in Salford to create the dance performance, is working with Salford City Council to find tv developers at Salford’s MediaCityUK.

Leading actor Sir Derek Jacobi, Barrie Osborne, producer of the Lord of the Rings movie trilogy and award winning Indian composer A R Rahman are among supporters who have already backed the idea of filming The Heartstone Odyssey.

That could see Salford based writers and artists working with them and New Zealand’s  Weta Workshop which created the special effects and images for Lord of the Rings and which has already begun work on artwork for the tv drama.

Sita Kumari, director of Heartstone, said the book began life as a story told to pass time on a three day train journey across India in the 1980s. The magical tale, written by writer and photographer Nick Sidle, was then turned a book under the pen name Arvan Kumar and led to the foundation of Heartstone, the national organisation which aims to bring people together across different backgrounds, nationalities and cultures. 

In 2015 with support from Salford’s Community Safety Partnership, children from Ellesmere Park High School, Salford Foyer’s Health Action team working with young people at risk of homelessness  and young people from Salford City College with used the story to create their own art, drama and writings about hate crime and its impact.  The project was funded by Together Housing

The findings from the project were presented to the House of Commons in 2016 as a national example of good practice in challenging extremism and supporting young people from all communities who may be victims of prejudice and intolerance. 

Ten pupils from Ellsemere Park High School  will dance alongside Sita who will be the principal dancer and storyteller at the Manchester Cathedral event.

Sita said: 

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“The book is aimed at eight to 12 year olds though adults will also find it very enjoyable. It’s a beautiful and powerful story in itself but has a serious and timely message as well about challenging prejudice and its impact on people.

“A magical gem, the Heartstone, is accidentally broken into pieces by British soldiers stationed in India. The part of the story we will be performing – and the part we aim to bring to tv and film -  tells how a mouse stows away on a tall ship and brings a single piece of the gem to Manchester and hides it in a stained glass window in the mythical Wellminster Cathedral.

“It’s all about a quest to find the pieces of the stone, heal the wounds from its breaking and defeat the great serpent who wants to destroy it.  Greater Manchester is a key location in the story.”

 

Councillor Lisa Stone, lead member for children’s and young people’s services at Salford City Council, said:

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“The project brought together groups of young people whose paths might not cross in everyday life. It opened the young people’s eyes to different ways of life while uniting them through a shared story and project."

“To see the book transfer to our tv screens and maybe even to the big screen would be wonderful and such a reward for the young people who are part of this fantastic project. It would also be fabulous to see talented companies from MediaCityUk work on a project linking Salford, India and New Zealand.”

 

 

Sir Derek Jacobi said: 

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‘I have always been drawn to books that promote respect and tolerance and which can genuinely bring people together.”

 

Barrie Osborne added:

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“This is an amazing story filled with wonderful characters and carries the reader along on one adventure after another.  I am looking forward to seeing all the great ideas in the books realised on the big and small screens.”

 

The performance takes place at Manchester Cathedral at 2pm on Tuesday October 17 (almost full) and Wednesday October 18. Tickets are free and visitors are welcome to just turn up, but space will be limited so people are advised to book seats by emailing alice@heartstone.co.uk or phoning  01463 741589 or 07835 367716