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Drama in the Park
Taylor Park - A Chapter in Our Own History
May Day Event
Victorian Day
The Beginning
A Walk with Samuel Taylor
Research Through Drama
Legacy of Samuel Taylor Portrait Gallery
Taylor Park - The Legacy of Water
Regatta Day
Visit to the Archive Library
Image Library
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Research Through Drama
Location: St Helens
It was important to decide how we were going to build up a picture of Samuel Taylor and outline the Park's history.
Much could be gained from talking to local people. Even very young children could give their own history of the park, accepting that history does include 'feeding the ducks last week.' In a young child's mind this is history.
An older person may remember more and their history will be significant as it records important changes, not just in the park but in the minds of planners, designers and funders.
But even then there would be a limit to the 'memorial' aspect of history. The further back you go, the more fragmented and apocryphal history becomes.
This activity aimed to value the importance of 'local knowledge' but show how such knowledge only goes back in 'living memory.' It also hoped to explain how the park has changed and how any new changes should reflect the needs of the whole community and not just a few.
In the part of the exercise where a mixed community design their park for the future, there was a healthy and sympathetic exchange of ideas between old and young.
As an outreach activity and as preparation for inviting visitors to the park, we asked schools to provide venues for a community presentation and workshop as a family activity.
The presentation took the form of a three scene play interspersed with workshop activities.
The first playlet begins with a mother trying to organise her family for a walk in the park. The action then goes to the park where an elderly man is almost knocked over by a boy with a football. He reminisces about the park when he was young before being met by an old woman who offers to share her picnic.
Following this scene the actors ask the older members of the audience what they most liked about the park when they were younger. The audience is split into mixed age groups and asked to design their own ideal park. They are particularly asked to consider the needs of all ages. Each group reports back to the others.
In the next scene the old couple are finishing their picnic. The old woman reminds her friend that, in their youth, children were just a thoughtless as modern children may be. They remember the fun they used to have with their friends and as they part, the audience are taken back to the fifties to savour the life in and around the park at that time.
The characters from this scene return to the park bench and answer questions from the audience about their use of the park.
In the final scene, the mother and her son are looking at old family photographs and come across one of the child's great, great grandfather, Samuel Taylor. The mother explains how their ancestor owned the land and donated it to the borough.
Samuel Taylor and his wife appear as if posing for the photograph. Mrs Taylor describes the plight of two workhouse children she met and Mr Taylor decides to give the poor somewhere to take the air and exercise.
As the scene closes the audience is asked to describe Mr. Taylor and his life. It is pointed out that nobody is alive today who knew him properly and the only way we can discover the true Samuel Taylor is through researching documents written by and about him at the time. It is suggested that the only way to get a complete picture of that time is by visiting the town's Archive Department to unearth such information.
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