Awen Skills

Introducing Awen Skills.

A FREE programme of creative industry workplace training courses for adults and young people aged 16 plus, living in Blaenau Gwent. The courses runs in short blocks – you can choose to sign up for one, more or all of the modules. No previous experience required.

Awen Tech

Stage Management and Design: starting 15 January 2024 (every Monday for four weeks). 

Learn stage management skills as diverse as working with rigging and flying set ups, props, stage markings, costume and set design.

Technical Knowhow: starting 5 February 2024 (every Monday for five weeks). 

Enhance your technical theatre knowledge with special guest speakers on topics including sound for musicals, building virtual world LX, practical sessions on PAT testing and theatre electrics and a behind the scenes visit to a large professional working theatre.

Write Now

Song Writing: starting Wednesday 17 January 2024.

This course will help new and experienced song writers tap into their senses and inject writing skills with vivid details, effectively use metaphors and language and add rhythm to writing and phrases to create catchy, meaningful tunes that others will want to listen and sing along to. Led by South Wales singer/songwriter Jules Gardener, who has taught song writing for Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama and Community Music Wales. Jules writes songs with depth and meaning, dealing with everything from life to social issues, with his work released by labels including Universal Music, Copro and Parabellum and as co-producer/writer for Polydor and Mercury records.

Play Writing: starting Wednesday 10 April 2024.

This course invites you to join professional writer Mark Blayney and special guest playwrights from Wales on a journey of discovery to get your storytelling ideas out into the world. Exploring dialogue, character, dramatic turns, and turning the expected on its head, we will delve into sound and movement, as well as structure and technique. Along the way you’ll get to improvise, have fun, make new friends... and maybe see your writing on the stage one day.

From The Ground Up

2024 dates coming soon.

Awen Skills is funded by the UK government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund in partnership with Blaenau Gwent CBC.