Theatre arts company in Tameside reaches milestone

A theatre arts company in Tameside has celebrated its 40th birthday.

Mainstream Theatre Arts was established in April 1981 when theatre and events producer and director J Barry Carr and choreographer Carole Hart turned a former hat factory in Denton into a rehearsal studio.

The original idea was to develop and rehearse acts for international theatre and club venues, but they decided to run a few classes during the studio’s downtime.

The classes proved to be very popular, and the school expanded to cover a range of dance styles and to add drama, singing and musical theatre to its repertoire. 

MTA also began supplying performing arts teachers to schools, teaching its specially formulated curriculum tailored to the needs of each school, as well as touring both primary and secondary schools throughout Greater Manchester with theatre-in-education performances on important subjects for young people.

Since then, thousands of young people have taken MTA’s classes in drama, dance, singing and musical theatre and been in shows, some returning later with their own children and even grandchildren.

MTA’s own students have performed in a wide range of shows over the years, from small studio productions of plays to spectacular pantomimes and dance musicals, including a performance at the Millennium Dome (now the O2 Arena) in London in 2000 on behalf of the borough of Tameside. Many of those shows were written by MTA’s in-house creative team.

Plenty of former MTA students have gone on to have careers in the performing arts, even appearing in West End shows.

For former students who have gone on to careers unrelated to the performing arts, the skills taught at MTA have still gone on to benefit them, perhaps in unexpected ways, as they have found the techniques and life skills taught in MTA classes invaluable.

Stephen Poole first came to MTA on an official visit during his run as Deputy Mayor in 1996, then again in 2001-2002 as Mayor. 

After his first visit he became an active member of the adult classes, appearing in several shows, including as a pantomime dame. 

He said: “Mainstream is a magical experience for young people. As well as having fun, they learn so many important skills that they can carry with them in future, like teamwork, public speaking, and the confidence to do it, and of course performing in productions with the discipline that requires.

“I loved being an adult member and taking part in shows and classes. I am very proud to have been part of such a great performing arts school and would recommend Mainstream to any parent for their child. Here’s to the next 40 years and more!”

Benefits

Head of Drama Education David Chadderton, who joined the company in 1991, added: “I joined Mainstream to work on the tenth anniversary show, sat behind the sound desk cueing cassette tapes up with a pencil, so you can work out from that how long I’ve been here.

“I’ve been involved in many areas of MTA’s work since then - classes, shows, work in schools, theatre-in-education tours - and so I’ve been lucky enough to be able to see for myself how so many young people have benefited from what the company does. 

“I’ve watched individual students develop their skills and confidence to make them almost unrecognisable - even sometimes to their parents - as well as watching groups of students bonding together in class or the rehearsal room, learning how much they can achieve through teamwork and being supportive of one another.

“It’s been a privilege to work with the team at Mainstream and with all of the students that have passed through our school.

“It has been a challenging time for the industry, not to mention for their students of all ages, but MTA has taken this time to develop new incentives for the business and is looking forward to launching these this year.”

Head of MTA and co-founder Barry Carr told the Reporter: “Wow they are right - time flies. I recall many fantastic moments through our history. 

“Yes, we have also had numerous challenging times, some quite incredibly hard, but when these times came around, fortunately I would be producing and directing shows, and during these times there would always be moments where specific children or young adults, through their bravery and hard work, their sheer talent, or simply their innocent excitement for showtime, inspired me to find solutions to press on.

“I have been incredibly lucky to have worked with many talented team members and amazing gifted children.”

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