Case Study - Shannon Mann

In July 2016 we staged our very first PIAD with a group of eager youngsters. Shannon (aged 11) played the title role in The Voyages of Odysseus, steering her gallant crew past deadly rocks, fighting giants and monsters to reach home safely.

“I thoroughly enjoyed performing the title role ‘Odysseus’ and I knew I wanted to come back for more.”

Following this breath-taking adventure, she was chosen out of 60 young people to take part in our first ever Youth production, The Lighthouse Keeper’s Lunch.

Since then, theatre and the Minack have become a big part of Shannon’s life. A founder member of our Musical Theatre Academy she performed on the Minack stage in Goodnight Mr Tom, Before I Wake, 13 : The Musical and The Adams Family before becoming a lead dancer in Ocean World and Dance Captain in Moana Jr.

“I have really enjoyed the opportunity of performing at the Minack in so many shows and my love of performing, especially at this amazing venue will never go away.”

Ocean World was our first combined schools’ production, involving 200 children from local schools and community groups, and Shannon and the cast also got to perform for a very special audience, when the wives and partners of world leaders visited the theatre during the G7 summit.

Last year, Shannon became the resident choreographer for our community youth company, Rising Stars. She choreographed their first production, Annie Jr, and is looking forward to choreographing their next production, Aladdin Jr in 2024. She is also Dance Captain in our new co-production of 13: The Musical with the British Theatre Academy and will be Assistant Director on Madagascar Jr in the autumn.

This July, 7 years after that first Play in a Day, we’re staging another PIAD based on the tale of Odysseus, and Shannon will be part of it again – this time as the choreographer, teaching other youngsters some of the skills she’s learned since that first production.

“Now, as an adult, I am really enjoying the opportunity of sharing the skills that I have learnt and developed with the Minack and passing them onto younger children. I hope that I can inspire them as much as the practitioners I have worked with when I was younger inspired me.”