In this section you will be able to look at the History of 

• LUNCHBOX THEATRE COMPANY from 1985-2011
• The Runaway Apprentice which has been booked annually for 8 years supports                                                                                                                                                              
• The National Curriculum for KS2/3/4.
• The Play is based on true accounts of the Cotton Mill Children of the Industrial Revolution.
• Follow-up Drama Workshop -
• Handle Victorian artefacts.
• Pupils Use Documentary Evidence to devise & perform their own scripts.
• Build confidence through Performance.
• The Runaway Apprentice is popular with all ages and is booked by
• Theatres, Mills, Museums, Day Care Centres & Schools.
• WWII in an Afternoon - now in its 3rd successful year -
• 'Be' an Evacuee and create a Drama in 2 hours. KS2
• Poetry & Performance Workshops for KS2/3/4
• Creative Writing with Poet David Tait who has worked with the Poet Laureate
• Performance skills with Christine Burn - Holder of the Poetry Society Gold Medal
• PHOTOS
• COSTUME Ideas
• Accommodation & Courses for Theatre-Lovers in Stratford-Upon-Avon
• Keep scrolling.....

Information about Theatre-Lovers Accommodation in Luxury Lodge with                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              River Views. A haven for artists & writers. TEXT/TEL 07866-500-289  Download Information Leaflet 

ABOUT LUNCHBOX THEATRE COMPANY

 Actress Christine Burn set up this Touring Theatre Company 

after Director,Ben Benison said 'Take a Risk!  Just DO it!'                                                                                                                                     

Lunchbox Theatre Company created the first Open Air, Courtyard, production at the award-winning Quarry Bank Mill in Cheshire

with a group of inner-city children.                                                                                                    

 ‘Escape to Styal’ a play based on the Mill’s archives was written & performed at the Mill.                                                                                                                                                                             

The first performance was at HM Prison Styal where the Inmates made costumes from Calico spun at the Mill.                                                                                                                                         

Lunchbox then set up the original Role Play in the Apprentice House, featured on BBC TV’s Blue Peter & Macclesfield
Silk Museum commissioned ‘Silk, Satin, Muslin, Rags’.

‘The Runaway Apprentice’ followed, with shows taking place in the Victorian Market, as part of the Preston Festival, and 

Platform 1 performances on Carnforth Railway Station. The Play has become popular with all ages & has been shown in 

Museums, Day Centres & Schools, with Inset Days for Teachers & Primary & Secondary History Conferences.

Christine Burn is a professional Actress. Credits include Ines in Sartre’s Huis Clos (West End & National Tour) 

Joy in Shadowlands (Edinburgh Festival) Mrs Gascoigne in The Daughter-in Law by D.H.Lawrence,

Kate Mundy in Brian Friel’s Dancing at Lughnasa. 

She originated the Play Safe in the Park Campaign & ran the Belt Up in the Back Campaign 

changing the Law on rear seat belts for children.
In her Barn she is running ‘Barmy about the Bard’
Readings of the Complete Works of Shakespeare.

Special thanks to Director Ben Benison - who told us to
‘Take a risk & just do it… ’Ben who has worked with the National Theatre & RSC 

won critical acclaim with his play ‘Jack Lear’ - inspired by Shakespeare - and written in Blank Verse.

Thanks to Brother for Office Equipment
Walkers of Scotland for Oatcakes
Mornflake for Organic Porridge for the pauper Apprentices.

Free Porridge, Onions & Oatcakes
Free Sunday School Certificates

Creative, Cross-curricular WORKSHOPS to inspire KS2/3/4
Imagine…Research….Devise…Write…Perform….
Imagination is more important than knowledge….EINSTEIN
Sans Dieu Rien.

THE VICTORIAN ERA
Inter-Active Historical Drama
Creative, Cross-curricular approach to the National Curriculum

Featured on BBC TV & Radio & the Times Educational Supplement TES
Primary & Secondary History Conferences & Inset Days

‘The Runaway Apprentice’
Sold for a Shilling - to Slave in a Cotton Mill…..

A drama devised by professional Actors
Role-Players & Teachers to enhance the National Curriculum
Inspired by archive material from the Mills of the North

What the Teachers said: ‘….a mesmerising performance…’
We learned more in 2 hours with Lunchbox Theatre than 10 years in Class
What the Pupils said: ‘ACE!  BRILLIANT!  WICKED! ’

In simple Victorian attire become an Apprentice for an afternoon
The entire audience will be members of a professional theatre company for the afternoon with many small solo parts being given out on the day.
Meet the Mill Owner & Sign Indentures
Work the Mule & Witness an Accident
Campaign with the King of the Factory Children (1830 – 1847)
Sign the Petition. March for a 10 Hour Day.
Richard Oastler, like William Wilberforce before him, campaigned for over 17 years to change the law & reduce long working hours for children.
Meet the Queen {Victoria of Course!}

In the follow up WORKSHOP pupils will create their own scripts from documentary evidence. Build confidence through performance.
Find out how the professional theatre works.
Look at Masks, Costumes, Sets and Props. Handle Victorian Artefacts.
Free Sunday School Certificates          Free Porridge, Onions & Oatcakes
Tel & Fax: 07000 80 22 80