So why is Vamos in South Africa? I've been funded by The British Council and Arts Council England through the International Artist Development Fund to research and develop connections, to share skills and to explore future partnerships and collaborations.

We've just arrived in Jo'burg after a fantastic four days working in Cape Town sharing mask theatre with ASSITEJ South Africa, who promote and foster high quality theatre for children and young people. On day one we led professional development training for a variety of professional theatre makers from Carnival performers to physical theatre and dance professionals. Lorraine Tanner, Project Manager, @Harlequin Foundation said of the course, "Fast paced and full of fun, wanting more."

We were also lucky enough to see many of the participants perform at the Obs Family Festival at The Theatre Arts Admin Collective. It was a little like a home from home, as it has so much in common with the community work of Worcester Arts Workshop, where we are the resident theatre company.

On days two and three we trained a group of 15-28 year olds in mask performance and worked towards a piece of walkabout theatre which we shared at the Obs Festival (see the picture above). It was a beautiful group of young people, who had never worked together before, and yet by the end had become an incredible team. Our host Yvette Hardie, National Director of ASSITEJ South Africa, escorted us all over Cape Town and treated us to an amazing collection of shows - sometimes two or three shows a day. She'd also booked meetings with Artistic Directors of theatres in Cape Town to discuss the potential of future Vamos partnerships here. We met Rob Murray, co-Artistic Director of Conspiracy of Clowns, Lara Foot, Director and CEO at Baxter Theatre and Mandla Mbothwe, Artscape Theatre Centre Creative Manager and Festival Director, and had great conversations with all.

Rachael xx