Created by the young people of Graves Youth Theatre (GYT) and Paul Whitfield, “I am George Stephenson” is a humorous look at the life and achievements of railway pioneer, George Stephenson. The play was performed in five venues during October and November as part of the Railway 200 celebrations.
The performances were funded by our CRP as well as several train operators and the Community Rail Network. We were lucky enough to visit two performances which took place along the Hope Valley line during November, one in Hathersage and one in Edale.
The young people of GYT were trained in ‘platform theatre’ by Lewis and Amy from Box House Theatre, “a theatre style that restricts actors to the confined space of a gym mat…The actors do not have any assistance from props, set, costumes, and sound. By doing this, it means that the actors only have their physical selves and voice to tell a story”.
The young people then worked with historical sources such as pictures, newspapers and letters to turn them into a piece of varied and humorous performance, telling the story of George Stephenson. Writer Paul Whitfield then turned their work into a script.
Feedback on the performances has been overwhelmingly positive. Here are a few of our favourites:
“The most well put together play. I am in total awe and admiration and can’t believe
it’s purely put together as a local group. It deserves national viewing.”
“Brilliant production and so fitting for Railway 200 and Stephenson. Roll on 2030 for
the Rocket celebrations.”
“What a talented group of artists! Just wow.”
GYT have also been awarded the Culture and Heritage Award from the 2025 Sheffield Youth Awards. The judges of this year’s award said ‘through performance the group tackle complex historical narratives with sensitivity and passion giving a platform to voices history has too often left behind. The judges said this group undertake demonstrably successful activities which engage young people with history. The work on railways is really unique and ties together creativity and history brilliantly.’
We are very excited to see what the future has in store for this wonderful group of young people!
