Theatre Tots in Dulwich

South London actress and drama teacher, Laura Sydonie, had her first child and started a new business all in the same year! Here she tells Dulwich OnView about Theatre Tots and the challenges of running her own business.

I started Theatre Tots in 2007 shortly after the birth of my son Jack. Previous to his arrival I was an actress and drama teacher. I have travelled internationally in many different productions and in-between taught drama to all ages from 0 – 100. I have always specialised in pre-school and having Jack spurred me to put into a motion an idea I had years ago. I am now lucky to have him in class with me, letting me know what works and what doesn’t!

There are many fantastic pre-school music, dance and art classes. I noticed a gap with drama. Pre-school age children have such wonderful imaginations and my idea was to design a class which would inspire early imagination in a fun way and at an affordable price. All the exercises aim to use every day objects so they can be very easily practised at home.

We also now run classes for 0 – 18 months called Theatre babes. These classes focus on the sensory and take the babies through gentle and fun exercises before relaxing to one of our original stories.

I find running my own business a brilliant and frightening way to make a living. Every class needs to be brilliant or people won’t come back. And as any parent knows, a class with young children is often unpredictable!

There are many challenges in running your own business. Just trying to find time for all the aspects which need attention is a major challenge – accounts, taking bookings, training teachers, advertising, writing and illustrating the stories, funding, sourcing and buying props – and all that’s before actually taking the classes! Combining all this with the first year of Jack’s life has made my days very full, often burning the midnight oil, but has given me flexibility as both a mother and at work.

Theatre Tots is now approaching its first birthday. It’s been a very busy year but immensely rewarding. Having started with two classes in Blackheath we now have classes in Lee, Hither Green, Dulwich, Sydenham, Beckenham, Croydon and Highgate. There are plans to open a branch in Chester in the New Year. We ran a joint summer school with the brilliant Diddidance this year which we are repeating as a Winter Workshop on the 19th December. I am delighted to now have two new teachers onboard, Connie and Rachelle, who are doing wonderful work with their new classes.

I have, of course, learnt a huge amount this year. The biggest lesson has been to build up slowly. There is a temptation to get over excited and do too much in one go. I learnt very quickly that if I wanted Theatre Tots to have a healthy future I had to build up at a pace I could keep up with. This means things are done to a high standard and in a way that will hopefully last a long time.

There are moments in every class which make my working life so special. The many little ones who started with us not able to tell me their name and are now confident enough to take the class! There are many children who really blossom over the weeks. One example is Silas who started when he was two and a half. He found it hard to concentrate, rarely joined in and got frustrated at the slightest challenge. As the weeks went by and we got to know each other he started to relax and join in more. He has now been coming for 9 months and does every section of the class with great enthusiasm. Mum was even able to leave him on his own for 3 hours at our recent summer school – a major milestone!

It’s stories like that which make all the late nights worthwhile.

SPECIAL OFFER FOR DULWICH ONVIEW READERS:
Quote “Dulwich OnView” when making your first booking and you can have 5 classes for the cost of 4!

Further details can be found on www.theatretots.com or by calling Laura on 07801072776. Dulwich classes run on Monday afternoons at the Constitutional Hall, East Dulwich. 2pm for 0 – 18 months and 2 – 4’s at 3pm. Classes cost £20 for 4 weeks.