A little Hoglets history...
Hoglets was founded in 2013 by Gemma Sharp – an actress with over 15 years of experience working in theatre, film and television.
Following the birth of her first child, Gemma found herself using many acting methods when she was telling stories to her daughter. This inspired her to create classes applying these techniques to the telling of stories.
Hoglets – the name for a baby hedgehog – was born as the children’s theatre wing of touring ‘grown-up’ company Hedgepig Theatre.
Weekly classes ran across Children’s Centres across the city of York, developing and growing in scale. As we began to make a name for ourselves, new opportunities sprang up to spread the Hoglets love a little further – birthday parties, festivals, events, schools and nurseries and more.
In 2018, working with York Explore Libraries, we developed and toured our first play-for-children THE SLEEP PIRATES. The response was amazing, with sold-out shows across the run. Our second play SEA-STORM IN A TEACUP followed – again to outstanding reviews and sold-out performances.
We love what we do, and we are passionate about the difference it can make to developing children.
All Hoglets classes are run by fully DBS checked, Equity-registered Actors with years of performance experience and working with children.
Since becoming a mother I have found that my days are spent performing to an audience of one.
A smile or giggle from my Daughter is far more exhilarating than any audience applause. In the pursuit of entertaining her, I have found that a lot of the techniques I picked up during my career have become very useful, especially at story time.
I believe that the joy and escapism drama brings is unparalleled and so universal it can be enjoyed by anyone. Drama and storytelling use so many skills, that’s what makes them such a great educational tool for children.”
Gemma Curry AKA Mama Hoglet – founder
Listen to an interview with Gemma
There’s a lovely interview video with Gemma AKA Mama Hoglet on the York Creatives podcast.
In this episode we discuss how to tell better stories, about diving in and having an open approach to learning new skills, and about whether children get enough exposure to the arts.