The Queen has spoken on the importance of introducing children to the theatre from an early age. Camilla today toured the Unicorn Theatre that began as a mobile playhouse founded by Caryl Jenner in 1949 and met youngsters providing creative inputs into new productions. Stage and screen actor Rory Kinnear, best known for his appearances in the James Bond franchise, chatted to the Queen after she met school children who have helped with the forthcoming play Pig Heart Boy.
Kinnear, a creative ambassador at the central London theatre, said: "It's somewhere I used to bring my kids when they were small and I still bring my youngest and we were talking about how she used to bring her grandchildren, but we're both at the point where they're almost too old. But it's a wonderful place for not only entertaining kids but inspiring that first taste of creativity and imagination for so many people.".
During the visit the Queen watched a stage presentation by the children involved with Pig Heart Boy adapted for the stage from a book written by former Children's Laureate Malorie Blackman. The Queen has previously spoken about how she loves to take her five grandchildren on secret theatre trips, and has even brought them to The Unicorn, of which she became patron in 2005. Meanwhile, Kinnear has been creative ambassador for the theatre for three years, but has also been bringing his children to The Unicorn since they were little. While he said they were still too young to know if they wanted to follow in his footsteps, the actor said they “certainly enjoy” watching live performances.
The visit marks Camilla’s first trip to The Unicorn since 2019, when she attended a reception there to celebrate the launch of the theatre’s Glorious Grandparents initiative. Camilla was seen nodding as Ms Blackman said: “I think stories and the theatre are so important because what they do is they tell us we’re not alone. Also they allow us to understand other people and perhaps more importantly they allow us to know ourselves through the lives we encounter in the stories we read and in the theatre we watch.”.
The Queen, an avid reader and literacy champion, said she was “looking forward” to watching the new production. Speaking to the Queen about Pig Heart Boy, Ms Blackman said: “I think it’s quite a challenging subject matter, the whole idea of what you would do in Cameron’s shoes…whether you would have an animal’s organ.”. The author said she hoped it would be “food for thought” for the children and the Queen agreed, saying: “Yes, food for thought and discussion…brilliant, I look forward to seeing it.” Pig Heart Boy was adapted by Winsome Pinnock and was informed by the theatre’s young associates, aged 8-13 years old, many of whom have long-term health conditions.
The Unicorn, in Southwark - established originally as the Caryl Jenner Mobile Theatre in the aftermath of the Second World War - offers a wide range of programmes for children aged 18 and under and welcomes 60,000 families and schools to its venue annually. The company toured extensively from 1949 to showcase the power of theatre to thousands of children and between 1962 and 1999 - under its current name - regularly produced and performed shows in London’s West End.
When Queen Camilla became patron, in 2005, The Unicorn underwent a major capital campaign and was able to build a theatre for children the same year. As a result, over the last two decades, around one million schools and families have been able to experience shows at its London Bridge home. Camilla has previously been credited by one of the theatre’s Creative Champions, Joanna David, as being “vital” to the Unicorn’s survival over the years. “She believes in the power of theatre to enrich the lives of children,” the actress previously said, adding that Camilla was “totally hands on from the beginning, climbing up the scaffolding in a hard hat, despite her vertigo, and coming to all the lunches…she regularly rocks up with her grandchildren, with no fanfare or fuss.”.
