CHILDREN at a York school were thrilled when the multi award-winning playwright, Mike Kenny, dropped in to help them with their forthcoming school play.

Renowned for his youth theatre and multiple plays, which are performed all over the world – and most recently, his epic adaptation of ‘The Railway Children’ which started out at the National Rail Museum and won an Olivier Award on tour in London and Canada - Mike Kenny was also involved in more than 30 years of school productions at York Steiner School and is the father of three former pupils.

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“I’ve written more than 150 plays and been all over the world but can honestly say my best theatrical experiences were the plays I produced with your school,” he told Class 8, who will be performing ‘The Railway Children’ next May, on his visit to the school.

“I sometimes think they were also the best productions I ever did! I think this is because movement, creativity, imagination and the arts are not extras at a Steiner School, they are the way we teach all subjects. By Class 8, these are part of who you are and that makes for exceptional performers who have all the right ingredients for saying things that are important in the world.”

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Mike, who initially trained as a Steiner teacher before “the playwriting took off” was a huge hit with the children: “What a wonderful experience for our class – the children wanted to know absolutely everything about Mike's career and experiences," said teacher Sally Ryan, who taught one of Mike's sons and has known the playwright for many years.

"As well as sharing his most memorable moments in theatre he gave them invaluable staging and acting advice for our production in May.”

Mike, who has been listed as one of the Top Ten Living Playwrights and was the first recipient of the Arts Council England’s Children’s Award for Playwriting for Children and Young People, has agreed to step in to support the children's work over the next few months and will have a V I P seat on Opening Night.

"Our children are bursting with ideas for the play," said Sally. "It will be such an honour to have the actual writer on hand to help us with what is going to be an epic production."