Local Performing Arts School Student, Aged 10 Publishes First Book Through Lockdown

A student from Stagecoach Performing Arts Chester used her time in lockdown to write a book of short stories, which have now been published!

’46 Imaginative Bedtime Stories’ by Tisa Smoje is an illustrated collection that was initially written to be a birthday present for her younger brother, Vuk. The book of stories is available here. Tisa also recorded the audio book with quirky readings of each tail. You can listen to the audiobook for free here.

The wonderful book includes stories that draw inspiration from all around, with Tisa’s keen, observant eye, sense of right and wrong and incredibly rich story-telling ability evident throughout. Partly a family project, the equally beautiful cover page has been designed by Tisa’s cousin Nina Glavaski.

Tisa has been a student of Stagecoach Performing Arts Chester for many years. Here she has practiced her singing, acting and dancing skills and celebrated her creativity. Her mother Ksenija Smoje credits both Nina’s aunt and the Stagecoach influence for encouraging Tisa to write and share her work so proudly.

She adds; “I couldn’t be prouder of my daughter’s achievement and it really excites me that her wonderful writing can finally be introduced to the world! My son Vuk loves all the stories in the collection and I hope other readers do too. I can’t thank Stagecoach enough for all the great work they do - they have nurtured Tisa’s creativity and given her the all-important confidence she needed to share her creativity! I believe my talented daughter has an exciting future ahead of her, and Stagecoach has played a huge role in this!”

Lindsay Partington, Principal of Stagecoach Performing Arts Chester, commented, “Everyone at Stagecoach Chester is incredibly proud of Tisa and we hope that her amazing achievement illustrates just what a positive influence the performing arts can have on children. Here at Stagecoach Chester we help our students to engage with a variety of different performing arts, allowing them to discover and develop their creative interests. We strongly believe that our classes have so many useful benefits - from helping students to develop self-confidence, to improving their mental wellbeing. We are delighted to have re-opened again after a period of lockdown, and we look forward to celebrating more achievements from our very talented students”.

Stagecoach Performing Arts Chester is part of the biggest network of extra-curricular performing arts schools in the UK. The classes are divided across Early Stages (ages 4-6), Main Stages (ages 6-15) and Further Stages (ages 15+) and cover singing, dancing and acting.

Most recently, Stagecoach Chester’s student Harry Warner has featured in an Aldi advert and student Seren Basu was chosen to be on Citv’s ‘Scrambled’ last Sunday morning.

For more information about Stagecoach Chester, please visit their website at https://www.stagecoach.co.uk/chester.

Pictured - Tisa Smoje