In this blogpost I would like to share with you two examples of applied theatre practices that help children through drama. The post includes two videos that illustrate the practice.

Speech Bubbles by London Bubble

The first example is the Speech Bubbles programme of London Bubble Theatre Company. As part of my placement at London Bubble I got the opportunity to participate in a couple of Speech Bubbles sessions at primary schools in Southwark, South London.

Research (Bercow report 2008:13) shows that 50% of the children from ‘some socio- economically disadvantaged populations have speech and language skills that are significantly lower than those of other children of the same ageʼ. Intervention in the early years in children’s development of their communication skills can prevent behavioural issues, social and psychological difficulties and drop-out from the education system (Bercow report 2008:14).

This video shows how participating in Speech Bubbles helps the children to develop confidence in communication through playing games, storytelling and acting out own stories and group stories. I highly recommend to watch the video below and if after that you want to know more you can always visit London Bubble’s website.

Earthquake in Christchurch: A teaspoon of light by Applied Theatre consultants Ltd

A second project I’d like to share with you is from New Zealand

In the video below Dr Peter O’Connor, Associate Professor at the University of Auckland, explains about how they helped children and teachers in schools affected by the earthquake, using the arts:

“We were offering very practical strategies for teachers. All teachers were going to have to deal with kids coming back into the classrooms and what were they going to do? Were they going to ignore what had happened? Were they going to address it, if they were going to address it what were safe, practical ways to do that? (…) We help kids and teachers make sense of what is happening.” (quote from Peter O’Connor from the Youtube video below)

If you want to learn more about Applied Theatre Consultants Ltd and their other work, for instance with children and abuse, do visit their website. For now, I recommend you watch this movie about the project in Christchurch and get inspired (and goose bumped) by a teaspoon of light…

I’m genuinely touched by companies such as the above that work so hard for the wellbeing of children and prove the arts/drama is an amazing means to do so.

References:

• Bercow report