Applied Drama

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 (more…)

As you can read in my previous post about term three, I am following the course “writing with communities” as part of my MA in “Applied Theatre (Drama in the Community and Drama Education)” at the Central School of Speech and Drama. My tutor for this course is Sara Clifford. She works as a play writer and drama practitioner in different community settings, such as educational, health and criminal justice settings. At the moment she is working on a site specific community theatre play for Newhaven Ferry, supported by the Arts Council

I enjoy following this course a lot.

Writing with communities is all about the different community settings (more…)

If we include people in a community, do we automatically exclude others? And, is this bad? In this post I would like to share some thoughts about the community and some dilemma’s I’ve encountered as an applied theatre practitioner working within them.

Defining the community

To gather a diverse group of people in a community, around a common interest or locality (idea comes from Kershaw 1992) and to let them share their thoughts and feelings leading in some cases towards a performance is never a neutral process. There is no such thing as “performance neutrality” as Schechner (2002:2) calls it. By defining who is included in the community, we immediately define who is excluded from it.

I encounterd this in my own practice: do you say “NO” to a participant showing up at your workshop because he or she does not fully represent your target group profile? This participant has not experienced (more…)

As part of my course Applied Theatre at the Central School of Speech and Drama, I’ve seen a lot of theatre lately. I’m not referring to the mainstream classical theatre presented by Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre or the National Theatre. No, I’ve been visiting local (community) theatres, where different organizations from the field of applied theatre performed engaging, participatory theatre.

One of the shows had me – and the audience! –  dancing, singing and rocking on our chairs. It was a wonderful night: energetic, lively and full of anarchy and Rock ‘n Roll. It was called “Reasons to be Cheerful” performed by Graeae Theatre Company.

What is Graeae Theatre Company and their work like?

In order to get a good impression of the musical “Reasons to be Cheerful” please do watch this short movie;

“Out there they say disabled people can’t act, disabled people can’t do that, blablabla… Hello!! We are SO out there!”

Graeae is,

“a disabled-led theatre company that profiles the skills of actors, writers and directors with physical and sensory impairments.  The artistic approach (more…)

From September 2010, I am studying “Applied Theatre (Drama in the Community and Drama Education)” at the Central School of Speech and Drama in London. In my first blog post I explained more about this Masters and I mentioned that the UK is the place to be for participatory theatre.

However, I must mention here an extremely professional Dutch organization I met last May in the Netherlands, called “Formaat, Workplace for Participatory Drama”. They made a huge impression on me. Let me tell you something about my experiences with working with them.

My first encounter with Formaat was on a course day of the Joker Training in their physical Workplace, a nice working space with a view on the Port of Rotterdam. As a born and raised “Amsterdammer” I always feel a bit lost when I arrive at Rotterdam Central Station, with its large skyscrapers and immense (more…)