Tailor-made services to meet your requirements

Issue-based projects and awareness-raising

Clients may approach me with a specific theme in mind, such as mental health awareness, HIV and Aids, conflict resolution, cultural awareness or discrimination. I would create and develop a range of exercises, which will allow us to explore and better understand the topic. These will often be based on image or forum theatre techniques, adapted to the client group (see below). Then, depending on the length of the project,  this could lead onto the creation of a performance around the issues. Using the vehicle of drama, we can help people to become active citizens, giving a voice to the voiceless and a platform to the dispossessed, whilst educating, challenging attitudes, dispelling myths, and encouraging awareness and understanding.

Forum Theatre facilitation and playing the 'joker'

Forum Theatre is an interactive form of theatre whereby a group of actors presents a play about an oppression of some kind, relating to the actors' lives. The audience (or 'spect-actors') are then invited to intervene on stage to work out a series of possible solutions to the problems presented. It has been proven to be a very effective model for stimulating discussion and raising awareness, as well as empowering people to make changes in their own lives. The facilitator, or 'Joker' (meaning Joker in a pack of cards - not Joker ha ha!) has the difficult and important task of managing these interventions and provoking a debate on stage. I have had substantial training in both the UK and Brazil, where the genre was first used, and have facilitated both the devising process and the performances.

Confidence-building

Confidence-building is intrinsic to the way I deliver all my sessions. However, I also offer specific drama-based confidence-building workshops which are aimed directly at those whose self-esteem has been affected by personal circumstances. My clients will generally include vulnerable or socially excluded groups. I will use games and exercises specifically designed to gently bring them out of themselves and interact with others, encouraging non-violent communication, positive body language and social skills. Mask-work and puppetry are also powerful ways of encouraging people to express themselves. By learning that they each have an important role to play within the group and developing a sense of identity, they will start to value and believe in their own self-worth.

Challenging behavioural patterns

When working with clients whose behaviour impacts negatively on themselves or others (e.g. offenders, or alcohol and substance misusers) I use tried and tested techniques of exploring that impact by looking at the underlying causes of their behaviour, as well as the consequences. There are several different tools I tend to use, aquired from Theatre of the Oppressed, Geese Theatre, Khulisa, and others. The basic idea is that 'everyone' has a choice in life, no matter what their personal situation, and individuals have the capacity to respond in different ways to their environment and outside pressures. Through drama exercises - often involving mask work - we deconstruct familiar thought and behavioural patterns, explore diferent strategies, and examine alternative behaviours and outcomes.  

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Skills-based work and capacity-building

This could involve the transferral of specific drama skills, such as physical or devised theatre. It may just as likely use drama as a tool for addressing other skills, such as speaking and listening, non-violent communication, social skills, team-work, motor skills, public speaking, and a whole host of others.

Creative literacy and story-making

With pre-school and primary school children, I tend to use activities which involve taking them - or being led by them - on creative and explosive journeys into our imaginations. This may involve bringing in some objects and telling an interactive, spontaneous story 'with' the children. It may involve leaving a provocation out to stimulate ideas and seeing where this takes us. Alternatively, I might play a piece of music or bring in visual aids, a book or picture to fuel imaginations which may end up taking us to outer space or under the sea.  Or it could involve using a traditional children's story, such as Cinderella, as a base for character-work, hot-seating and for exploration of more in-depth issues such as bullying or status. I have also begun exploring puppetry as a powerful tool to develop empathy, as well as just being a fun way to let children play!

Curriculum-based work

Within both primary and secondary schools, I have been asked to deliver sessions or longer-term projects which directly relate to the curriculum - much of this through Creative Partnerships. Drama can be used to enhance knowledge in a diverse range of subjects, from literacy and history, geography, PSHE and Citizenship, to maths and science. Drama often gives children and young people the chance to become more engaged and involved in a topic, and to look at these subjects from a different perspective. A more creative delivery of the curriculum can have a remarkable impact on students' learning, evidence of which has been found by Creative Partnerships. See the Projects page on past Creative Partnerships work for examples.

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After-school clubs

I offer ongoing after-school provision for both primary and secondary schools. We would probably introduce drama gently through fun games and exercises which encourage team-work, non-verbal communication and other skills, which might culminate in a short performance to parents and carers. The sessions aim to provide pupils with a unique opportunity to interact with each other socially, whilst gaining new skills in a safe, controlled environment.

Creative consultation and training

I can offer consultation or training sessions within your setting, whatever it may be. I can help to promote a more creative approach to your work, introduce drama techniques to address certain issues, or just help you to develop a sounder understanding of how the arts can strengthen the capacities of the people you work with. I can deliver staff inset days or training, come and view your setting, offer advice, or give you information about other artists or organisations.

Explanation of terms

Provocation

This is normally an object which I may leave out for the children to find. Examples may be a tent in the garden, a locked treasure chest in a corner of the room or a large egg in a nest. Once left there, the adult intervention ends, and we wait to see what the children make of it, and what conclusions they come to. Who does it belong to? Why have they come to our school? By listening to the children, they will lead us into any number of directions, and any number of developments can happen - sometimes lasting weeks and even months.

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