Applied Theatre

I've been reading a bit on the Internet about Applied Theatre, and Theatre for Therapy which is very closely linked to community theatre, and what community theatre aims to do. In the Community Performance book I have been reading they speak briefly about the arc of Applied Theatre and the types of theatre that can be included. 


Reflective Exercise from book:  
What do you consider can be types of Applied Theatre?

• Applied Theatre-theatre for the masses, applying the theatre to different settings
• Trying to make a difference
• Community Theatre- bringing theatre to the community, to different environments, to different groups of people
• Theatre as Therapy- using theatre for change, using theatre as a process for therapeutic relief, stress relief, emotional issues and personal growth.
• Showing people that not only the elite can be involved in the arts
• Applied Theatre can be with youth, offenders, prisoners, people with learning disabilities, anybody in society  

There are many different 'communities' within the field of Applied Theatre and in the local area, not just community theatre groups providing performances in the community such as Centre Stage (Leek) and The Potteries Theatre Company  but also more unusual groups such as the Borderlines Group at the New Vic Theatre who work with young mothers, ex offenders, people with learning disabilities and more. And there is also a group called Rideout who work with prisoners and members of staff in UK prisons facilitating creative arts programmes used as a way to explore what impact criminal behaviour has on people, not just the prisoners, but families and others around them. They are based in Staffordshire, and like to retain emphasis on working mainly in prisons in the Midlands, such as HMP Dovegate. They feel that the creative arts process is particularly appropriate for giving voice to such communities as those in a prison. The following link is a report into the into the drama facilitated at Dovegate prison- http://www.rideout.org.uk/documents/the_means_of_production.pdf. 


   Another Applied Theatre company similar to Rideout are TiPP (Theatre in Prison and Probation). The company based in Manchester, were originally part of Manchester University's Drama Department, there philosophy is that 'theatre and related arts have the power to transform people's lives' (http://www.tipp.org.uk/tipp/index.php?page=about). Since starting they have branched out from the University and made a name for themselves working with people in the criminal justice system on arts projects, and they also work with drug and alcohol users, and other people outcast by society. 


It is fair to say that all kinds of community theatre are closely linked to politics and can be seen as a form of political theatre, used to promote change in society as well a promoting the importance of belonging and acceptance in communities.  


Through my research into Applied Theatre I have discovered a few more organisations that might be useful in the future these are:

• Applied and Interactive Theatre Guide (http://www.tonisant.com/aitg/)- a resource for those who have and interest/or use theatre for different purposes than the 'norm'
• Artsadmin  (http://www.artsadmin.co.uk/)-a broader website for people involved in all areas of arts.
• International network for Contemporary Performing Arts (http://www.ietm.org/)- again a good organisation for news about what is happening in the arts world, projects, events and opportunities. 
• ArtsAlliance (http://artsalliance.ning.com/)- a similar resource to those above listing events, news, projects and jobs.
• Social Arts Network (http://socialartsnetwork.ning.com/)- again as above.
• Arts Professional (http://www.artsprofessional.co.uk/index.cfm)- a resource for staying in touch with arts people, news and events. 

  What is Creativity?

 

Reflection..

After feeling contented with the research I have undertaken this week (and the fact we have had some nice weather) I have begun to reflect on why I am so interested in Theatre, especially the Applied Theatre sector. And narrowed down a few creative communities I feel I have been apart of during my life. 


I would definitely say that my love of theatre is passed on from my mum, she is herself an avid supporter of the arts, and participated in many community productions in her youth. She made sure I had access to theatre in my childhood and that she educated me about what was happening in the world and regularly took me to performances. I first became more aware of the power of community theatre when I joined Leighton Buzzard Children's Theatre, which I have previously blogged about, as throughout that I learnt more and more about what it meant to be a part of something that helps people learn through creative projects, and that gives something back to communities. 

So what is Applied Theatre?

To me Applied Theatre is the term for drama practice in a specific social context, it doesn't have to be in a 'normal' theatre space, and is often themed or aimed at a specific audiences, usually members of the community. It can be performance devised from scratch, and used for therapeutic purposes. 


I have already mentioned that L.B.C.T was my first experience of community projects, so I would consider this as a creative community I have belonged to throughout my life, and it shows that being a part of something can really make someone feel like they belong. 

The next 'community' I consider I have been apart of is Global Rock Challenge (http://www.rockchallenge.co.uk/). Global Rock Challenge is run by the Be Your Best Foundation. The Be your Best Foundation aim to improve to quality of life for societies, by encouraging young people to 'be their best' without the use of drugs, cigarettes and alcohol, and to be actively involved in building safe and healthy communities. 
Rock Challenge is a performing arts event in which schools and colleges from around the country compete in an eight minute dance-drama piece. Each group (which can be made up of anything from 20-100 performers, plus stage and support crew) decides on a theme, which can be anything they want it to be, something that is important and means something to them. They devise the choreography for the piece, chose the music, design the staging and set, everything is up to the group to decide. 


 'On the designated show day, the competing schools and colleges in that region assemble for a wonderfully friendly day of interaction, rehearsals and fun. In the evening they perform to a usually sellout audience of their peers, families and community members, and their performances are judged by a panel of specialists from the performing-arts industry. The challenge is for the students and their teachers to create and be involved in their own production from conceptualisation through to the live performance. The challenge is also to be the best that they can without the use of nicotine, alcohol or other drugs, and there are severe penalties for anyone who fails that challenge on any event day and for their team too.' 

(http://www.rockchallenge.co.uk/modules.php?op=modload&name=PagEd&file=index&topic_id=1&page_id=2 Accessed 24/02/2012)

As well as winning places for coming first, second and third, there are also several different awards schools can win including best hair and make-up, best concept interpretation, best staging, choreography award, drug awareness award and many more. This event is a brilliant way of making new friends, working as a team, being the best you can be without anybody saying you don't belong. This is the perfect example of community performance, there are events globally as well as in this country.

Game Over-2007

Isn't it time to stop the Traffic?-2011 

I participated in Rock Challenge every year I was at secondary school (2002-2007) where we presented various themes such as 'Game Over' about computer addiction, where I was the cost-host for our school who introduced the theme to the host of the event and the audience. 'Eight Bullets, form a heart that no-one knows' about shootings at a Santa Monica High School, 'The Mousehole Cat'- a story about fisherman, and since I left school they have re-done the Mousehole Cat story, and had themes about fair trade and sex trafficking.  Even if schools have a similar theme interpretation will always be different so everything is exciting. The 2008 version of 'The Mousehole Cat' by my school can be seen here:


   http://www.globalrockchallenge.com/#!915

Whilst at university I was to undertake Rock Challenge a final time, whilst working with Theatre Inc., which could be considered another one of my 'communities'. Theatre Inc. was a company of students from the university that ran drama, arts, sports and music workshops with children from within the care system. This process led on to them competing in Rock Challenges youth division for different groups. We facilitated workshops in which professionals from different dance backgrounds came in and worked with them, and they also prepared all their own costumes. The theme was  'Care around the World'- depicting a boy leaving home and finding love in different parts of the world. This is the first time the children had done anything like this, and whilst at first it was a struggle getting everyone to participate, by the end they were all willing, had a wonderful experience, and made a new 'community' in which they felt it was okay to belong. 

Caretastic-Care around the world 2010

Another creative community of mine that I would consider myself to have been apart of is my time at Grangeside. Grangeside is a pupil referral unit in Basingstoke, which caters for children who are not part of the mainstream school system. This is because some are on the Autistic spectrum, most have special educational needs and behaviour problem. Some have never been to a mainstream school, others have been expelled and then come to Grangeside. We went in a facilitated six weeks of workshops with two groups of eleven and twelve year olds. This is a prime example of people coming together through the creative arts. These children had never experienced drama before, and through the workshops they were able to learn about team work, build their confidence, and feel respected in their environment. Most of them were willing to participate, some more spectators than fully involved but by the end of the process everyone felt comfortable around each other, and we had managed to build up good relationships and had respect for one another. 

Thought washing line (what the children thought about the workshops)

                                                             

We started by doing simple exercises and games to get them focused and interested and throughout the weeks we progressed to bigger exercises, in which they had to think about a topic they were given, and produce ideas and improvisations from this for example the teachers at Grangeside asked us to do a session on cyber bullying, so we gave them this topic and thought about what is was and then made up five minute scenes about the subject. We also did 'Grangeside Cludeo' in which they had to take on the role of detectives to work out which one of us (posing as fairy tale characters) had committed the crime, and another task they did was about jobs, where they took on the roles of the interviewer and had to work out who was suitable for a job by a process of elimination.  

These are just a few of the communities I believe I have belonged to, other ones would include, my workplace, my different groups of friends from home and university, and now my Masters group, but I wanted to focus on 'creative communities' and keep thinking about how arts can make such a difference to people's lives.

And the process begins...

I feel I am having quite a productive research week this week, I feel like my motivation is just where it needs to be at the moment. As well as continuing my reading on my subject, I have been scouting the Internet for useful things, and its amazing how one small thing you find, will lead you on to lots of other things which could be useful . This is still very much in the early stages though, and soon I am going to need to sit down with all the bits and bobs I have gathered and work out what is the most useful, so my project doesn't start to go off on to many different tangents. 




The first thing that has captured my interest this week is a series of videos by a group called Expert Village. The have videos on YouTube ranging from how to do exercise workouts, how to play musical instruments, how to become a good gardener, pretty much anything you can think of they have a tutorial for. 
The series of videos I have been working my way through are 'How to start a community theater', and they give some detailed ideas about every aspect you could need to think about. Now obviously everything works in different ways and in practice some of these things may not work as well as they seem to in theory, but I think the videos give good basic knowledge for beginners, from everything of how to cast productions, choosing a venue, working with light and sound production and much more.

Another set of videos posted by Expert Village is 'Teaching with Creative Drama'  which aim to emphasise the importance of drama for learning and give advice on using creative drama in educational settings and give examples of drama exercises and activities that can be used in a learning environment. The speakers in there videos are very motivational and they are very easy to understand. 

Creativity takes Courage...

Over the weekend I have started to really focus and get in the mindset of reading, researching and absorbing as much as I can that will help me along my journey. I have begun reading a book callled Community Performance: an Introduction by Petra Kuppers. I choose this one as a starting point as it gives a wide variety of views on community performance, and also covers a range of topics within the book.

One thing that is captivating my interest a lot about this book is that throughout they have reflective exercises that you can complete yourself, and they also have exercises that can be done in a group. I have been marking them off as I read through in a hope that some will be useful to my studies, and so I can work through them to see what the outcomes are. 


The first is: What are the potential definition of community performance? 


This is what I came up with: 

• Performance which involves the community, non-actors, amateur performers
• Giving a voice to the community
• Working with diverse groups, youngsters, elderly, troubled youth, people considered to be on the edge of society (alcoholics, prisoners, people with a disability, young offenders, teen mothers)
• Anyone can get involved
• Performing for/with the local and wider communities
• Arts-not just theatre allowing the community to get creative
• Performance which is inspired by happenings in the community-local issues/problems
• A show for the people, an event involving ordinary people/for the people
• Performance used as a way to raise money/ awareness for communities

It is becoming increasingly apparent that all the things I am researching for my project are so closely linked that there is bound to be a cross-over in some areas.One of the reflective exercises is to define for yourself what community is, and as shown in the previous post where I discussed what is Community by definition and to myself, the exercise from this book led me to think closely about what Creativity is. I have not been as actively involved in community arts, and theatre as I would have liked to since leaving university, and then embarking on this Masters. I want to stay aware about being creative, and the importance of creativity and creative arts in life. 

What is Creativity? (by dictionary definition)

• State or quality of being creative
• The ability to transcend traditional ideas, rules, patterns, relationships, or the like to create meaningful new ideas, forms, methods, interpretations, originality, progressiveness and imagination
• Process by which one uses creative ability
• Ability to create
• Originality of thought and imagination

What is Creativity to me?

• People who can think imaginatively to produce something new and innovative
• People who enjoy practical thinking, hands-on tasks, being imaginative
• Being able to look at something in an innovative, insightful way

Another reflective exercise in the book is to consider what community performance can achieve and why the work is useful:

What I came up with:

• Provide entertainment for the masses
• Provide thought provoking work
• Give a voice to those seen as being on the 'edge of society' 
• Bring together a range of ages and different backgrounds/situations 
• Provide education and learning for diverse groups of people
• Teach team work, creativity and life skills 
• Give people a sense of belonging
• Keeps creative arts alive

I think Community Performance is incredibly important not just to provide something entertaining, but to also give ordinary people a chance to be part of something special, to get a sense of belonging, to give them a chance to do something they love which they might not otherwise have a chance to do. 

The above video isn't exactly linked to theatre, but it does show a innovative creative idea, and encourage creativity. 

Projects...

After an exciting afternoon listening to everyone's project briefs, I have to say I am a little overwhelmed by how exciting everyone's projects sound. There is so much diversity within the group, and I think this is what makes it so interesting learning about everyone's different arts practices. 




I have spent the last week mind-mapping my ideas like mad, and trying to think of as many plausible ideas as possible, and ones that would not be too ambitious for a mini-project like this. I finally settled on the idea below, which still may need tweaking and adapting as I journey through the research for this project. 

Project Brief

Community Matters

‘Without a sense of caring, there can be no sense of community.’ Anthony D’Angelo

Community is a word we hear so often, and it’s one of those words which can have a very different meaning for every person you ask about it. What is community? What defines a community? Who belongs to community? How are different communities linked? Well by dictionary definition Community is:

•          A social group of any size whose members reside in a specific locality, share government and often have a common cultural and historical heritage
•          A locality inhabited by such a group
•          Public in general, the society
•          A group of people having cultural, religious, ethnic or other characteristics in common.

Now if you asked most people what does community mean to them, I doubt that the response would be anything like that above definitions, nowadays you might get people saying the estate where they live is their community, or facebook is their community. So I ask myself what does community mean to me?

• People socially linked by their location- wider community
• A group of people sharing a common interest, members of the same group, support system
• People who share similar social groups, experiences, or  values

I would say that firstly you are put into a community setting by default, when you are born into a certain location. Those around you make up your local community. But this is not to say that they are community to you. So people who are socially linked by location make up what I would call a wider community, but within this there can be lots of other communities. For example, the people you went to school with, the people you chose to have as your friends, the people you work with, all these can be chosen communities, to a person their closest friends can be their community, their support system, their family. So for me there can be different communities, in which people belong, as long as the people share a common respect and understanding for one another.

Background:

As background for this project brief the first point of call was to look at previous community arts projects in the local area, and take knowledge from what I have learnt during my time in the community sector.

·                                                       What does community mean to you? 

· 

Whilst undertaking my research into what is community, and researching into community theatre, I have found many more organisations which may be useful throughout this project, these are:

·       www.noda.org.uk (Accessed 2/2/2012)

·         www.appliedtheatreproductions.org.uk (Accessed 3/2/2012)

·         www.lettinginthelight.org.uk (Accessed 3/2/2012)

·         www.creativestoke.org.uk (Accessed from 31/1/2012, Last accessed 9/2/2012)

·         www.centrestageleek.org.uk (Accessed 3/2/2012)

·         www.vast.org.uk (Accessed 6/2/2012)

·         www.artshub.co.uk (Accessed 6/2/2012)

·         www.britishtheatreguide.info (Accessed (4/2/2012)

·         www.dramagroups.com (Accessed 3/2/2012)

·         www.awardsforall.org.uk (Accessed 3/2/2012)

·         www.artscouncil.org.uk (Accessed 8/2/2012)

These organisations will help with researching the project, learning about what has been done in the local area, giving advice on how to become involved in community arts projects. One main resource in the research of this project will be the New Vic Theatre. They have a number of very respectable community arts projects going on in the local community and getting in touch with them will aid me to plan my project. They have New Vic Borderlines which is a company which works with disadvantaged communities in the area, and uses theatre as a way of understanding themselves, their communities and to promote a more positive outlook on life. They also run a drama club for children aged 4-10 to promote fun and team work through creative means and a youth group for 10-18 year olds who want to learn new skills and be part of community theatre. In addition to this they also run the Local Links project aiming to promote drama across the curriculum by making links with local schools, and the adult theatre project Revolve which aims to give adults insight into the world of theatre, not just performing but the industry and management side as well.

‘Community Theatre might be defined as a ‘theatrical producing organization serving a limited area operating under an amateur licensing agreement’[1]

‘Community performance to be work that facilitates creative expression of a diverse of people, for aims of self expression and political change. Community performances are communally created. Community performance rests in process rather than product: in the act of working together, allowing different voices, bodies and experiences to emerge.’[2]

My Proposition:

During the course of this project I aim to facilitate a series of workshops or focus groups with members of local communities, whether this is schools, youth groups, theatre company members. The theme of the project is Community, and I aim to use these workshops to find out what community means to specific individuals, what matters to them within a community setting, what people want to say about their communities, and the advantages and disadvantages of the communities they live it.

The workshops will consist of creative exercises and games to get people thinking about community, about the environment they live in, and about the things that are important to them.

The final outcome of the project will be an exhibition showcasing what I have found and the journey I have been on. I hope that there may be some kind of performance worked out through the workshops, but this will depend on the groups I work with and how willing they are to produce a performance.

I would like the audience and participators to engage in the project, and gain knowledge not only about community, but about themselves individually and within the community. I would like to provide an entertaining and insightful experience.

Aims and Objectives:

• ·         To facilitate 4 to 6 weeks of workshops/ focus groups with varied groups in the community
• ·         To find out what community means to various individuals, to find out what is important in community, when establishing one, when being part of one, the pros and cons of communities
• ·         To use creative means to get people thinking about the importance and diversity of communities
• ·         To produce thought provoking, entertaining work in which people get an insight into what values and ideas are invested in a community.

---

[1] Cohen, G P. (2003) The Community Theater Handbook: a complete guide to organizing and running a community theatre. Heinemann, Portsmouth

[2] Kuppers P. (2007) Community Performance; an introduction, Routledge; Oxon

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Ideas, Ideas, and more Ideas.

Last Friday's afternoon session about ideas generation was really more helpful than I had first thought. Taken from exercises used a Central St Martins in London, the exercises involved a series of mind-mapping tasks to inspire ideas that when you simply sit down with a pen and paper might not come to you. Some of the tasks included ten things to do with a tin can, merchandise for the anti-royalist in the approach to the Queen's diamond jubilee, and what would the bottle look like for a bottle full of happiness. At first I had reservations as to how these would benefit me, but after I got past these having a specific theme for ideas, made the ideas seem to flow much easier. 


 My ideas for a tin can included bracelet's, a flower pot, makeup brush holder, earrings and many more. For the Anti-royalist merchandise my main idea was to have a series of tee shirts with different anti-royal slogans such as 'you don't have to be a queen to wear diamonds' and also some toilet paper with the Queen's face on it.And for the bottled happiness, I chose a bottle that represents something that makes me happy, a dog, my bottle was shaped like a happy looking dog. All seemingly simple ideas, but when put under pressure with a time scale you really have to focus hard to produce something relevant to the brief. 

Since this session, I went out and bought some big paper and pens, and sat down to begin ideas generation for the up coming project brief. I probably would have used the mind-mapping technique as a starting point, but having not done the activities in the session, I have to say the ideas produced would not have been as vast as they were having undergone the session. 


After having a lot of ideas about creative ideas, I began doing some research into how to be creative and how to keep creativity alive, which led me to a series of motivational videos online. 

Now I have my doubts that you can watch something and be instantly motivated to get out there and 'change the world', but at the very least these videos did make me smile, and get me thinking that maybe if I truly want something to happen, then maybe it can. I find myself watching one, which then will lead me to another one that I find interesting, and so on, and  have been dipping in and out of videos like this whilst researching for other things! 

The Local Community

After looking into some organisations which might be useful to my area, I wanted to get a feel for the kind of community groups already up and running in the local area, with a view to possible join some of these groups, or take time to observe what they do for the community.


  Letting in the Light based in Newcastle-under-Lyme, are a non-profit arts group offering a wide range of projects and activities in the local area to all aspects of the community from 'hard to reach' groups, to local schools and so on. They believe that anything can be achieved through the arts, and consider art to be a platform for learning, for consultation, for self belief, for communication and for beauty. They established in 1997 and am to work hands on in the heart of the communities giving a voice to those that are not always heard through not only drama but all creative means, like art, music, and are very keen on how art and IT fit together and can aid one another. 'Our minds and bodies are like the blank pages of a new sketchbook; combined with the crisp whiteness of clean bed linen - each and every one of us has the ability to fill them both.' (http://www.lettinginthelight.org.uk/About_Us.html)


I would be interested in seeing what projects the group have undertaken in the past, and seeing what they have planned for the future, I think this is one to keep an eye on. Theatre is obviously closely linked with the other creative art forms, so being involved in as many creative things, and people as possible is going to be a bonus whilst studying on the MA to help to grow as a person, and in the professional world. 


The next community group I have researched into is Centre Stage based in Leek. This organisation seems very similar to the one I used to be a part of. I wanted to look at similar ones as this may lead into good comparisons for research for later projects. Centre Stage was founded in 1998, and now aim to put on three shows a year for the local community. They are members of one of the organisations I looked into the NODA and regularly enter their productions in NODA festivals.  


There is a £5 membership joining fee, and a £10 fee for acting members to take part in productions and membership provides you:

• Access to auditions and rehearsals
• Invitations to social events
• Newsletters
• Ability to vote in the AGM 

They mainly recruit new members before they start rehearsals for new productions. 

  The next group I came across which interested me for a number of reasons was the Potteries theatre company. This group has a very eye catching website, and immediately inspired me for a number of reasons. The first being that the website has many pictures and logos that stand out, and make you feel like you want to be a part of this group. As far as I can see the membership is free, although there may be fees for applying to be in productions. The team also offer their acting services for event hire. 






The last group I wish to look at is Newcastle Players. This company was founded in 1934 and has been producing amateur theatre ever since. They are particualry keen to extend their theatre family, and are welcoming to new members, and hope to encourage younger people to join. For adults the membership fee is £12, and all members get to vote and join in with society activities. The group also owns a workshop in which they produce all their own sets for productions, so there is an opportunity here to look into the production side of things. 




Three other organisations to keep in mind are:

• http://www.dramagroups.com/groups/england/staffordshirex.htm- Listing drama groups in the Staffordshire area
• http://www.awardsforall.org.uk/- a website offering funding and grants in several different creative area
• http://www.staffordshire.gov.uk/leisure/museumandgalleries/CommunityArtsFund/CommunityArtsFund.aspx- another website which offers funding for community arts projects.

I think the way to move forward with these groups is to contact them and see if it would be possible to observe them in rehearsals/production, and see some of there work. I think this would be particularly useful for research purposes when deciding on a project for myself in the upcoming weeks to give insight into the kind of options available.