Download Theatre in Education

Writing for theatre in community and
educational settings
Phil Richards and Maggie Pitfield
In this session we will consider:
 the nature of drama which has an ‘educational brief’;
 the writer-teacher role of the Theatre in Education
(TIE) dramatist;
 the effects on the creative process of writing to a
commission, with particular reference to the TIE play
Gang*Star;
 the aesthetic and pedagogical aspects of Gang*star.
Theatre in Education: what is it, what are its
aims?
From Nicholson, H. (2009) Theatre and
Education. Hampshire, UK: Palgrave
Macmillan
‘Theatre, when it meets education, often
articulates deeply felt social aspirations as well
as giving shape and form to the circumstances
and difficulties faced by young people in the
here-and-now. One enduring legacy of TIE
practitioners is that they showed how to develop
a theatrical pedagogy by asking profound
questions about the purpose of education, the
social role of theatre and its ability to affect the
lives of young people.’
The Origins of TIE in Britain
 TIE emerged as a separate art form and educational activity at the
Coventry Belgrade Theatre in 1965 as part of its ‘outreach’ and
community programme, bringing together a team of actors, teachers
and social workers. Later resident TIE teams were established at
other theatres such as the Bolton Octagon and the Cockpit in
London.
 During the 1970s organisations such as The National Association for
the Teaching of Drama (NATD) and The Standing Conference of
Young People’s Theatre (SCYPT) developed a theoretical framework
to inform TIE practice. This was influenced by the work of Jerome
Bruner (drawing on the psychologist Vygotsky) and by drama in
education theorists/practitioners such as Dorothy Heathcote and
Gavin Bolton.
 The playwright Edward Bond has also been influential through his
association with one of the more famous companies, Big Brum, for
which he has written nine plays. The most recent of these was
produced in 2012. He is a strong advocate for the importance of TIE.
The influence of Boal
TIE also acknowledges as an influence the
work of Augusto Boal and his ensemble of
techniques (forum theatre, image theatre,
etc.), rooted in an ethical framework,
designed to enable change both within the
individual and society, with particular
application to communities experiencing
oppression. Theatre and education for
empowerment.
Theatre of the Oppressed (1979).
Boal
 Theatre is a process, rather than a product to be
consumed.
 Spectators should not be passive, they are
‘spectactors’ and are the subjects not the objects of
the drama.
 ‘The cop in the head’ refers to the oppressions that
are internalised: ‘the cops are in their heads but the
headquarters of these cops are in the external
reality.’ Boal, A and Epstein, S. (1990) The Cop in
the Head: Three Hypotheses. TDR Vol. 34, No. 3
pp. 35-42.
 ‘Dramatic action throws light upon real action. The
spectacle is a preparation for action’ (Boal 1979, p.
155).
TIE...
 combines ‘the art of performance with the skill of teaching’ to
‘produce a form of work particularly relevant to education’. (Romy
Baskerville);
 is a powerful learning medium that is child-centred, problem oriented,
and socially determined;
 may include work with the young people before a performance, in
between scenes and episodes and/or after. There may be an even
more fluid boundary between the two different modes of audience
and active participant. Participation may require no more than
watching and listening, but however it is defined, it should serve to
increase understanding and therefore enjoyment of the programme;
 requires political and educational commitment (Nicholson 2009). In
Nicholson’s view, ‘The challenge that faced theatre educators in the
1990s, which remains relevant today, is how to maintain the
educational commitment that characterised the most innovative TIE
and at the same time redefine its aesthetics and politics for a new
cultural and educational climate.’
Discussion of the Winston (2005)
article
 ‘…didactic theatre speaks only to the already
converted’ (p.310).
And
 ‘Reasoned, reasonable and safe theatre is a
recipe for dull, predictable theatre’ (p. 313).
Therefore central to effective TIE practices is the
negotiation of certain tensions.
Tensions
 …between instructional and open-ended
expressive objectives;
 …between an educational agenda and artistry;
 …between the moral and purposeful and the
aesthetic and playful.
 Do these tensions have any resonance for your
own practices in writing and working with young
people?
Read Scene 12 of Gang*Star
Watch film version: Writing to a brief
 Language – authenticity and accessibility versus
acceptability
 Realism and breaking the fourth wall
 Suspension of disbelief and making a contract with
the audience
Links to the Winston article.
Read Scene 9 of Gang*Star
 The commissioning process and necessary
adaptations
 Maintaining the writer’s integrity and managing
gatekeepers
Other Issues
 Self-censorship and censorship
 Financial considerations and the effects on the
creative process
 Growth and change through performance
The final scene – the
progression from page to
performance.
How does the play Gang*star effectively
communicate with its audience?
 Through referential aspects
(content/issues).
 Through performative aspects (immediacy
of the action, the physicality of the
performance, interaction with the
audience).
Considerations
 Artistic and pedagogical skill
Influences on the writer
Mike Leigh – in the development
process
Brecht – audience to laugh and
think
Boal – a forum theatre approach
(if not full forum theatre)
Audience participation
(workshops)
‘Dark play’ or ‘sabotage’?
Openness – creative ‘gaps’
requiring the audience to construe
meaning through imaginative
engagement (versus the closure
of didacticism).
Funding from Prevent the British
government’s counter-terrorism, antiextremism strategy
“Of course, to work artistically within Prevent
is necessarily a partisan choice: the strategy
itself demands a ’consistency of message’
(Home Office 2008a, 59) to which alliance
may inevitably be perceived as ‘taking
sides’.” p. 190.
Alice Bartlett who wrote ‘Not in My Name’
(verbatim theatre) concludes that the
dangers are:
Creative and ethical dilemmas
 Funding removed from other valuable local projects
to pay for the Prevent agenda.
 Government funding may inhibit artistic freedom by
demanding the promulgation of a particular
viewpoint.
 Focuses on the local rather than on political
responsiveness and constitutional change.
 Apprehension experienced by Muslim educators
that, if they open up and encourage debate of the
issues, they will be labelled ‘extremist’.
 Fears that Prevent might use artists’ privileged
access to the community to provide information
(spying).
And the positives…?
 Drama is an appropriate means of
intervening in this debate.
 It offers “exciting and valuable
opportunities for creative multi-agency
collaboration and regeneration.” p.
174
 “…the greatest danger of failure is
through silence.” p. 192
Read the following if interested in this area:
 Bartlett, A. (2011) Preventing violent extremism
and ‘Not in My Name’: theatrical representation,
artistic responsibility and shared vulnerability.
Research in Drama Education: The Journal of
Applied Theatre and Performance. Vol. 16, No.2,
173-195.
 Winston, J. and Strand, S. (2013) Tapestry and
the aesthetics of theatre in education as dialogic
encounter and civil exchange. Research in
Drama Education: The Journal of Applied
Theatre and Performance. Vol. 18, No. 1, 62-78.
The TIE writer-teacher
 How can TIE fulfil its ‘potential to help students
grapple with large questions about the world’ without
falling back on ‘easy moralizing which verges on
“propaganda” and “spoonfeeding”’? (Sharon Grady)
 How can it do this and at the same time fulfil its
commissioning or sponsorship brief?
How does the writer of a TIE
play operate within this space?