I’ve been writing stageplays for over 10 years and have recently ventured into the “devised play”, so I was intrigued and excited to be working on this project. I’m also doing my MA in Playwriting at the momment, so it would be a great experience that I could take into that course as well. So it was great to have a commission that helps to validate my role as a writer and a director.
I think that one of the most challenging elements of this project was the timescale – having worked principally with adult, largely trained actors, I was aware that, for a group of adult actors, to create a piece that incorporated musical performance and set-making as well as development of script would be a major challenge in a week, so I was slightly nervous that we might not be able to come up with something solid in a week.
The school, however, were hugely supportive from the start and they did quite a lot of work with the children before the week, so the story was quite clear in their minds in preparation for Monday morning.
I’ve recently been exploring “play” as a method of developing material, largely influenced by John Wright, one of the country’s foremost devisor / directors. He uses drama “games” to explore theme and his methods incorporate a lot of non-verbal games and techniques that encourage physical story-telling, which seemed like the perfect mode of working for the varied abilities of the children taking part in the project.
It’s got to be said, that the experience was over-whelmingly positive – the participants were a complete joy to work with and I think we hit some really interesting educational approaches throughout the workshops and it makes me wonder whether a broader subject area could be taught in this way, with the great engagement of the students.
I think that there were many successes during the week, but seeing the children blossom into confident performers was, for me, the most rewarding aspect of the project. There was LOTS of excitement on the first day and scene 3, where Hansel and Gretel are caught by the witch was quite possibly one of the most immersive, bonkers session I’ve ever been involved in. We had Louis, who played Hansel, who had little verbal communication, but was brilliantly present and could tell the story in a strongly physical, visual way, who interacted with Amy, who played a wonderful Gretel. There was a real tenderness between them which really summed up the relationships between all of the children who participated in the project. It was wonderful to find out how they worked and to write the script with them in mind because it really gave them a chance to shine. Zak played the Witch and Josh was the VERY enthusiastic and bossy Witch’s Helper and the chase scene (where the children are captured) was such amazing fun, because they were playing a game with absolutely no inhibitions – they weren’t obviously conscious that their fun was going to be turned into a script, they were just playing creatively and it was a joy to be involved in. That session was a real highlight for me and really affirmed what the project was all about – writing a script that came from the children so that they would be able to perform it in their own special way.
The time constraint was always a worry, but actually, I think we managed to pull it together pretty well in the end. The main problem was with the teacher’s strike on the Wednesday which meant that about a third of the children weren’t there which did interrupt the flow of the week. We managed to make good use of the day, but it would have been good to have ensured that all the children were present for as much of the week as possible. I think that Katie struggled with the space she was allocated a little and she was actually ejected from the Foundation Room on the Wednesday, which wasn’t supposed to happen – but she still managed to produce a great experience for the children and the set was really impressive.
I think we really pulled together as a team and supported each-other. We all had our strengths and we recognised these in each-other, I think. The school were really supportive and went out of their way to make us feel welcome and they made every effort to make it feel like whatever we needed would be provided wherever possible. Alan, the technical manager, was only ever positive about whatever we needed and was on-call for the whole duration of the week. Lynn was also incredibly supportive and made sure that we were catered for on all levels (I miss those school dinners!!!).
The teaching assistants were on hand throughout the week but there were occasions where a participant with enhanced resources needed assistance that we weren’t really in a position to help with – helping a child in and out of a chair, for example. So there were occasions where it felt as though some of those children were left waiting because we weren’t sure or able to help them. I’m sure that there is some specialist training and, of course, experience would bring confidence from this perspective, but a little instruction (even about what we could and couldn’t do to help) would have been useful.
On the whole, however, Springwood Heath felt like a really positive place, providing a truly inclusive educational experience to all the children who go there. There’s a real culture of inclusion and, because the children with enhanced needs are around 40% of the student-body, there’s a real sense that everyone is equal. The more able children are very protective of their differently-able peers and this was so great to see – the children are really receiving an important lesson in empathy there and there was never a feeling that any student was left out.
I, personally, have taken a lot from the experience. I loved working with the children who were just so enthusiastic, energetic and full of life and I’m really proud of how we all pulled together to give them a great experience. The show was such a moment of pride – the children received a HUGE, rapturous round of applause and to see that recognition in their faces at the end was priceless and a moment I’ll carry with me forever.
One of the things that was so great about the week was you could see that the children learnt a lot about themselves and about each other – they all focused so amazingly when the audience were there and there was a real sense that they wanted the show to be the best it could possibly be.
Ruth produced some amazing musical performances with the children which really lifted the show and Jon worked so hard to integrate the AMT performances into the show; the SFX brought great humour and energy. Katie’s set was brilliant and, again, the children were totally at the heart of the decoration.
It was a great week – exhausting! but I would do it all again tomorrow.
