In support of the Drama & Theatre Education Alliance (DTEA) and it's Seize The Day initiative, Theatre Workout delivered a series of workshops throughout World Performance Week (20th-27th March) in London, Stratford-Upon-Avon, and in schools to help raise the profile of Drama in schools and of theatre for young audiences.
Drama is in steep decline in UK schools, with the majority of students getting no, or very few opportunities to experience the subject, let alone to study it. Seize The Day is the DTEA's initiative to start a national conversation with those who influence what is taught in schools, where budgets are spent, and what work is produced in our theatres - MPs, School Governors, local Councillors and the Press.
Seize The Day runs annually throughout World Performance Week, from 20th-27th March, culminating on World Theatre Day. Theatre Workout ran 15 workshops with around 450 students on a broad range of subjects, including Shakespeare, Devising, Acting, Musical Theatre, Mindfulness, Stage Combat and physical theatre. Theatre workout also organised several theatre trips to see West End shows.
In London, we kicked off the week with a Page-to-Stage workshop on Friday to expand the group's English curriculum. The group had very little Drama experience and everyone, students and staff, were fully engaged and participated to create and tell highly imaginative stories which were brought to life through performance.
The group leader said:
We had an excellent workshop with Josephine on Bringing Literature to Life - Page to Stage. It was engaging and entertaining and all the participants from my group, students and adults, had a great time. The warm up exercises were fun and the whole workshop was creative and energised. Thank you!
In Stratford-Upon-Avon, we ran a Shakespeare workshop led by two practitioners, helping students to better understand Shakespeare's language, with a focus on Romeo & Juliet.
The group explored the play's central characters and key scenes through performance, staging scenes at the end of the workshop.
On Tuesday, we visited Blossom House School to run three workshops: one on acting, improvisiation and devising; a second was a talk on the business of theatre; and the third on musical theatre with a fantastic SEN group. The focus of the workshop was to help students find their voice and develop self-expression and confidence.
The week ended with three workshops with three schools simultaneously:
At City of London Academy School Southwark, we worked with around 180 year 8 students in a bid to get more of them to choose Drama when making their GCSE choices.
With the Westminster Choir School we ran a workshop with a focus on mindfulness, being present, and relaxated, covering a broad range of actor preparation techniques to help students be more present in their work.
Finally, for The Misborne School, we ran a musical theatre workshop to enhance their West End theatre trip, exploring the characters, themes and songs in the show, using techniques commonly used in musical theatre rehearsals and performance.
Our practitioner reported that about half of the groups we worked with throughout the week had little, if any prior experience of drama, but that all fully participated and engaged with the exercises and projects presented to them with enthusiasm and commitment. Many were taken out of their comfort zones, and some teachers commented that they were surprised at how well some of their students did, especially those who are usually rather quiet and subdued!
We have written to our MP, and we are encouraging all the schools to do the same. It is important that we open positive and engaging conversations with those who impact what we do and how we do it, so we can help them better understand the value of what we do.
Find out more about the DTEA here: www.detalliance.co.uk