March 2010 Archives

I’m at a girls’ school in a delightfully traditional building overlooking Parsons Green. It would have been a lot easier to get here had there been any Wimbledon trains on the District Line when I needed them, but never mind — I’m at Lady Margaret School now.

Y Touring — a company whose interesting activities and ideas I have followed for nearly twenty years — is doing the last performance of its spring tour to schools this afternoon: Starfish by Judith Johnson.

The play is fascinating, sensitively done and deeply moving, although the reactions of the mature, thoughtful 15 year old girls - the whole of Year 10 - are almost as interesting.

We are in a small Northern town. Saira, a young doctor (Hanna Kass - very good), comes back to practise in her father’s old surgery following his death. At the centre of the story is bright, kind, 20-something Michael (Max Saunders Singer, pictured above with Hanna Kass) a young teacher who develops variant CJD. The play charts the diagnosis, the disease, and the heartbreak that follows for those around him. Saira, deeply attached to Michael, is nevertheless a constant advocate for the need for fair clinical trials, the danger of untried treatments and the requirement of individuals to play their part in the process. But Michael’s dad, Adrian (Andrew Hobday) wants to prolong his son’s life at any cost.

Meanwhile, encouraged by Michael, Shannon (Susannah Freeman, pictured right) one of his students, begins to fight her Social Phobia through an online existence in Second Life which helps her to grow more confident. She continues, however, to struggle in the real world. Could a properly managed trial in a virtual world equip her with the resilience she needs to face her fears?

The Lady Margaret girls are led through a brief introductory session and there’s a well managed discussion at the end during which everyone votes on ethical questions using individual hand held devices. The results are displayed instantly on a screen at the end of the room. ‘A bit like “Who wants to be a millionaire?” ’ the facilitator jokes to lighten the atmosphere, well aware that several girls are in tears at the end of the play and one has left the room followed by a friend to comfort her.

Yes, Starfish is a very powerful piece and anyone watching it is bound to travel his or her own journey. I too had to brush away tears as I thought about my father who agreed to several untried experiments - which may have hastened his decline into the renal failure which eventually killed him - when he was suffering from Guilluame Barre Syndrome, a hideous, incurable neurological condition. But my Dad, like Adrian in the play, regarded it as a ‘nothing to lose’ situation and was willing to try absolutely anything. A valid point of view, perhaps.

The play has attracted a number of accolades. John Flint, Post-16 Learning Manager, Harry Carlton School, Loughbrough found Starfish ‘A very positive experience and useful in the sense that it seeks to break down the necessary pragmatism of the false demarcations between discrete subject areas such as science and morality and hence philosophy and ethics - an interesting step towards holistic education.’

John Billington is Head of Personal, Social and Health Education (PSHE) at Carter Community School in Poole. ‘The way in which drama can introduce complicated issues and multi-layered discussion is a constant source of delight,’ he said of Starfish.

Y Touring, the first company to work in the arena of health, sex education and science ethics, is Central YMCA’s award-winning Touring Theatre Company, established in 1989.

“Through creating high quality theatre and drama we aim to highlight important, often difficult, current issues and empower its audiences of young people and adults to generate change in themselves, others and society,” artistic director Nigel Townsend tells me.

But - and this is a big ‘but’ - the company does not (definitely not) do all this at the expense of producing powerful theatre. Like the rest of the audience I was totally absorbed by the Starfish narrative and both impressed and shaken by Saunders Singer’s depiction of a severely disabled, wheelchair-bound, palsied young man who had been playing tennis only a few weeks earlier.

Accompanying the play is a virtual online world, Steamfish, which allows students to experience a clinical trial based on James Lind’s initial clinical trial for scurvy. The virtual world combines education and entertainment as students take on a quest to find a way off an island after a shipwreck, while also taking part in a clinical trial.

Steamfish has been developed by Y Touring in partnership with Rezzable Productions Ltd. It is a secure, private, online environment where students will ‘meet’ only other students and Y Touring and Rezzable staff.

Photos (c) Robert Workman

There’s an audio recording of ‘Starfish’ accessible via Y Touring’s website. Do have a listen and share your thoughts.

I’m at the senior department of the Royal Ballet School and marvelling at this lovely building in the heart of Covent Garden. Considering the narrowness of Floral Street and the school’s unremarkable, corridor-style entrance this spacious tardis-like place is astonishingly light, airy and bright with its open tread staircases, high ceilings and five huge studios. In each I admire the beautifully sprung floors, long barres, concert grand piano, sound system and massive mirrors. There’s a lot of pale wood about.

Elsewhere in the building I see classrooms for subjects such as maths and art because, of course, RBS is also a generalist school. Then I am shown round the ‘ship’s engines,’ the offices which manage the outreach work and other aspects of RBS life which the public does not normally see.

It all began, of course, with Ninette de Valois in 1926 wanting to establish a British training system for ballet to sit alongside the long-established traditions of Russia, France and Italy. And she was determined, from the beginning, that it should be linked with the professional company.

Today that link is physical and symbolic as well as metaphorical. RBS’s Floral Street building is joined to the Royal Opera House, home of Royal Ballet, by an attractive glass-sided, wooden panelled - a sort of near horizontal spiral - bridge which crosses the road. At the time of my visit there are few students about because they are all in the Opera House having popped over ‘the Bridge of Achievement’ to watch and learn from a rehearsal. It’s one of the many advantages of this location and way of working.

‘I really appreciate being able to see top professionals in action and work with them,’ RBS student William Bracewell, 18, told me.

RBS’s junior department - under 16s - is based at White Lodge in Richmond Park and until 2002 the senior school was at Baron’s Court in the building which LAMDA now owns.

Alongside other training most RBS students take one A level (art, English, maths or French is the current choice) plus two BTEC National Awards in the Performing Arts: dance in the first year and arts management in the second.

‘We think the arts management is very important.’ RBS assistant director Jay Jolley told me over herbal tea in his small office. ‘Because in the future many of our students will have to run companies, seek sponsorship and take a wide range of management responsibilities’ Over the road, of course, are 200 experts in every aspect of arts management - ROH’s staff.

‘We are very lucky because we can get people to teach the students hands-on arts management very easily,’ observes Jolley. Probably not what was uppermost in Ninette de Valois’s mind when she waxed passionate about links, but it’s an interesting 21st century extension of her vision.

I suppose it’s the number 11 bus principle. Until last week Thurrock was just a place I shot (sometimes) or crawled (often) past on the M25 en route to East Anglia, north London or north of London. Now here I am stopping there and writing about it for the second time in just a few days.

This time my attention has been caught by the news that the Prime Minister (taking a minute away from strikes and the impending election, I presume) has agreed to fund the building of the £13 million National Skills Academy for Creative & Cultural Skills in Thurrock. Let’s hope, that if GB is off-scene in a few weeks, his successor is just as keen.

The plan is for a ‘state-of-the-art’ building, set within the Royal Opera House Production Park, to ‘deliver’ (their milk or post associated word not mine) industry-led training for the creative sector, addressing an anticipated need for 30,000 skilled backstage and technical theatre staff by 2017. It will also provide technical accreditation and professional development for the existing workforce.

The announcement is, of course, really about money. It confirms the necessary finance is forthcoming from the Homes and Communities Agency. So the builders can move in. The government money complements the £5 million already committed by the Learning and Skills Council. Work will start on the building later this year ready for a 2012 opening. Inevitably, given where we are in the election cycle, there was plenty of political hype with GB saying:

> Today’s announcement is positive news for the UK economy. The National Skills Academy is in line with many of the government’s objectives on skills, training, apprenticeships and regeneration. It will help to support young people in the creative industries, and is of international importance for a live performance sector that generates over £6 billion per year for the UK economy.’

Pretty good news for Thurrock too. “The Park will be a catalyst for growth of the creative industries in the area and will not only put Thurrock on the cultural map but also raise the aspirations of the local community by providing job opportunities, training and education,” commented Will McKee, Chairman, Thurrock Thames Gateway Development Agency. Having last week met some Thurrock young people working with Theatre Is, trying to change their own lives and futures, I can only concur.

I’m at Thameside Theatre at Grays in Thurrock having popped through the tunnel out of my Kent comfort zone into the terra (largely) incognita of Essex. Like North Kent, with which I am totally familiar of course, Thameside Essex has sackloads of socio-economic problems - and many of its young people lack ambition. And the BNP regards Thurrock as one of the organisation’s ‘very best areas’ which is why Nick Griffin used this same stage as a launch pad for the party’s European and local election campaign last year.

The performance I’ve come to see - in a very pleasant, modern red plush, honey coloured wood and warm brick theatre over the library - couldn’t be more different. It’s by 13-17 years olds labelled “isolated, disadvantaged, at risk, unengaged or uninspired.” During the first half they sing songs they’ve written and perform spoken word items interspersed with a handful of short professional hip hop performances.

After the interval we are shown Ten Years From Now (above), a thoughtful and enjoyable devised piece of musical theatre about life in Thurrock which asks whether its young inhabitants should leave or stay as they grow up, given that they have strong ties there - and we’re a very long way from the BNP. It’s a wistful, lyrical, 35-minute work in progress which will eventually run for 55 minutes and be toured to schools and other institutions across Thurrock in July.

All of this is thanks to the work of Theatre Is and its ‘It’s Our Theatre’ project which is already running successfully in Hertfordshire and Norfolk. I’ve blogged about Theatre Is before but this was the first time I’d seen it in action.

It’s Our Theatre: Thurrock began in September 2009 with a live recruitment roadshow featuring artists from Hip Hop group Throwdown UK. It toured secondary schools and offered over 1000 young people free workshops and opportunities to take part in talent ‘slam’ nights. The best were selected to form the company I saw at Thameside Theatre. They are now engaged on a three-year project during which they can take the Bronze and Silver Arts Awards.

‘For too long the art of making theatre for young people has been marginalised by both lack of resources and its own paucity of ambition’ said Stuart Mullins, Creative Director at Theatre Is. ‘We aim to change that.’

Amongst the non-professionals, the quality of performance at Thameside Theatre is, as yet, fairly basic because clearly these young people are still on the nursery slopes and, for many, just finding the confidence to get on stage is a massive achievement given the lousy deal life in general has thrown at them - and that makes their performances deeply moving and shows that these teenagers have already travelled a huge distance. But what really impresses me is the way Theatre Is is encouraging these young people to generate work for themselves and their communities - to take charge and to realise that they can do much, much more than they thought they could.

Nothing succeeds like success as the old saw has it and the youngsters I saw in Thurrock will, I am sure, build on successes like this and go on to further develop their skills and make a real difference - to other people’s lives as well as their own.

I headed back towards the ribbon of lights on the Dartford Bridge feeling quite uplifted … and reflecting, for the thousandth time, on the transformational power of the performing arts.

Awards and competitions are always good news for the industry, even at student level. Obviously the prize money, and the opportunities which come with it, are invaluable to the winner or winners and exposure with the chance to perform benefits all other participants.

I was pleased, therefore to read the list of the 22 Conference of Drama School (CDS) students - one from each school - who have just been nominated to win this year’s annual Spotlight Prize in 2010.

Each drama school selects the best actor from its graduating year - so in a sense every one of them is already a winner. These nominees will perform at the Spotlight Showcase on 20th July 2010, to a VIP audience of agents, casting professionals and others - a very useful chance to get noticed in addition to the usual school showcases organised by the training institutions.

Based on the Spotlight showcase performances a panel of industry experts will award a £2000 prize for best Actor/Actress and a £1500 prize to a Highly Commended Actor/Actress (£1500). The prizes will be announced immediately after the showcase.

All nominated students also win a free year’s membership of Spotlight, and a free ticket to the Spotlight Student Summer Ball on 30th May. This year’s nominees, whose photographs are on the Spotlight website are:

• ALRA Hayley Roberts
• Arts Ed London School of Acting Fleur Keith
• Bristol Old Vic Theatre School Jane Horn
• Birmingham School of Acting Andy Rush
• Central Vivienne Bell
• Cygnet Training Theatre Lil Davis
• Drama Centre London Beth Park
• Drama Studio London Olivia Vinall
• East 15 Acting School Jesse Briton
• Guildford School of Acting Louis Maskell
• Guildhall Patrick Osborne
• Italia Conti Lewis Hart
• LAMDA Ellie Jacob
• LIPA Herman Gambhir
• Manchester Metropolitan Katie Jacobs
• Mountview Matthew Seadon-Young
• Oxford School of Drama Andrew Gower
• QMU Luke McConnell
• RADA Seline Hizli
• Rose Bruford College Oliver Mott
• RSAMD Leon Vickers
• RWCMD Rosie Wyatt

I wish every one of them good luck.

I’m at the Bridge Academy in Hackney and, after the dismal walk up Kingsland Road and the narrow, less than prosperous street outside, walking into this glittering new building is like stepping into another world. But, although I can hardly be dragged away from the huge open foyer (known here as ‘Central Square’) and the splendid library above it, I’m really here to see the theatre which is truly magnificent.

Now I’ve seen many splendid school theatres in my time (and am going to report for The Theatres Trust at its conference on the subject in Leeds next month) and most have been in independent schools. What makes Bridge Academy so jaw dropping is that this is a maintained sector school sponsored by UBS - complete with a 400 seat theatre.

Part of the balcony seating is retractable so that there’s a small studio space on the upper level if required. Moreover, there are press-of-a-button dividers which close of the balcony if users want to convert the main theatre to a more intimate space. Naturally there’s a concert grand piano (the school specialises in music as well as maths) state of the art sound and lighting facilities and cinema and projection options. I admire all this in amazement.

But there’s more…

I’m at Glyndebourne at a world premiere and anyone who thinks that the place is nothing but posh frocks and picnics really needs to get out more. No picnics here in March anyway because the perimeter foyers are open to the elements and as cold as a medieval castle although it’s (slightly) cosier inside the auditorium with the doors shut.

But that’s not actually what I meant. Glyndebourne Education has been running impressive, large scale community opera projects for twenty years and not many people know about it.

It is the latest of these, Knight Crew, that I’m here to see. It is by Julian Philips, who was composer-in-residence at Glyndebourne (its first) for three years, and based on a novel by Nicky Singer.

Fifty young people are on stage with six professional singers. Others are in the pit playing alongside professional musicians and there is a mothers’ chorus drawn from the community. Nicholas Collon is conducting. It all adds up to a gripping two hour, two act opera - a reworking of the Arthur story set on a 21st century UK estate where knife crime is a way of life.

I love the lyricism of it. Think of Puccini punctuated by occasional Lloyd Webber moments suffused with Bernstein-ian rhythms and Britten-esque harmonies. I also love Es Devlin’s massive, flexible metallic geometric set with all those shadowy balconies and Bruno Poet’s sinister lighting and evocative, story-telling projection. No compromise on Glyndebourne’s usual production values tonight.

But most of all I love seeing over 100 young people learning and achieving so much together and clearly - it was very obvious at the curtain call - enjoying every minute of the experience.

So how did Knight Crew come about?

Strange place, Blackheath Halls, but full of charm. It feels like going into a red brick Board School but there’s a lot going on in what claims to be London’s oldest-established, purpose-built concert venue tucked away in South East London with its 600-seat Great Hall, 160-seat Recital room and Licensed Café Bar… and zilch parking facilities.

The Halls, now a wholly owned subsidiary of Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance, has just announced mezzo soprano Wendy Dawn Thompson as its 2010 Artist-in-Residence.

During the year Thompson will be involved in many of The Halls’s education and community projects, including an intriguing collaboration between The Blackheath Halls Orchestra and Laban dancers (November 28-29), and an ambitious Dido and Aeneas in a Weekend workshop (October 2-3) during which participants learn a Purcell opera at breakneck speed.

Know anything about theatre chaplains? No, neither did I, so running into Reverend Ed Olsworth-Peter was a useful bit of education and training for me.

He is is creative director and chaplain at St Saviour’s Intermission in Knightsbridge, a professional Christian theatre company specialising in working with, and for, youth at risk and ex-offenders - so there’s a great deal of training and education going on under his leadership one way and another.

Olsworth Peter is Minister-in-Charge at St Simon Zelotes, Chelsea too. Also on his jobsheet are the chaplaincies of Theatre Royal Drury Lane and the Palace Theatre.

I’m intrigued by the theatre chaplain role because I suspect that, since it involves helping and guiding people, it is another form of education and training.