June 2010 Archives

Neil Gaiman has won the Carnegie Medal for his children’s novel The Graveyard Book. It’s a wacky story about a boy brought up by ghosts in a cemetery. Gaiman took the title from the Jungle Book to which his beautifully written and very original story owes some allegiance. Gaiman used his acceptance speech for this coveted 74-year old award to defend libraries against austerity cuts.

So what has all this to do with the performing arts and education and training? Well, obliquely, quite a lot. In artistic terms Gaiman is a Renaissance man. He wrote the 1999 novel Stardust, which was adapted into a film in 2007 with a stellar cast including Clare Daines and Robert De Niro.

Gaiman, who was born and grew up in Hampshire but now lives in the US, saw his children’s novel Coraline nominated for Best Animated Feature at the Oscars, and won the Feature Film award at this year’s Children’s BAFTAs. He also writes extensively for horror comics and has an extensive portfolio of song lyrics and drama. The Times once described him as “the most famous person you’ve never heard of,” although his blog, established in 2001, now has 1.4 million readers.

So yes, there are welcome links between what Gaiman does and the performing arts world which tries so hard to interest, educate and entertain (not necessarily in that order) young people.

I’m quite sure that neither Simon Callow nor Keith Osborn set out to write a training book when they wrote, respectively, My Life in Pieces and Something Written in the State of Denmark: An Actor’s Year with the Royal Shakespeare Company but both are so informative, enlightening and thoughtful about this industry that any student could — and should — usefully gobble up every word. Pity there’s no prize for good titles, incidentally, because here are two deliciously clever ones layered with meaning.

Last night I spent a very pleasant couple of hours at Out of the Piano - the third Tim Williams Awards event, run by London Shakespeare Workout. The Cochrane Theatre was the venue for 21 new songs with ‘lyrics inspired by classical or established texts not originally intended for publication.’

I loved James Lark’s The Earth Exhales, based on John Betjeman’s poem and beautifully sung by the larger-than-life, chocolate-voiced Anton Stephans. I was also taken with If Thou Wilt by Alex Baranowski. The lyrics were from a poem by Christina Rossetti and she and I go back rather a long way (all the way to my MA dissertation, in fact). Rebecca Caine sang this new take on it with extraordinary lyrical sweetness.

If you’re going to get to grips with drama you’ve got to understand the Greeks. And, although Bridge Academy in Hackney has been built with a proper outdoor amphitheatre and Bradfield College in Berkshire has done a triennial play in Greek for as long as anyone can remember, there isn’t too much of it about. So it’s encouraging to come across a company which specialises in Greek drama and takes 50 or so workshops on it into schools each year.

Actors of Dionysus (AOD) was founded by Tamsin Shasha and David Stuttard in 1993. I spoke earlier this week to education officer, Mark Katz, who became Mr Tamsin Shasha somewhere along the way.

“Most of our workshops are for 16-18 year olds studying Drama, Theatre Studies or Classical Civilisation and it is common for schools to combine groups across these subjects and/or to share the workshop with another school,” says Katz, who leads half to two-thirds of these sessions himself. Shasha and Stuttard do the rest.

“Often a school will ask us to do something text-specific relating to a set play and then we spend about two-thirds of the workshop time working on text,” he adds, explaining that AOD did a lot of workshops on The Trojan Women when it was an Edexcel A level Drama set text. They are now getting a lot of requests for the new set play, Lysistrata, which is partly, but only partly, why AOD has chosen it as its next major production.

Katz and his colleagues have recently run a handful of Key Stage 3 workshops for 11-14 year olds to introduce Greek drama and would like to do more of this. There has also been a request to run one in a primary school - something he is considering.

Occasionally a school mounts a full-scale production of its set play and someone from AOD is invited in to advise.

AOD’s Lysistrata tours middle-range venues across the UK this autumn. A good news story, par excellence, as far as I’m concerned.

Because so many parents and pupils pass on their frustrations to me, I am always complaining about lack of performing arts careers advice in secondary schools. So how about this for a very welcome development?

On Friday 25 June Tonbridge School, a boys’ independent school in Kent, is running a performing arts careers evening. Anyone is welcome and there is no charge. Just let Head of Drama, Gavin Henry, know you are coming: geh@tonbridge-sch.org, telephone 01732 365555 ext 4330 or mobile 07717 131020.

“We have Geoffrey Colman, Head of Acting at Central School of Speech and Drama coming to talk about careers in the industry and the best routes into them,” says Henry. “Then we shall mingle informally in the second half of the evening. A number of ex students who are now, or have been, at drama school are coming and there should be a lot of information flying about.”

Tonbridge School’s drama department is part of a flourishing network of drama departments in other (mostly maintained sector) schools in the area and there has been a lot of interest in the careers evening from students in other schools.

“We already have over 100 people coming,” says Henry, explaining that he wants to see students from Year 9 to Year 12 — and, of course, their parents.

The event, which begins at 7pm, will be held in the school’s excellent 375-seat E M Forster Theatre so there will be plenty of space for all comers.

When I told Henry that I thought this was such a worthwhile event that I would blog about it so that word spreads further he was utterly delighted — because he really does want to fill that space and help as many young people as possible to find out what they need to know. If you live within hailing distance of Kent, what are you waiting for?

You have to hand it to Razzamataz founder Denise Hutton-Gosney. If ever you needed proof that lively entrepreneurialism pays off then look no further.

‘Fancy the challenge of running your own business? How about one that has been given the seal of approval from multi-millionaire businessman Duncan Bannatyne? If you’ve got the ambition to create a rewarding and flexible career, but would like the backing of one of the highest profile dragons from BBC’s Dragons’ Den, then visit the Discovery Den in Bournemouth on Thursday June 24th 2010,’ she says.

Then she goes on to tell us that Duncan Bannatyne was quick to see the huge potential in Razzamataz Theatre School when Hutton-Gosney “impressed him with her sound knowledge of the theatre school industry.” Bannatyne said: “As a successful business man, I instinctively recognise an excellent opportunity. That’s why I chose to invest in Razzamataz Theatre Schools. The commitment, enthusiasm and sound business sense of the team, coupled with their proven track record of success, led me to become part of the business.”

There are now more than 40 part-time Razzamataz Theatre Schools throughout the UK, following the franchise formulae that Denise Hutton-Gosney and Duncan Bannatyne have created.

Now they are offering opportunities in Bournemouth and the surrounding areas by running a ‘Discovery Den’ there on Thursday June 24th 2010 at Premier Inn Bournemouth Central, Westover Road, Bournemouth, BH1 2BZ.

There was a dizzy, sleep-light point last week when, an eighteen hour day somewhere in the midst of it, I saw three magnificent shows in 24 hours. All very different but each came with its own extensive learning potential. Across the three companies I reckon almost every training need was catered for somewhere.

First there was La Fille du Régiment at Royal Opera House, a sparkling romp, immaculately sung (especially by Natalie Dessay, Colin Lee and Alessandro Corbelli) and tremendous fun.

At the preceding press reception I got a useful update on what’s happening at ROH’s forthcoming 14-acre production park in Thurrock. The building will house huge craft workshops to replace the East London rented accommodation lost to the Olympics and there will be a very solid ROH presence in this socio-economically deprived Thames Gateway area.

Meanwhile, I learn from Matt Lane, Head of ROH Thurrock and Thames Gateway, that the company is already leading creative partnerships in over 100 Essex schools. Not only does that take cultural learning to thousands of school students, it also provides work for over 100 workshop facilitators and other staff - an appropriate project is specially designed for each school. There’s no one-size-fits-all. I immediately ask if I can visit one of these schools to see the work in action and am told that I’d be very welcome … so watch this space.

Lane and his colleagues are also working on a community opera to be produced later this year. The take-up of South Essex residents wanting to be involved was, very gratifyingly, over 1000. So who says opera is elitist, I wonder as I make my way downstairs for the Donizetti performance.

My next port of call was Little Angel Theatre in Islington for Barb Jungr’s The Fabulous Flutterbys (pictured above), which apart from the educationally unhelpful spelling in the title that contradicts all the conventions for ‘y’ plurals, is an unmitigated delight.

I watched this attractive, hour-long show - about metamorphosis in butterflies but also about friendship, nature, music and colour - in the upbeat company of dozens of entranced tiny children, older siblings and parents because it was half term. All the children were learning (including one little boy who clearly had learning difficulties) and oh so focused. Warmest congratulations to Jonathan Storey, Seonaid Goody, Arran Glass and the creative team.

Little Angel has always punched above its weight in the provision of workshops and activities from age 2 to adult. I’ve been there in the past with school parties and there are Saturday and evening opportunities to learn puppetry and puppet making.

And, as if that weren’t enough, then it was along Euston and Marylebone Roads to the season’s opening production at the Open Air Theatre in Regent’s Park. I used to teach The Crucible as an English Literature examination text and therefore know it well - as did the sprinkling of teenagers in the audience with parents. And it is sure to be popular with school parties. I don’t suppose Arthur Miller ever envisaged it in the open air but why not? Timothy Sheader’s strong production packed just as much menace - and chilling recognition of the play’s timelessness - as it does indoors.

The chorus of unnamed girls is played, by arrangement with Equity, by East 15 students. In view, statue-like in the shadows, most of the time and very effectively directed, these young women were evidently getting a fine professional training opportunity.

For the third year running OAT is offering play-related workshops in association with the Young Shakespeare Company and there is a downloadable education pack on The Crucible on OAT’s website.

So there we are. Three shows and three different routes to learning. What a multi-headed beast ‘training’ is in this industry.

Nalaga’at - it means “please touch” - claims to be the world’s first deafblind theatre company. What an enlightened idea and what a lot it can add to arts education.

The Nalaga’at organization was established in Israel in 2002 as a professional ensemble of deafblind actors. At the core of the project is a constant search for a unique “theatrical language” for the group, as well as the wish to increase awareness of deafblind people’s abilities, in Israel and elsewhere. The Nalaga’at Centre in Jaffa Port, opened in 2007, creates workplaces for the deaf, blind and deafblind, and allows its employees to make a living while expressing themselves artistically.

And now Nalaga’at’s show Not By Bread Alone, its second production, is coming to the UK. LIFT and artsdepot will present it as part of LIFT (London International Festival of Theatre) from 04 to 15 July. It is suitable for anyone aged over 7.

Alongside this unusual production, led by Artistic Director Adina Tal, the venue - artsdepot - will host Café Kapish, staffed entirely by deaf waiters. In the BlackOut Bar audiences will be served in the dark by blind waiters. These workshops are on 11 July. There will also an art exhibition, Touching Art, specially created by deafblind artists from the UK charity, Sense.

In Not By Bread Alone, eleven deafblind actors share their stories and play out their dreams as they knead, leaven and bake bread onstage. Joyous, funny and heartbreakingly powerful, Not By Bread Alone has taken two years to create.

Because members of the cast have no way of seeing or hearing their fellow actors, they have had to develop new methods of onstage communication which rely on touch and trust. Some performances of Not By Bread Alone are British Sign Language interpreted and some have audio description. All performances are surtitled in English.

Remember the winter of 1984 when Torville and Dean won a Gold for ice dance at the Sarajevo Winter Olympics and that haunting, sexy Bolero by Ravel which got under everyone’s skin, even that of those who’d previously never heard of Maurice Ravel? Heady times.

And don’t let’s forget either great figure skating names such as John Curry and Robin Cousins, both coached in the US by Carlo and Christa Fassi. Both won Golds in their time: Curry at Innsbruck in 1976 and Cousins at Lake Placid, New York in 1980.

Well all of that was nearly, or over, thirty years ago.