‘Fresh water’ in Budapest

IMG_1099The four day Facing the Gap training in Budapest was completed successfully. 41 people participated on the first day which was about the situation of drama and theatre education in China and the work of Drama Rainbow. Cao Xi, the creative director of Drama Rainbow initiated the audience into the context through placing a real life event at the centre of his talk, and deconstructing the three major challenges faced by practitioners there. Participants could also experience a process drama that is typical of the work of the centre in Beijing.

IMG_098134 people participated in the next three days, that was built around a story in which a wall is built by a village a long-long time ago. The story offered the possibility to work in an experiential  drama mode, then move to a more performance oriented process and finally arrive to designing dramatic tasks for a theatre in education programme. The training was designed and facilitated together by Cao Xi (Drama Rainbow) and Adam Bethlenfalvy (InSite).

You can find many photos of the training in the gallery.

Here are some quotes from the feedback given by participants:

“I would like to thank you for the superb experience of the workshop. For mIMG_1072e it felt like fresh water to spend three days with creative thinking in theatrical context. I learnt a lot, one of the key things for me was to think about forming a situation or shaping my stage presence with such an intention to create open questions in the viewers’ mind. This was an important way of thinking to realise for me.
Then moreover during the process of the workshop days I felt like gaining inspiration to start forming a drama class for a group of my students. And I felt re-strengthened about trying to move into this direction (to work with drama) more. And I really enjoyed the company too and the ability to explore in creative ways.”

“The concept of there not being a answer that is right or wrong. It’s a way of giving responsibility to the young people and letting them use their imagination to create a fictional scene.” 

“I had a fantastic time and gained some creative ways on how to engage young people to create gaps that can lead to asking questions that effect their lives.”

Two Acts in Budapest

bpws08A 4 day workshop in two acts has started in Budapest on the 22nd of June.
The first day concentrated on drama and theatre education in China. It was a one day demonstration and workshop about the state of education, Drama and Theatre in Education in China, and the approach and programmes of Drama Rainbow.

The second act started on 23rd of June. The Common Grounds workshops explores the use of three Bondian concepts in drama and theatre in education. More photos and details will be posted soon.
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Budapest – Beijing

The  four day Facing the Gap training in Budapest is just about to start with the participation of Drama Rainbow. Over 40 participants have registered, we look forward to exciting days!

Meanwhile some reflection on the training in China has been uploaded, check out the video page!

Training in Malta

You can read Adrian Buckle’s report on the Facing the Gap training held in Malta:

A Masterclass in Edward Bond Theatre Methodology was held at the Drama Centre in Blata l-Bmalta01ajda, Malta, between the 1st and the 4th of June 2016.  The class was led by Adam Bethlenfalvy and Adam Cziboly of Hungary and organized by Unifaun Theatre Productions of Malta in conjunction with the Maltese Education Division.  It was attended to by teachers of Drama from differenti schools of Malta, public, private and Church.  A number of 30 participants attended the class.

The class dealt with Edward Bond Methodology in Theatre In Education.  It concentrated on the specifics of Site, Centre and Cathexis.  The programme was as follows:

  • Day 1. Working on Hansel and Gretel. Identifying the Centre of the story, that is, identifying what the story is about.
  • Day 2. Exploring Bondian Methodology. Site, Centre, Cathexis and Opening the Gap.  Also Adam Cziboly gave a presentation on the current situation of Theatre In Education in Europe.
  • Day 3. The group worked on a story to identify Site. The group was dividend in two.  THe first group worked on the room of a girl whose father is an immigration officer.  THe second group worked on the Office of the father as he deals with immigrants’ requests for citizenship.  The work then moved on to explore Cathexis with the differenti objects the participants placed in each room.
  • Day 4. The lecturers worked on a Theatre In Education Project with Form 4 girls (14 year olds) from Maria Regina Secondary School. The Project was Benched by Chris Cooper.  After the performance and the work with the girls, the group met to discuss the Project and give their reactions.

Malta is a predominantly Catholic country and this has affected the mentality of the population.  Edward Bond’s theatre asks questions.  The Maltese mindset of teachers is more intent with giving answers and solutions.  This led to the participants feeling challenged and forced out of their comfort zone.  While many welcomed this challenge, a minority of the group felt that this work was negative and depressing. This minority proceeded to either drop out of the course or grow alienated by the content.

However, the majority of the group welcomed the challenge and were highly intrigued by the work being offered.  This majority asked questions of the lecturers, seeking to learn more about this method, and asking where they could find literature malta02and exercises in this work.  Many expressed a keenness to explore this method themselves in their own classroom.

A theme that emerged as a hot potato from the discussions in the masterclass was the topic of Immigration.  Some expressed sympathy for immigrants while others expressed fear.  This is a topic the Maltese teachers could take up in the classroom and use Bondian methodology to explore, even though the fear certain participants expressed in regards to Immigration would certainly hinder the discussion.

The performance of Chris Cooper’s Benched shocked some of the participants, with some of them asking whether this was appropriate material to show to children, even 14 year olds.  This was expected.  However, a greater number were intrigued and this was indeed a positive step in the development of Theatre In Education on the island.

As conclusion, one must say that in spite of certain minorities feeling challenged by the material on offer, this Masterclass was a success and the pedagogical objectives were met.  The teachers participating were exposed to the Bondian methodology and most of them were intrigued enough to try it out themselves in the classroom.

The performance of Benched and the realisation of the training was supported by the:  logoandeu_flag_co_funded_pos_[rgb]_left