Between the 1st and the 21st of June  twenty young people from China have been working on a 7 part theatre workshop in central Beijing.

Based on Edward Bond’s play The Children, the workshop led by Drama Rainbow took young people from 13 to 17 years old on a journey of exploring themselves and what it is to be growing up.

The play, originally written for young performers in the UK, was adapted into an experiential workshop where participants first explored as themselves before going into being Joe’s friends who were involved deeply in Joe’s dilemma – his mother asks him to burn down a house.

The workshop started from young participants investigating an allotment space cut through by an obsolete railway. The group were then asked to create an object in the space through which they identified the world they are living in. The depicted moment of placing the objects revealed these concepts through bringing an action. The actor teacher in role as Joe, a 17 year old boy then came to talk to a doll about his life and family. The group were focused on exploring the world of Joe by giving a voice to the doll; exploring the first time Joe discovered the doll; what his classmates’ attitude toward Joe, etc. They were then focused on creating a ‘gang’ of Joe’s friends by designing a secret pact, tattoos, images and experienced an intruder to the gang before Joe shared what his mother asked him to do.

The experience reflected an extremely divided view towards the responsibility of the gang when they realised that they were seen by the intruder and they were involved by knowing what Joe intended to do. The workshops then
shifted to a performative mode where participants were given lines as the story unfolded. The intense rehearsal of some segments of the play offered a different perspective towards the division of young; the pain of growing up and accepting responsibility toward oneself and the other.

The workshop is part of the Facing the Gap cultural initiative which has been undertaken in four countries since December 2015.

drama and theatre education

A practice centred international conference

Organised by: InSite Drama

Co-organiser: Örkény Theatre

 

 29^th-31^st July, 2016

Venue: Örkény Theatre, Budapest

An English language conference, Hungarian translation provided for plenary proceedings

 Theatre and drama education are important modes of exploring the world, ourselves and others in it. There are various methodologies within the field, but our conference focuses on an approach that considers drama as an art  form that highlights the complexities and the socio-historic dimensions of human situations.

The participants of the conference will gain insight into the practical implementation of contemporary playwright Edward Bond’s drama theory. Following Bond’s thinking the conference will also start out from examining the crisis of our times and the problems faced by generation Y and Z. We will then focus on key concepts of Bondian theory and the possibilities of using these in practice to explore problems. The conference will then turn to planning and investigating the possibilities of implementing the theory and practice in specific art or pedagogy projects.

The concepts will be explored through a variety of forms; participatory workshops, ateliers, planning workshops, keynote talks and discussion.

We believe it is important for knowledge from the social sciences, other art forms and practices of social engagement to influence our drama and educational work. Keynote speakers will reflect on the discussed problems from a sociological or philosophical perspective, while artists from visual arts or film will also offer their approaches. We will also create space to reflect on the dilemmas of civic activism.

You can participate in the conference without any prior knowledge or experience in drama or theatre education. Everyone interested in the subject and approach is welcome!

The keynote speakers, workshop leaders include: 

Prof. David Davis (UK), a prominent figure of the international drama education field, who has made huge impact on the international development of the field

Chris Cooper (UK), playwright, director, specialist in theatre in education and implementing the theory of Edward Bond

Cao Xi (China), director, drama educator, the creative director of the Drama Rainbow Centre in Beijing

Kostas Amoiropoulos (Greece) teacher, specialist in drama education and Bondian theory

Ceri Townsend (Wales) designer, director, mentor of young artists

Ádám Bethlenfalvy (Hungary) drama teacher, specialist in educational theatre

Ádám Cziboly (Hungary) drama teacher, specialist in educational theatre

…young artists from China, Malta, Britain and Hungary who are participating in the youth workshop of the Facing the Gap project…

… projects of the Örkény Theatre’s Youth Programme, Roundtable Theatre in Education Company will also be introduced.

 

Some of our specialist guests will be:

Domonkos Sik, sociologist – talking about the Y and Z generations and social engagement

Zsolt Bagi, philosopher – about the relation of fiction and reality, and politics and arts

Hajnalka Tarr, visual artist – about visual arts, autism and social participation

Tessza Éva Udvarhelyi, chair of School of Public Life – about the dilemmas of activism

 and further surprise guests…  

 

A short summary of the conference’s three days:

29^th July, Friday: The first day concentrates on the problems faced by the Y and Z generations, and the crisis of our times. We will engage in these subjects through keynotes in the morning and through workshops in the afternoon.

30^th July, Saturday: The second day focuses on key concepts of Edward Bond’s theory. These will be explored through keynotes, workshops and special planning workshops, so participants have the chance to engage in them in different modes.

31^st July, Sunday: The third day looks at the possibilities and challenges of implementing projects. Invited speakers will offer examples of challenges faced by arts based social projects. We will look at further possibilities of implementation through a creative project planning workshop. The three days of linked up activities will end with a joint reflection and summary.

There will additional programmes, interactive events, performances also enriching all three days. 

 

New information and further details about the conference will be constantly shared on the event’s Facebook page and the project website, where we will publish the detailed conference program on the 10^th of July.

Registration:  https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1X4BClPNCKeqb3gRrwMP5bsRhP9reyJRe5vJj1DrqXRw/viewform

Ticket price:       30 EUR for the three day conference

Deadline for registration: 15th July

We offer a restricted number of free attendance possibilities, for details please contact Julcsi Szabó at facingthegap2016@gmail.com .

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