Check out and comment on the videos created and used during the project. We are making them accessible for everyone now.

Find more in the videoas section of the website.

Drama teachers form Drama Rainbow worked over seven days with a group of young people in June.

They explored using the methodology the whole project is based upon through exploring a story from an Edward Bond play written for young people. They used the basic story from The Children but created a process drama exploration of the story, focusing on participatory aspects and living through improvisation. It is exciting to hear the reflection of some of the participants.

You can find the full versions of many of the conference keynotes on InSite’s youtube channel.

Watch Cao Xi’s exciting keynote about the situation of education in China:

Keynote by Prof. David Davis

The Gap Conference 29th-31st July 2016

I have been asked to speak to the crisis in drama in education. It is, of course, my personal view that drama in education is in crisis. This view may not be shared by others. I’ll try to justify my view as I go on. What everyone is more likely to agree with is that there is crisis everywhere around us and it is that understanding of a human crisis on a world scale that needs to drive us to seek a form of drama for young people that is of use to them in finding their humanity as these crises worsen. It would need a separate keynote to detail them all. A few immediate ones will have to do. Millions of refugees are trying to find a home in the world. In Europe disintegration threatens and racism and extreme right wing parties are on the rise. Terrorists aim to kill as many people as possible quite randomly. There is a move to separate, to look after one’s own. The UK has voted to try to pursue a mythical dream of a glorious past which in reality is a desperate attempt to shore up a disintegrating society; Europe has been staging war games on Russia’s border; China is firing missiles in the South China sea to show its military strength; in the United States we see the average of one black person shot by the police every day and revenge killings of police officers and the growth of black, armed militia groups; all this against the backdrop of global warming and continual warnings from the scientific community that we are heading for disaster. I could of course spend the whole of my time outlining these crises and many, many more. Continue reading →

Thirty young people participated in the Facing the Gap youth exchange held in Budapest between the 22nd and the 28th of July. Participants from China, Hungary, Malta and the UK worked together to understand the situation of their generation and to explore possibilities of using drama in understanding complex social situations.

The process concluded in the youth exchange participants holding workshops at The GAP conference in which teachers, theatre practitioners and other young people could participate.

Check out the gallery of photos:

Here are some comments from the feedback we received from the participants about what was the most important moment for them:

“The argument about objective and subjective, where I understood what is happening with this generation and the preparations for the workshop conference.”

“When the last day i realised that they can see me, understand me even if my english wasn’t so good. In the last few days i had deep conversations, we had discussions about living in this world and being ourselves. It just helped me to find more opportunities, digging into my soul through the thoughts of other people in my age. It’s weird but it’s true.”

“The most important moment for me was collaborating with people from different cultures and successfully developing ideas together, even with elements such as language barriers we were able to work quite well. It was at this point the world felt a lot smaller and the gap between our cultures was lessened.”

The GAP Conference was attended by over 150 people from 14 different countries. The Conference aimed at balancing theory and practice through keynotes and practical workshops. We started out from the problems faced today and ended up planning new projects – you can find the 15 projects planned in the resources section in  The GAP Conference – Project ideas developed at the conference folder.

Photos are accessible here in the gallery and you can follow a lively correspondence if you follow the projects Facebook page.

We are making keynotes and recordings of proceedings available during the next weeks.

A quote from one of the participants:

“A big variety of keynotes and workshops on theatre, drama and arts projects inspired by the Bondian form of theatre were available to the participants. Conference coordination was wonderful on facilitating the crowds to the venues. In addition, a bilingual approach was being used so both Hungarian and English speakers could follow either by auto translation headphone systems either by live translation by the coordinators. Best moment on bridging the language barriers was the brilliantly performed simultaneously in both languages TIE programme “The Giant Embrace” on the third day of the Conference.” Evie Filea/Ireland

The conference is on it way, check out the frequent updates on the Facebook page
or download keynotes from the resource section of our website.

Almost ready to kick off now. The conference program is online now. Read it below or download it in English or Hungarian.

The GAP

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 will also offer their approaches. We will also create space to reflect on the dilemmas of civic activism.

New information and further details about the conference will be constantly shared on the event’s Facebook page.  Continue reading →

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 .

Magyar leírás letölthető innen.