Theatre Summer School 2010

Hosted by York St John University

Funded by the Arts Council England

Contents:

Pages 1-2: Introduction

Pages 3-4: Organisation of the Summer School

Pages 5-7: The Workshops

Pages 8-9: The Performance A Meeting of Minds

Pages 10-11: Collaboration between One-in-Four and Out of Character

Page 12: Conclusion

Page 16: Charts

Chart 1: Introduction workshop

Chart 2: Working with Script workshop

Chart 3: Autobiography workshop

Chart 4: Forum Theatre workshop

Chart 5: Experimental Text workshop

Chart 6: General thoughts and feelings

Chart 7: Thinking about Collaboration

All of the illustrations used in this document were produced by participants of

the Summer School 2010

Introduction:

The Theatre Summer School 2010, involving One-in-Four and Out of Character theatre

companies and hosted by York St John University, took place on 17th – 19th August 2010.

One-in-Four (based in Leeds) and Out of Character (based in York) are established

theatre companies comprised of people who have used mental health services.

The aims of the Summer School were:

1. To develop and test out a collaboration between One-in-Four and Out of Character

2. To offer an educational opportunity in theatre at York St John University to members

of both companies, these sessions to be led by theatre tutors at the university and

other experienced practitioners

3. To offer ‘taster’ sessions in theatre to other people who have used mental health

services and give them the opportunity to meet and work with One-in-Four and Out of

Character

4. To offer to mental health service users and others interested a performance and

workshop jointly led by One-in-Four and Out of Character

In achieving these aims, the two theatre companies hoped to each invest creative input into

their company via new learning and collaboration and allow company members to develop

more in-depth working practices through working with another company using different styles

and new facilitators. It was also hoped each company would learn and develop as theatre

practitioners and continue to think about their identities as theatre companies, including

furthering knowledge of themselves as performers with experience of mental health

problems and the often problematic nature of expectations, arguments and viewpoints

surrounding them in this context.

In opening up ‘taster’ sessions for other people who have used mental health services and

specifically targeting groups such as mental health service users, mental health

professionals and the voluntary sector to attend One-in-Four and Out of Character’s final

performance, this project also aimed to enable access to theatre for people who often have

difficulty accessing it due to lack of confidence, low personal and social expectations, low

income or social isolation.

The success of the Summer School was evaluated through specific feedback and monitoring

information gathered during the course of the three days as follows:

Numbers involved through consent forms and register of workshops

Written feedback from both theatre companies and other participants in the form of

questionnaires and informal comments sheets regarding their overall experience and

future interest

Written feedback in the form of questionnaires and comments sheets completed

following each specific workshop

Filmed and photographed documentation of the workshops

A recorded interview between two of the volunteer students regarding their

experience of the workshops

Filmed documentation of the final performance by One-in-Four and Out of Character

and the Q&A with the audience that followed

Feedback from audience members following the final performance

Written feedback from the three student volunteers

Written feedback from the three organisers of the event

This evaluation material has been carefully analysed and the qualitative and

quantitative results appear in this document to demonstrate the achievement of the

overall aims of the Summer School. Direct quotes have been drawn from all of the

above evaluation material and appear throughout this document. Statistical

information from the questionnaires on specific workshops and overall experiences is

displayed in charts at the end of this document.

The Summer School 2010 was organised, taught or attended by the following:

Elanor Stannage, artistic director of One-in-Four theatre company and freelance

theatre practitioner, who led and organised the event

Gemma Alldred, artistic director of Out of Character and Education Support Worker

at York St John University, who led and organised the event

Nick Rowe, senior lecturer in Theatre and Health at York St John University, who led

and organised the event

Karen Eastwood, head of drama at Boroughbridge School, who led a workshop

Jules Richmond, senior lecturer in Theatre at York St John University, who led a

workshop

David Richmond, head of Theatre at York St John University

Twelve members of One-in-Four theatre company

Six members of Out of Character theatre company

Thirteen non-theatre company participants

Three student volunteers who assisted with facilitating the workshops and

documenting the event

The Summer School offered an opportunity for all participants to access workshops

delivered by practitioners with a breadth of experience, for those new to theatre to participate

and possibly continue their involvement in courses in the future, to improve the quality of the

work for members of the theatre companies and broaden their range, and for all involved to

meet new people, socialise and share ideas.

General comments from the start of the event and throughout:

“I‟m off on a journey of discovery. Am content and open to whatever comes my way. New

beginnings. Sailing into the unknown”

“Didn‟t sleep last night, met everyone here in the dream I had. I‟m hopeful”

“A little bit subdued and anxious but quietly looking forward”

“I can‟t wait to start. Would love to try acting. I need to move on from the stress within! Be

more positive. Feel like jumping for joy”

“Intrigued, not knowing what to expect, lots of new people to meet, enthusiastic and positive,

have anxiety but pushing through”

“Looking forward to some new thinking with like-minded people”

“Waking up this morning knowing I will be learning new things and interacting with

interesting and exciting people”

“Meeting new people, getting to be different characters…it was good to be in large groups”

“I learnt qualities about myself” “I tested myself”

“It has taught me not to give up and I can do anything if I be myself or a character if I think

positively”

“Being accepted and involved” “Very nervous, want to sing!”

“It not only teaches me about supporting, encouraging and being involved in theatre, it also

highlighted a great deal of skills and facts about myself, thank you”

(Theatre company and non-theatre company Summer School participants)

“I noticed the whole two days were very creative and that helped people to express

themselves in a variety of ways. To begin with many people expressed feelings of

nervousness and anxiety, however I think by expressing these initial feelings on paper for

the rest of the group to see everyone became more at ease…in talking to people a common

hope was for success and a sense of positive thinking came across”

“In the first group I joined I had no knowledge of any of the participants which made it difficult

for me to judge how to interact with certain characters. Simple games…highlighted for me

how easy it is to interact with new people if you just let go of your defenses and focus on the

task that is given”

“I felt there was good support in place and brilliant communication which motivated many

team building skills to develop in most people”

“By the group introducing themselves through their previous experiences and involvements

in theatre it built a very positive beginning to group dynamics, with participants drawing off

each other‟s stories and finding connections between themselves and others”

(Student volunteers)

The Workshops:

Participants of the Summer School who were not members of either theatre company

attended an introductory session:

Introduction – From Story to Theatre (18/08/10) led by Nick Rowe

The Summer School then comprised of four workshops led by other university theatre tutors

and experienced practitioners as follows:

1. Working with Script (18/08/10) led by Karen Eastwood (13 attendees)

2. Autobiography (18/08/10) led by Jules Richmond (14 attendees)

3. Forum Theatre (19/08/10) led by Elanor Stannage (15 attendees)

4. Experimental Text (19/08/10) led by Gemma Alldred (12 attendees)

All theatre company members and other participants were invited to attend one

workshop on each of the two main days of the Summer School.

Comments on the workshops:

“Excellent workshop on Harold Pinter”

“Excellent workshop, especially sculpting our families”

“Time flew, met great people, relaxed, met loads of people with talent, met like-

minded people, taught me to be me, pretending, sat in middle of a room full of

people!”

“Being distracted from worries” “Seeing other people conquer fear, so I can”

“Learning about forum theatre and new theatre concepts”

“The facilitator, what a wonderfully energetic lady! Being challenged in different

ways, working with different people”

“Opportunities to be creative, clear instructions, other students were very creative”

“Encouragement from enthusiastic facilitators, relaxed atmosphere”

“I‟m more open to pushing myself out of my comfort zone”

“Very interactive, new faces, losing inhibitions”

“Great fun, interesting, reflective, co-operating with others, creative, confidence-

building”

“It felt a safe space, the facilitator was extremely supportive and creative and lots of

energy”

“Using my writing skills in a theatre workshop for the first time”

“I felt the facilitator opened up opportunities for people to perform in a non-

judgemental way. The session was fun and lively and some of the activities we did I

would like to explore again”

“Improvisation and devising my own text” “We learnt from each other”

“We did a lot of good things, it put a smile on my face!”

“Creating theatre characters means you can get a chance to get away from yourself”

“I had what I thought was real in my head, but when it was made into the physical, it

made me look at things, myself and my family, in a completely different way”

“I am a very reserved person, but even just sitting and working in the middle of the

room in front of everyone else here helps…I just want to do it now”

(Theatre company and non-theatre company Summer School participants)

“Watching [the workshops] it was nice to be given the chance to document, because

over three years of doing a degree you don‟t get a lot of chance to just sit back and

write things down or take photographs, it was nice just to watch people work…now I

know for when I do it, what to look for, through documenting this one”

“I really enjoyed the workshops. I hadn‟t expected to be as involved as I was and to

begin with I felt daunted by the idea of acting and expressing myself in front of

people…I think the warm-up games are very important to any workshop…throughout

the two days I personally noticed a few people in particular grow in confidence and

was pleased to see the enjoyment people expressed taking on new roles”

“Personally I found the two days inspirational…it was brilliant to hear how many

people now considered taking their skills further through education or training”

“A common feedback theme…was „no wrong answer‟. I got the impression this made

many people feel more at ease and allowed them to open up more and accept

others‟ ideas”

“As the group began to tell their stories to each other, they began to perform them

and involved themselves in each other‟s stories”

(Student volunteers)

“It was fantastic to see people engaging in university style/level classes and thriving

in that setting”

“Gemma and myself should not have led workshops as well as co-ordinating the

event, our time would have been more effectively used had we been able to…go into

other workshops to support and observe people‟s experiences”

(El Stannage)

“Overall I was pleased with the quality and variation of the workshops on offer and

feel we should strive to ensure that the range is offered in any work we do in the

future”

(Gemma Alldred)

“There were some encouraging instances of more experienced people supporting

new participants. This kind of „mentoring‟ or „buddying‟ is something to build on for

the future.”

“We met some new participants who had a great deal of interest and potential. They

are keen to begin the introductory course in October and it will be exciting working

with them”

(Nick Rowe)

The Performance:

One-in-Four and Out of Character collaborated in devising a piece of theatre, which

was jointly directed by Elanor Stannage and Gemma Alldred. A Meeting of Minds

was performed on 19/08/10 and was followed by a Q&A session between the

companies and the audience.

“It‟s all something that we‟ve all never done before, but it started and it‟s been a big

challenge, but a good challenge, I‟ve enjoyed the process and the work we covered”

“The movement pieces were a successful way of conveying different aspects of

care…without having to leaden it with words”

“Meeting and working with people and finding it possible to create a performance on

a coherent theme within a very short space of time”

“We managed to create something from nothing”

“It felt heartfelt and sincere and it‟s staggered staging was more successful. The

layering of personal stories on the microphone helped to reinforce the images on

stage as well as the speech”

“It was a little confusing during the rehearsals but the directors did an excellent job in

pushing the two companies‟ pieces of work together, which resulted in a very good

piece of drama”

“The performance was very good. The direction was helpful and the right amount”

“The discussion about the origins of the song and its relation to slavery did create an

interesting discussion, the right of artists/performers to use and present material

which isn‟t a part of their own experience…I felt this could have been an entire

seminar/workshop in itself”

“Essentially I think a bit more time would have benefited all…to polish the elements

in the final piece”

“I think only we and the staff can appreciate all the work that‟s gone into it, it‟s been

hard work”

“I think yesterday it felt like lots of little bits and nothing seemed to come

together…but I think today we‟ve pulled it together and it‟s actually worked”

“We are kind of proud of it, having been through all the different stages, and now

we‟ve reached the stage where we all feel quite proud of it, and we should do”

(Members of the theatre companies)

“Very enjoyable. Interesting the way people moved about on stage. Liked the singing

– nice way to start and end it. Flowed well and kept my interest. It didn‟t matter that I

didn‟t always understand it as it was always enjoyable to watch. Some of it quite

moving – stories told, caring portrayed”

“An ambitious adventure. Most professional, showing may skilled uses of the voice,

movement and narrative. I enjoyed this as a piece of compelling theatre, which

evoked many key issues around the theme of caring. Skilled use of conventions,

which allowed for the individual responses of the participants. All performers really

entered into the performance space with integrity. Evidence of real collaboration.

Thanks and well done. An important collaboration, one which deserves future

funding”

“Thought provoking and very brave. Beautiful collective singing, particularly by young

lady at the front. Enjoyable and interesting particularly personal experiences”

“A fantastic result for the groups and I‟m amazed by what they managed to create

after only three days. It was professional, haunting and moving and high quality all

round. I thought the singing was very powerful and great that the whole company

took part in this. The commitment and truthfulness of the performers shone through.

It was a privilege to be here, thank you”

“I particularly liked the communal singing at the start and end of the piece –

everyone really committed to the performance, both in this part and the others.

During the question and answer session afterwards, there was obviously a very

strong bond between the companies created by the project. Fantastic, something to

be extremely proud of”

(Audience members)

Collaboration between One-in-Four and Out of Character:

“It gives you a perspective that you wouldn‟t normally get when you‟re only working

with certain people. It‟s a bit like holding up a mirror to each other”

“Adjusting to the beat of another group and dynamics”

“We‟ve all become friends from the two groups, we‟ve got to know each other and

appreciate how everyone feels. It‟s like mutual appreciation”

“I think there was so much material that we would have really liked to have worked

with this collaboration for longer”

“I feel more confident about working with my own theatre company and others”

“I thought the process of collaboration (sometimes I thought difficult) was actually

very useful. As the performance developed, members from both groups pulled

together and I felt pulled off an excellent piece of work together with Gemma and El”

“Revealing personal issues with people I didn‟t know before. Ultimately gaining the

confidence to perform with different people by the end of the three days”

“I think getting used to one another, seeing how we worked together and how

comfortable we were intuitively creating something was obviously useful”

“The experience was good. It is important to „settle‟ with other actors. This was

handled very well by the artistic directors”

“Personally I didn‟t find it challenging, both theatre companies came together very

quickly”

“It was interesting to see how other theatre companies work together in groups, of

mental health and their perceptions of mental health”

“Summer school was a fantastic and positive experience, challenging and very

rewarding. I was proud of our performance, I learnt a lot about working with others

and trusting a process. I couldn‟t find fault really – enjoyed meeting like-minded

people, was inspiring!”

“Staying away and working together over three days enabled me not only to get to

know new people but also to get to know other members of my own group better and

develop a deeper understanding. The whole experience (staying away, eating

together etc.) was very beneficial for my mental health and confidence-building”

“I thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience – from staying over at the university to

practicing with each other – we had some stressful moments but this only enhanced

the work we did and our final performance – I really enjoyed watching others grow in

confidence and being there for people when they were struggling…I look forward to

more collaborative work in the future…Out of Character seemed to embrace some of

our work – as we did theirs – it was wonderful to see it all together in the

performance…A special thank you to all who made us feel welcome, the hospitality

was lovely – and the surroundings lovely too. It was nice to spend time with each

other socialising at the end of the day and getting to know each other on a different

level”

“The companies work very differently. Out of Character seem to do a lot of individual

work and draw out of people‟s experiences in a different way to us. We work more as

a whole – and do smaller group work. Although different, I felt both companies

complimented each other and I am sure in the future when we work together we will

learn a lot more from each other”

(Members of the theatre companies)

“The dynamics of the collaboration worked wonderfully and were both tested and

proved by the culminating performance. Many challenges were faced and questions

raised by the performers in the process of collaboration and new ways of

understanding their work and identities as performers were explored. It was

wonderful to see the companies supporting each other in this process: using their

differing experiences and styles to reassure and encourage one another, helping

each other to understand and trust the process and move forward as performers.

The experience also strengthened the dynamic of One-in-Four, working so

intensively together for the first time and working to support each other through that

process”

(El Stannage)

“I was pleased with the collaboration that occurred with us as directors of the two

companies and in terms of organising the event. It can often be difficult to work with

two groups, two directors towards one performance but I felt respected and trusted

with my artistic decisions by El and would like to think she felt the same. Artistically

we seem to share similar ideals, although perhaps with different approaches to

process and group work, if we were to attempt a collaboration in the future it would

be great to have the opportunity to work on something which was project specific

and would allow us to learn from each other through a whole process as opposed to

the snatches of development time we had before the summer school”

(Gemma Alldred)

Final Summary

Changes to be made for the next summer school

1. Reduce the amount of time new people have to wait before the start of the

first session. People were anxious and the long registration period may have

increased some anxiety

2. Begin each day with a whole summer school warm up session. This will bring

new and experienced people together and create a sense of community for

the event.

3. Look at new ways of facilitating the final ‘showing of work’ session with new

participants.

4. More time to socialise and discuss the nature of what they were doing, there

wasn't enough time to reflect upon the process as it was happening.

5. Gemma and Elanor should not have led workshops as well as co-ordinating

the event, their time would have been more effectively used preparing for the

performance

Things that worked well and that we should keep and build on

1. We met some new participants who had a great deal of interest and potential.

They are keen to begin the introductory course in October and it will be

exciting working with them

2. The two companies working together was generally very successful.

3. There were some encouraging instances of more experienced people

supporting new participants. This kind of ‘mentoring’ or ‘buddying’ is

something to build on for the future.

4. The dynamics of the collaboration worked wonderfully and were both tested

and proved by the performance. Many challenges were faced and questions

raised by the performers in the process of collaboration and new ways of

understanding their work and identities as performers were explored.

5. It was wonderful to see the companies supporting each other in this

challenging process: using their differing experiences and styles to reassure

and encourage one another.

Conclusion:

This document has included feedback from theatre company members, other

participants, audience members, event leaders and student volunteers involved in

the Theatre Summer School 2010. It demonstrates the Summer School’s success in

achieving its overall aims:

A collaboration between One-in-Four and Out of Character

Educational opportunity in theatre at York St John University to members of

both companies from theatre tutors at the university and other experienced

practitioners

‘Taster’ sessions in theatre to other people who have used mental health

services

A performance by One-in-Four and Out of Character

It is hoped the success of this year’s Summer School will lead to further collaborative

projects in the future, including a planned international conference to be held in

2012, and ongoing improved access to theatre and the creative arts for people who

have used mental health services.

Statistical findings from the evaluation material can be seen on the following

pages.

Charts:

The charts displayed in the following pages have been compiled using data

from 26 questionnaires. These questionnaires were completed by a range of

Summer School participants as follows:

12 members of One-in-Four theatre company

3 members of Out of Character theatre company

10 non-theatre company participants in the Summer School

1 student volunteer

Chart 1 – Introduction workshop: compiled from 11 questionnaires completed by 10

non-theatre company participants and 1 student volunteer

Chart 2 – Working with Script workshop: compiled from 11 questionnaires completed

by 4 theatre company members and 7 non-theatre company participants

Chart 3 – Autobiography workshop: compiled from 12 questionnaires completed by

11 theatre company members and 1 non-theatre company participants

Chart 4 – Forum Theatre workshop: compiled from 12 questionnaires completed by

7 theatre company members and 5 non-theatre company participants

Chart 5 – Experimental Text workshop: compiled from 9 questionnaires completed

by 6 theatre company members, 2 non-theatre company participants and 1 student

volunteer

Chart 6 – General Thoughts and Feelings: compiled from 24 questionnaires

completed by 15 theatre company members, 8 non-theatre company participants

and 1 student volunteer

Chart 7 – Thinking about Collaboration: compiled from 15 questionnaires completed

by theatre company members

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Chart 1 - Workshop: Introduction - From Story to Theatre 18/08/10

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Chart 2 - Workshop: Working with Script 18/08/10

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Chart 3 - Workshop: Autobiography 18/08/10

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Chart 4 - Workshop: Forum Theatre 19/08/10

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Chart 5 - Workshop: Experimental Text 19/08/10

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Chart 6 - General Thoughts and Feelings

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Chart 7 - Thinking about Collaboration

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