MAKING THEATRE WORK: entrepreneurship and professional practice in
theatre higher education
Mark Evans

PALATINE is pleased to announce the publication of ‘Making Theatre Work:
entrepreneurship and professional practice in theatre higher education’
by Mark Evans of Coventry University. This free publication, which is
the outcome of a PALATINE Development Award, is in PDF format and is
available online and can be downloaded at:

http://www.palatine.ac.uk/publications/viewall/

From the Introduction to Making Theatre Work:

“Performing arts education and training within the UK higher education
sector has always recognised that many of its graduates aspire to
self-employment within the performing arts sector….This project aims
primarily to address the mapping of entrepreneurial educational practice
across UK theatre and drama courses within the HE sector…..The report
seeks to identify the different kinds of curriculum and programme design
employed to address this area of practice and pedagogy, as well as
identifying examples of good practice and innovation. The long term
aim…is to develop a network of key educators, supportive agencies and
professional practitioners, and graduate entrepreneurs willing to act as
advocates and champions. This network will aim to support and
disseminate good practice, develop innovative pedagogical approaches,
explore collaborative projects, and develop international links. The
ambition is to raise the profile of entrepreneurship education in
theatre and the performing arts, encourage imaginative new business
ideas within the theatre field, and promote innovative pedagogy both in
the UK and further afield.”

Contents:
- Introduction
- Methodology
- Conceptual framework
- Entrepreneurship, Enterprise, Employability and Education
* Entrepreneurship and the Performing Arts
* Placing Entrepreneurship and Employability in the Theatre
Curriculum
- Survey Findings
* Preparation for the Theatre Industry
* The integration of entrepreneurship education in curriculum design
* Support from external agencies
* Key study areas
* Teaching and learning strategies
* Assessment
* Strategies particularly appropriate for the assessment of student
entrepreneurship - sample responses
* Supplementary options for course delivery and assessment
* Involvement of professional theatre practitioners, creative
entrepreneurs and/or small businesses in course activities
* Kinds of theatre-related work graduates typically go into after
graduating
* Key challenges
* Students’ changing perceptions of entrepreneurship and
professional
practice
- Summary and conclusions
- Bibliography
- Appendices and Six Case Studies

~~~~~~~
PALATINE
Higher Education Academy
Subject Centre for Dance, Drama and Music
Lancaster University

This months SPOTLIGHT! falls on Matthew Dibbens, a local improv comedian. We enter the interview nervously ready to be sliced up on a quick wit and a few verbal silver bullets … but Matt puts us at ease and tells us how we can all benefit from learning the skills associated with his art form…. 

Q. Hi Matt , tell us … What is improvised comedy ?  

A. Comedy Improvisation was made popular by the television show “Whose Line Is It,Anyway?” and is acted by young and old alike. Improvisation,like magic,is the art of creating something out of nothing.What most people do not realise is that improvising,ad-libbing etc is something that we do everyday,as we have no script for our daily lives.

Q. Do you need to be good at acting/drama to be good at it ?

A. You do not need acting experience to improvise.All players will need is some enthusiasim and willingness to let go and have some fun.

Q. What do you think you learn by being able to inprove your ability to improvise?

A. During improv people explore and develop certain skills such as listening,quick thinking,risk taking,self confidence and also team work.Skills that will help acting and public speaking but also good for life in general. This will be done by playing games and  performing sketches.

Q. OK , sounds good.  Can you tell us about what you do… 

A.  I myself have been involved in improv for the past 3 years performing shows at venues throughout the Midlands and London with Coventrys WOW Impro and Impro Vivo troupes.We competeted in the Theatresports show in London against teams from around the UK. In this I won most memorable moment of the match. We have also performed to stand up audiences as well as writing and performing our own sketches.

 Intertested in knowing more ?  ………..Matt is running workshops opporuntinites

Comedy Improvisation Workshops

Fun Workshops In the Summer Holidays To Help Your Acting And Comedy skills.

These workshops will help develop quick thinking,risk taking,self confidence and team work all by playing games and acting out sketches.

If you have ever seen “Whose Line Is It,Anyway?” and thought you would like to have a go,then these workshops are for you.

If interested please call Matt on 07904 448 260 to discuss costs, times etc.

Young people aged 11 plus can also work towards National Arts Award Accreditation run by Arts Council England and Trinity Guildhall. 

BRONZE: is a level one qualification.  Its one unit, Enjoying the Arts, involves taking part in the arts, going to arts events and researching an arts.

SILVER: has two units –Arts Practice and Arts Leadership.  The award involves completing an arts challenge, reviewing arts events, researching arts careers and pathways, and leading arts activities

 GOLD: has two units – Personal Arts Development and Arts Project Leadership. The award involves exploring a new art form, working with other artists, research and reviewing, developing critical skills, investigating the wider arts sector, and taking individual responsibility for an arts project

www.artsaward.org.uk

Helping Hands is an interactive theatre programme for 8-11 year olds on positive relationships, bullying and domestic abuse.  Click here to find out more about how this innovative session works.  For more details call Loudmouth Education and Training on 0121 4464880

The Sustain programme is Arts Council England’s response to the impact of the recession on arts organisations whose sustainability is important in delivering its mission of great art for everyone.

One-off awards of between £75,000 to £3 million will be made to cover the period 2009-2011. The funding is designed to help organisations maintain their artistic, financial and organisational viability during the recession and implement changes to ensure long-term sustainability.

Eligible applicants are arts organisations primarily focused on creating, producing and/or presenting art in England. Applicants must be registered charities or have not-for-of three years.

Applications may be made at any time.

Web: http://www.artscouncil.org.uk/funding

Four young women told us about the experience they had when they visited the RSC to see a Comedy of Errors ……….. they will be using these reviews as part of their Arts Award portfolio . If you fancy doing a review or an arts award just get in touch !

Review of Comedy of Errors

Before we went in When we stood in the que to go into the performance, I felt very out of place because lots of primary school children were there and I felt to old to be watching this particular play. And then when the doors opened to go in, I noticed that the staff were very helpful to the primary school teachers but when they saw our group of teachers, they wasn’t as pleasant. For example they said hello to the school but they only smiled at us. I thought this was very rude. They also didn’t offer to take us to our seats and when I had been to that theatre before, they did take us to our seats.

The actors were all talking to the children when we went into sit down. I thought this was really nice as the children were all excited, however they never made any effort to come over and say hello to us, and they had to walk past us to say hello to the other children. Again I think this was because we were a group of teenagers. Although we were too old to be excited that the actors might come up to us and say hello, it would have been nice for them to smile to us. I also found this very disappointing.

I thought the theatre was quite nice, seeming as it was only temporary. It was nice and airy and every seat you sat in, you know that you would be able to see very well. The only criticism I had about the theatre was that it was very cold and I had to put my jacket on because it was so cold.

 Watching the Play

Whilst watching the play, I noticed that it was a very good play for children (primary) because there was a lot of childish humour. Personally I found that the plot was extremely difficult to keep up with and halfway through I was already lost. The children were laughing their heads of but I just found myself very confused.

The actors did interact with the audience by pretending to hide behind peoples seats and talking to them, saying things like “ shh don’t tell him im here”. The children found this hilarious but yet again they did stay away from us when they was doing that. Why was that? And also they pulled a child out from the audience which was a really nice thing to do. I thought that the actors were really good.

Overall, I think that the play was very childish and I didn’t enjoy it at all. Even after our youth worker ringing up the RSC to see if it was suitable for teenagers, and them saying yes it was perfectly suited, I thought it was very childish and defiantly not suited to teenagers. I liked the theatre and would go to that same theatre again to see something different but defiantly not “Comedy of Errors” again. The main reason for this is because it was very complicated plot and even after half an hour it lost me.

-Morgan

stuck-brochure

Please find enclosed information about The Blahs’ latest production for young people, STUCK which we will be touring to youth centres in March 2010.

STUCK has been created for youth centres and is performed by talented, professional actors, using live music, lighting and a vibrant set. The script is written by the award-winning playwright Mike Kenny and takes a playful and engaging approach to themes of ‘normality’ and ‘independence’.

After the performance we run a participative workshop in which the young people have the opportunity to express and actively explore their responses to the play’s themes and issues.

We have a youth service package available which consists of:

• A training/preparation session for youth workers about hosting the production and support for thematic follow up work.
• 5 performances of the play for up to 40 young people (aged 12+).
• 5 participatory workshops for up to 40 young people.
• Materials for youth workers to make the most of our visit which includes flyers/ posters to promote the event.
• Liaison with the theatre company to ensure the package runs smoothly.

Each package costs £3350 and we have dates available from 15th March to 2nd April 2010 inclusive).

We can also accommodate a number of single performance dates – please contact us for further details.

I hope that you are interested in working with The Blahs and in bringing this innovative project to your youth groups.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours,

Ruth Cooper
Youth Programme Director
ruth@blahs.co.uk

Details have just been released on IdeasTap.com (see related article in the news section) about IdeasFund, a new funding scheme for young creatives that launches on 1 June 2009. Young people can apply directly to this fund through IdeasTap for grants of between £500 and £5000 for their own creative projects.

www.ideastap.com

The National Youth Theatre has teamed up with IdeasTap, its new online partner, to provide a valuable on-line resource for young people aged 16 and over who are interested in the creative arts.
IdeasTap is a new and innovative free service for young people, offering many opportunities to get involved on exciting creative projects, as well as sign-posting useful progression routes and information. IdeasTap now also hosts all of the National Youth Theatre opportunities and activities for young people, alongside other prestigious partners such as the Old Vic, Polka Theatre, L’Ouverture and YCTV.
Register now at www.IdeasTap.com to check out the latest information and full details for IdeasFund, as well as the many and varied opportunities, articles and information currently available. When registering, please select ‘National Youth Theatre’ when asked ‘where did you hear about us?’.

www.ideastap.com