Old School...

I went old school on Monday night in Sapphire Company.  By which I mean I took in a whole load of poetry and writing and handed it out to groups and said make something.  This was something I used to do much more of in the early days of YTYT but as with all things as a director you move on and are constantly trying and testing new things which means that some of the older techniques get put in a draw and forgotten about.

As I was planning the session and selecting the words to be used I wondered if going back over old ground was a bit of a cop out…the work we do in the youth theatre is so responsive, so considered…it’s all about building and applying new skills, new confidence, new understanding…I was worried it might be a backwards step.  Still something made me want to try it out anyway.

Happily the standard of work produced by all of the groups indicated that retro was the best direction I could have gone In.  The instructions I gave with the literature were to make something that was inspired by it…a performance of the poem in its original form, a better version of it or simply one aspect of the writing developed and expanded. 

After the poems and writings were handed out I watched as the groups contemplated what they had been given and then enjoyed their immediate dive into making something…the results of which were excellent.  From poised physical theatre about beauty to abstract representation of the rites of passage that make up a person’s life each piece demonstrated creativity and communication of ideas at it’s best.  In amongst the meaningful and philosophical there was ridiculous comedy making a vast range of creative responses to the writing.  I was both entertained and educated and left the session feeling inspired myself…that young people as young as 11 could take the words of others and turn it into something entirely their own was a truly wonderful thing to witness.