Belgrade Commuity & Educatio Compay Educatio Pack To support the exhibitio at the Belgrade Theatre for use with youg people aged 11+ Stages_EduPack.idd 1 3/2/11 23:44:49
STAGES Through The Ages. A History of Performace i Covetry. Cotets 3 Itroductio ad Overview 5-7 The Mystery Plays Moderisig a text The Medieval Mystery Plays ad idetifyig themes 8-13 Carivals ad Processios, ad the story of Lady Godiva The importace of the Lady Godiva story i Covetry Iterpretig the differet perceptios of Lady Godiva The Tale of Peepgig Tom Itroductio ad Overview I 2007 the Belgrade Theatre re-opeed after a 40 millio capital developmet project. As part of this redevelopmet the Belgrade created a exhibitio space that documets Covetry s performace history. This educatio pack is desiged to accompay trips to the Belgrade, ad specifically to the exhibitio space. It may also be used idepedetly as a classroom resource. Curriculum Liks History Uderstadig the diverse experieces ad ideas, beliefs ad attitudes of me, wome ad childre i past societies ad how these have shaped the world. Sectio 1 - The Mystery Plays Exercise 1 - Moderisig a text. Explorig Carivals ad Processios 14-23 Covetry s Theatres Kow what the term evolve meas. Uderstad that older texts ca be accessible to a moder audiece. Lear how to moderise a text but keep the same itetio behid the writig. Performace history i Covetry Theatre as a developmet tool The staff of a moder theatre Exercise 2 - The Medieval Mystery Plays ad idetifyig themes. Kow what the term theme meas i specific referece to theatre. Uderstad that the Medieval Mystery Plays were created ot just to etertai but also to teach. Lear how to use drama ad storytellig as a tool to iform. Sectio 2 Carivals ad Processios, ad the story of Lady Godiva Exercise 3 - The importace of the Lady Godiva story i Covetry. Kow who Lady Godiva was ad why she is still a respected character i Covetry history. Uderstad that sometimes less ifluetial people eed represetig. Lear how to use hot-seatig to further our kowledge of a character. Stages through the Ages Educatio Pack Stages_EduPack.idd 2-3 3/2/11 23:44:50
4 Stages through the Ages Educatio Pack Exercise 4 Iterpretig the differet perceptios of Lady Godiva. Kow that differet versios of the Lady Godiva story have bee told throughout time. Uderstad that people have varyig opiios about how Lady Godiva felt as she rode through the streets of Covetry. Lear how to decipher a paitig ad create a character from a piece of art. Exercise 5 - The Tale of Peepig Tom. Kow what the term temptatio meas. Uderstad that temptatio ca be resisted. Idetify how to do this through drama. Lear how to resist temptatio by discoverig successful strategies through drama. Exercise 6 - Explorig Carivals ad Processios Kow what a carival/processio is. Uderstad why Lady Godiva may be worthy of havig a Carival / Processio amed i her hoour. Lear how to create a movemet piece that ca travel usig Lady Godiva as a stimulus. Sectio 3 Covetry s Theatres Exercise 7 - Performace history i Covetry. Sectio 1 - The Mystery Plays Exercise 1 - Moderisig a text. Kow what the term evolve meas. Uderstad that older texts ca be accessible to a moder audiece. Lear how to moderise a text but keep the same itetio behid the writig. Explai to the class what The Mystery Plays were ad why they existed. The Mystery Plays I the 13 th -14 th ceturies, church services were i Lati ad the words used were ot uderstood by the vast majority of the cogregatio. I order to egage their cogregatios, further churches bega actig out their messages, makig them far more accessible. The Mysteries ad Covetry As The Mysteries evolved, the Guilds (The Uios of Medieval times) took it upo themselves to fud the plays. They would take o plays that were appropriate for their particular Guild, the carpeters performig the Crucifixio, the bakers performig the Last Supper. The Guilds would use this as a opportuity to show off their idividual skills. Covetry is oe of the few cities i the coutry to still have some of the origial scripts i existece. Kow a brief history of the theatre i Covetry. Uderstad how theatre has evolved i Covetry, tellig the story through presetatio skills. Lear how to use presetatio skills to iform ad etertai. The Mysteries have bee revived i recet years, ad are ofte performed i Covetry. The Belgrade Theatre have produced a educatio pack that cosiders the Mysteries through time ad the preset day revivals. Please go to www.belgrade.co.uk to access this educatioal resource. (The Mysteries I Our Ow Words). Exercise 8 - Theatre as a developmet tool. Kow that Theatre i Educatio (TiE) was pioeered at the Belgrade Theatre i Covetry. Uderstad that drama has the ability to chage people s opiios ad ca play a vital role withi schools. Lear how to make a piece of text ito somethig that is accessible for your fellow studets, ad also has the uderlyig objective of explorig a relevat theme. Exercise 9 - The staff of a moder theatre. Kow that a moder theatre has more careers tha simply actig ad directig. Uderstad the make up of a moder theatre by lookig at some of the professios that exist withi the Belgrade Theatre i Covetry. Lear how to fid a way ito the arts ad uderstad a positio that may suit you with i the arts. Ask the group to cosider this extract of text take from The Mystery Plays. The extract is take from where God tells Adam ad Eve to leave the Garde of Ede: God: Get out, get out you wretched pair What did I say? You shall ot dare Eat the fruit of that apple tree Ad if you did, you d challege me! Ad ow you ve dared to disobey You shall leave this garde - yes, today! Ask the group to read the text ad thik about how they might cotemporise it. They may take it out of verse ad attempt to make the text soud aturalistic. Naturalistic Naturalistic text is text that souds like everyday speech. People ofte to refer to the scripts i soap operas, such as Coroatio Street ad Easteders as aturalistic. 4 Stages through the Ages Educatio Pack Stages_EduPack.idd 4-5 3/2/11 23:44:50
Stages through the Ages Educatio Pack 7 Mai Ask the class to cosider, the first half of the Cai ad Abel story from The Bible (see below). Ask the pupils if they uderstad it ad if they are egaged i the story. Cai ad Abel - Bible Story Ad Adam kew Eve his wife; ad she coceived, ad bare Cai, ad said, I have gotte a ma from the Lord. Ad she agai bare his brother Abel. Ad Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cai was a tiller of the groud. Ad i process of time it came to pass, that Cai brought of the fruit of the groud a offerig uto the Lord. Ad Abel, he also brought of the firstligs of his flock ad of the fat thereof. Ad the Lord had respect uto Abel ad to his offerig: But uto Cai ad to his offerig he had ot respect. Ad Cai was very wroth, ad his couteace fell. Ad the Lord said uto Cai, Why art thou wroth? Ad why is thy couteace falle? If thou doest well, shalt thou ot be accepted? Ad if thou doest ot well, si lieth at the door, ad uto thee shall be his desire, ad thou shalt rule over him. Ad Cai talked with Abel his brother: ad it came to pass, whe they were i the field, that Cai rose up agaist Abel his brother, ad slew him. Ask the group to tell the story back i their ow words. The ask the group to thik about how they might make this text more accessible to a moder audiece. Ask them to keep the same story ad themes but put it ito a moder cotext. Ask them to cosider: Where is the story set? If a moder audiece were to watch a versio of the story, which part of the story do you thik they might focus o? What are you goig to chage about the laguage to make it more accessible to a moder audiece? How would you like it to soud? Are you goig to keep the origial character ames, or chage them to give a moder twist? What are the themes of the story? What does the story teach us? After the class have writte their cotemporised versios of the story ask them to read their stories to the rest of the class, bearig i mid these Success Criteria. Theme A theme is a broad idea or a message coveyed by a work, such as a performace, a paitig, or a motio picture. This message is usually about life, society or huma ature. Ask the class to cosider a story they were told as a child that was desiged to teach them a lesso. This might be a Bible story, a fairytale, a fable etc. Ask them to share this story with aother member of the class. After the class have had sufficiet time to share their stories, ask some of the class to tell their stories to the whole group. Oce the class have shared their stories, facilitate a discussio aroud the idea of why stories are used to teach. Itroduce the idea of themes. Mai The Mystery plays were origially produced, to teach the word of God to the masses. Ask the group to cosider somethig i life that is importat for people to lear. This may be a fairytale that has a moral ad a importat message to explore. It eeds to be a issue that the studets feel importat eough to warrat creatig a piece of theatre, the objective of which is to iform a audiece further. Ask the studets to also cosider the idea of themes. These might be aythig icludig love, hate or jealousy. Ask them to cosider if ay of their starter stories icluded such themes. Split the class ito smaller groups ad ask them to create a piece of theatre that etertais, but also leaves the audiece kowig somethig ew. Ask them to cosider the stories they used i the starter exercise as a guide to teachig through drama. Ask the groups to cosider these poits: What are you attemptig to teach through your piece of theatre? What will the evetual lesso of your piece of theatre be? What will the audiece leave thikig about? Why do you wat the audiece to lear from this specific lesso? Target I chaged the toe of my voice to reflect chages i the story s plot. Tick if you have you achieved it Ask the class to also cosider structure for their pieces. Possibly use this structure to guide them i the creatio of their drama. I used my body ad face as well as my voice to tell the story. I emphasised certai words where appropriate to highlight key momets i the story. I chaged the pitch of my voice to make it clear whe differet characters were talkig. After the class have shared their cotemporised stories, ad have completed the Success Criteria, ask the studets to discuss what they thought worked i the storytellig ad what they felt could be improved. Story Structure Poit Expositio. Usually at the begiig; the part of a literary or dramatic work i which the basic facts of settig ad character are made kow. Risig actio: All evets leadig up to the climax. Climax: The most importat or itese momet i a story or drama; usually a chage occurs. Fallig actio: All evets leadig up to the resolutio. Notes o that part of the story Exercise 2 - The Medieval Mystery Plays ad idetifyig themes Kow what the term theme meas i specific referece to theatre. Uderstad that the Medieval Mystery Plays were created ot just to etertai but also to teach. Lear how to use drama ad storytellig as a tool to iform. Stages through the Ages Educatio Pack Resolutio: A fial part of a story or drama i which everythig is made clear ad o questios or surprises remai. After the studets have created their moder Mystery Play, ask the groups to share their pieces with the rest of the class. The studets watchig the sharig ca idetify the lesso behid each piece of theatre. 7 Stages_EduPack.idd 6-7 3/2/11 23:44:51
Stages through the Ages Educatio Pack Sectio 2 Carivals ad Processios, ad the story of Lady Godiva. Carivals ad Processios i Covetry The Origis of the Godiva Processio I the origial processios, Lady Godiva was depicted as a symbol of civic freedom, with the first Godiva processio takig place i 1678, at which time she was officially commemorated ad a medal awarded. The Godiva Processio was a great spectacle, which sparked performaces of music, dace ad drama from Covetry s history, at its peak fillig the tow with up to 200,000 people. Victoria Times As the processio s popularity grew through the mid ieteeth cetury, the lewd ature of the spectacle (Godiva s akedess) was criticised as beig uacceptable for strict Victoria morality. Despite its immese popularity ad the large crowds, the the Bishop of Covetry wrote to the Mayor codemig the followig of a ear aked lad, by a mob of the lowest rabble i Covetry. The Godiva processio was fially baed i 1887. The cotemporary Godiva Processio The traditio of the Godiva processio had bee laid to rest util 1997, whe Covetry s uique associatio with the Godiva leged was revived by Covetry ad Warwickshire Promotios (ow CVOe) to attract tourists to Covetry s historical ad moder sites. I 2005, the processio was merged with the Covetry Carival (itself revived i 2000) ad the Godiva Carival ow takes place each year as part of the Godiva Festival i July. The Godiva Carival The Godiva Carival draws o may differet cultures from all over the world to create a spectacular celebratio with Veetia floats meetig traditioal Caribbea characters ad dhol drummers walkig ahead of Morris Me. Produced by CVOe ad Imagieer Productios, over 1000 people take part ad may times that umber lie the streets to joi the festivities, ejoyig the flamboyat music, dace ad masquerade. Exercise 3 - The importace of the Lady Godiva story i Covetry Kow who Lady Godiva was ad why she is still a respected character i Covetry history. Uderstad that sometimes less ifluetial people eed represetig. Lear how to use hot-seatig to further our kowledge of a character. Ask the studets to cosider celebrities with big persoalities. Ask them to thik about what makes them so memorable. Ask them to cosider how they walk, talk ad react to situatios. Ask them each to choose a particular celebrity. Ask for oe voluteer. Ask this voluteer to walk across the space as they might walk dow the street. Ask them to the thik about how a differet perso might walk (a toddler, a old age pesioer etc.). As the voluteer is crossig the space i the style of this ew character, ask the rest of the class to cosider what the voluteer has chaged about their walk ad maerisms that has trasformed them ito this ew character. Ask the group to suggest ay advice that might make the voluteer commit to the character further, or make the character more believable. After the studets have dissected the voluteer s walk, ask the whole class to move aroud the space as if they were walkig dow the street. Ask the studets to cosider how they walk (how fast or slow they move, how big their steps are, if they walk tall or walk small). After the studets have cosidered their ow walk suggest aother character they might play. Ask them to chage their walk accordigly, alterig their speed, posture, size of step etc. to trasform themselves ito this ew character. Brig the exercise to a close ad ask the group to cosider what we have to chage about ourselves i order to create a character. Mai Split the class ito three ad give each of the groups oe of the character descriptios below. I their groups they should discuss what they might chage about themselves i order to create the below characters. Lady Godiva 1 You lived i Covetry. 2 You lived betwee 1040AD-1080AD. 3 You are married to Leofric, Earl of Mercia. 4 You doated a huge amout to the church. 5 You were very beautiful. 6 Your husbad created a oppressive tax for the people of Covetry. 7 You asked him to drop the tax if you rode aked through Covetry City. 8 You asked for o oe to look at you ridig through the city. 9 You rode through the city with two Kights at your side. 10 You completed the task ad your husbad dropped the tax. 11 You wet o to give away lots of your wealth to worthy causes. Leofric, Earl of Mercia 1 You were oe of the most powerful lad owers who lived i Britai, secod oly to the Earl of Godwi. 2 You worked directly for the kig. 3 You were married to Lady Godiva. 4 You ad your wife, Lady Godiva, doated a huge amout to the church. 5 You itroduced a massively ufair tax o the people o Covetry. Stages through the Ages Educatio Pack Stages_EduPack.idd 8-9 3/2/11 23:44:51
10 Stages through the Ages Educatio Pack 11 6 Your wife, Lady Godiva, bet you that if she rode through Covetry aked o horse back you would have to drop the ufair tax. 7 You lost the bet ad were forced to drop the tax. 8 You died 1057AD. Peepig Tom 1 You lived betwee the years 1040-1080AD. 2 You were a Tailor. 3 You were asked to ot watch Lady Godiva ride through Covetry aked. 4 You disobeyed the order ot to look ad peeked at the beautiful Lady Godiva through the slats i your widow. 5 You wet mysteriously blid after you looked at the aked Godiva. Ask the class if they have ay other theories. After the parters have had time to discuss their theories, brig the group back together to debate the issue ad attempt to come to some kid of cosesus o the story behid Lady Godiva. Mai Ask the groups to cosider feeligs that Lady Godiva may have had as she set out o her ride through the city. Split the class ito five groups ad give each group a differet prit of the paitigs below (please ote, larger copies of these paitigs are o pages 24-26: The three groups should discuss what they feel the characters i the descriptios may have bee like. They should cosider the way the character walks, talk, sits dow, the laguage they might use etc. Ask the studets to thik about what they might wat to ask other characters from the same story. Ask each member of the class to write dow three questios they would like to ask aother character. From the three groups that exist, ask oe member from each to joi two other studets from the other two groups; this will make a group of three differig characters. Hot-Seatig To hot seat a character is to ask a character questios. A performer takes o the role of a specific character ad aswers questios urehearsed. All the questios should be aswered as that character ad i the first perso. Each group the hot seats each character. Ask the class to take otes, ad have by the ed of the exercise, a clear idea of what happeed i the eleveth cetury to Lady Godiva. Exercise 4 Iterpretig the differet perceptios of Lady Godiva Kow that differet versios of the Lady Godiva story have bee told throughout time. Uderstad that people have varyig opiios about how Lady Godiva felt as she rode through the streets of Covetry. Lear how to decipher a paitig ad create a character from a piece of art. Ask the group to split ito pairs. I these pairs, ask the studets to cosider the feeligs Lady Godiva may have felt as she rode aked through the streets of Covetry. Was she proud? Was she embarrassed? Was she shy? Ask them to cosider what the leged meat by aked. Some theories are She had o jewellery o, which i the time of Lady Godiva would have bee cosidered aked. She had to ride through the streets aked of impure thoughts, ad thikig about othig that would be cosidered amoral. Paitig (1) With kid permissio of The Herbert Art Gallery & Museum, where the paitig ca be viewed. Paitig (2) With kid permissio of The Herbert Art Gallery & Museum, where the paitig ca be viewed. Each paitig tells a differet story of Lady Godiva ad the feeligs she may have felt as she rode through the City of Covetry aked. Ask the groups to thik about what Lady Godiva is thikig ad feelig i their paitig. Ask each studet, to create a moologue that is represetative of the Lady Godiva i their paitig. Moologue A speech made by oe actor o the stage. Ask the studets to cosider. Paitig (3) With kid permissio of The Herbert Art Gallery & Museum, where the paitig ca be viewed. Paitig (4) With kid permissio of The Herbert Art Gallery & Museum, where the paitig ca be viewed. Paitig (5) Does Lady Godiva look happy? Does she look like she has bee forced to udertake the challege? Does she seem ashamed of ridig through the streets? Does she appear cofidet ad proud of the task she has udertake? Does she look self coscious ad ill at ease ridig through the city? Does Leofric appear to have pressurised her ito ridig through the city? Do you thik the people of Covetry respect her? With kid permissio of The Herbert Art Gallery & Museum, where the paitig ca be viewed. After the studets have created their moologues, ask the studets to share them with the rest of the class. After sharig their moologues, ask the studets to discuss the differet iterpretatios of the Lady Godiva story. 10 Stages through the Ages Educatio Pack 11 Stages_EduPack.idd 10-11 3/2/11 23:44:57
12 Stages through the Ages Educatio Pack 13 Exercise 5 - The Tale of Peepig Tom Kow what the term temptatio meas. Uderstad that temptatio ca be resisted. Idetify how to do this through drama. Lear how to resist temptatio by discoverig successful strategies through drama. Temptatio is a act that looks appealig to a idividual. It is usually used to describe acts with egative cootatios ad as such, teds to lead a perso to regret such actios. Get the group to talk about the word temptatio ad what it meas to them. Ask the group if they have ever bee tempted i their lives. Ask them to discuss this with a parter ad feed back to the group their experieces of temptatio. Split the class ito smaller groups ad ask the groups to create a still image which represets the word temptatio. Share these images with the rest of the class. Still Image This is where a still picture is created by a group of performers. The still image should tell a story or add to the arrative of a performace. Mai I the same groups as for the Exercise, ask the class to cosider further their still image ad the story that iflueced its creatio. Usig the still image as a startig poit, ask the groups to create a piece of theatre that explores temptatio followig the istructios below. Ask the groups to create a series of still images ad a moologue (please see Page 11 for Moologue defiitio). Ask them to tell their particular tale of temptatio. This should hopefully give the audiece a isight both ito the mid of someoe who is experiecig temptatio, ad ito the source of the temptatio itself. The moologue itself should be spoke i the gaps betwee the still images of the fial performace. Ask the studets to complete this Self Assessmet after they have shared their pieces. Target Always Usually Sometimes Rarely I am cofidet i performig a moologue o stage. I uderstad what temptatio is ad would be able to recogise that feelig withi me. I am able to perform a still image Exercise 6 - Explorig Carivals ad Processios Kow what a carival or processio is. Uderstad why Lady Godiva is worthy of havig a Carival / Processio amed i her hoour. Lear how to create a movemet piece, that ca travel, usig Lady Godiva as a stimulus. Please refer to the itroductio to Sectio 2 ad to Exercise 3 for backgroud o the Lady Godiva story. Ask the class to cosider the story of Lady Godiva ad what about it they feel would be worth celebratig. Ask the class to break ito smaller groups ad thik of what theme a carival/processio may have if Lady Godiva was at the cetre of the celebratio. Ask the groups to write o a piece of paper the reasos behid Lady Godiva s aked ride through the streets of Covetry. Why would people wat to celebrate this act? Mai Stayig i the same groups as the Exercise, ask the studets to create five movemets that they feel represet Lady Godiva s story. These five movemets should ecompass why Lady Godiva wated to put herself i this positio for the people of Covetry. The movemets should also be put ito a sequece that could be repeated whilst movig. Ask the groups to rehearse these movemets ad create a travellig dace from them, formig the foudatios of a mii processio. Add some music to the rehearsal time to give the studets somethig to create their sequece to. Ask the studets to use these Success Criteria to aid them i the creatio of their movemet pieces. Target We have created five movemets that ca be repeated. We have created five movemets that are clearly represetative of the Lady Godiva story. We have created a movemet piece that is eergetic ad would be appropriate i a carival / processio cotext. We have devised a piece that has the capability of travellig. We have esured that all members of the group kow the order of the moves, ad are able to perform them for the rest of the class. Tick if you have achieved it. Ask the groups to perform their pieces for the rest of the class ad discuss how they met the Success Criteria. I am able to tell a story through drama that has oe theme, temptatio. Ask the studets to fid a parter ad discuss their Self Assessmets, givig examples of how they achieved each Target. 12 Stages through the Ages Educatio Pack 13 Stages_EduPack.idd 12-13 3/2/11 23:44:58
14 Stages through the Ages Educatio Pack 15 Sectio 3 - Covetry s Theatres Exercise 7 - Performace history i Covetry Kow a brief history of theatre i Covetry. Uderstad how theatre has evolved i Covetry, tellig the story usig presetatio skills. Lear how to use presetatio skills to iform ad etertai. Ask each studet to stad up ad tell the rest of the group about the best etertaimet they have ever see. This could be from TV, film, theatre etc. Ask them to explai why the etertaimet was so good ad attempt to make them explai the experiece i a iterestig ad clear way. Use these Success Criteria to guide the studets. Target I spoke slowly ad clearly. I kept the audiece iterested by chagig my pitch where appropriate. Before I spoke I had a clear structure i my mid. I made eye cotact with the audiece. I asked the audiece rhetorical questios i order to keep their egagemet. I stood tall ad made my voice heard. Mai Tick if you have achieved it. Ask the studets to split ito groups to look over the selected iformatio below. As they look at the material, plat the idea that they will have to preset it back to the group i a iformative ad etertaiig presetatio. That may be by takig o devised characters from the iformatio provided, by presetig the piece as a small play or by ay other method. The groups should edit the iformatio dow i order to make it digestible for the rest of the class watchig. Covetry Hippodrome Built i 1906, the Hippodrome hosted famous ames of the day like Charlie Chapli, Harry Lauder, George Roby ad the locally loved Covetry Babes. Work o a ew Hippodrome started i 1936. Built i a impressive 10 moths, this was a large art deco theatre desiged for Livig Etertaimet with a large stage ad a 2000 seat auditorium. Stars such as Laurel ad Hardy, Max Miller, Gracie Fields, Arthur Askey, Ke Dodd ad Morcombe ad Wise were attracted to perform there. The Beatles ad the Rollig Stoes played there too. The Hippodrome was reamed several times, becomig the Covetry Theatre i 1955 ad the Apollo i 1979. The last Performace took place 1985, after which it became a bigo hall. It was demolished i 2002 to make way for Milleium Place ad the revamped Covetry Trasport Museum. I the 18th Cetury, Professioal Travellig compaies came to Covetry durig the December to May seaso. With o purpose built theatres available, they performed i bars, is ad at the St Mary s Guildhall They attracted all social classes to the performaces The Belgrade Theatre The Belgrade Theatre was the first Civic theatre to be built i Britai after the Secod World War ad opeed to the public i March 1958. It was part of the large scale re-developmet of the city followig the devastatig effects of the bombig i 1940. Writig i The Observer, theatre critic Keeth Tya commeted that: Eter most theatres ad you eter the gilded, cupidious past. Eter this oe ad you are surrouded by the future, The Belgrade was istrumetal i pioeerig the idea of the theatre buildig as a all day social space; i this ad other respects it iformed the desig of may subsequet theatres. Why the Belgrade? The ame reflected the City Coucil s global outlook i the 1950s. The city was brought to iteratioal promiece followig its bombig i 1940, ad attracted much support. May i Europe saw the recostructio of the city ad its moder architecture as symbolic of rebirth. Liks were made with various Europea cities ad followig a visit to Covetry by the Yugoslavia ambassador, it was suggested that the theatre was amed after the capital city of Belgrade to commemorate the commo struggle by the people of Covetry ad Belgrade for freedom ad peace. A gift of Serbia timber was made to help i the costructio of the theatre. Much of this proved to be usuitable for use i the buildig, beig too short i legth. Noetheless, some was used i the auditorium ceilig ad i the first floor restaurat ad ca still be see today. The ew buildig The Belgrade uderwet a major trasformatio betwee 2003 ad 2007 whe a seve storey extesio with a ew auditorium, B2, was built. Famous people who have worked at the Belgrade Sir Trevor Nu (Director) Leoard Rossiter (Actor) Dame Joa Plowright (Actress) Clive Owe (Actor) Sir Ia McKelle (Actor) Michael Crawford (Actor) 14 Stages through the Ages Educatio Pack 15 Stages_EduPack.idd 14-15 3/2/11 23:44:58
16 Stages through the Ages Educatio Pack 17 After the groups have completed their presetatios ask them to cosider this Self Assessmet. Target Always Usually Sometimes Rarely I speak clearly ad slowly. I am able to look at my audiece ad ivolve them i the presetatio. I preset iformatio that is iformative ad makes sese. GRACE: DAD: GRACE: DAD: GRACE: No. Fie, she would ve oly she s late for work. Yes. You OK? Yes. I make eye cotact with the audiece. I am iformative i a etertaiig way. I esure that everyoe i my group takes some part i the presetatio. Discuss the Self Assessmet ad ask the group to give feedback o both highlights ad areas for improvemet for each presetatio. Exercise 8 Theatre as a developmet tool Kow that Theatre i Educatio (TiE) was pioeered at the Belgrade Theatre i Covetry. Uderstad that drama has the ability to chage people s opiios ad ca play a vital role withi schools. Lear how to make a piece of text ito somethig that is accessible for your fellow studets ad also has the objective of explorig a relevat theme. The Belgrade pioeered the Theatre i Educatio (TiE) movemet, which used drama as a meas to support educatio i schools. Its success spread across the UK ad the world. TiE is a meas to make youg, ad older, people lear ad explore ideas i a creative way. Ask the class if they kow aythig about TiE or if they have ever witessed Theatre i Educatio. Ask them what they thik TiE is ad what objective it has withi our society. For more iformatio o the history of TiE at the Belgrade, see Theatre i Educatio at the Belgrade Buildig o our Heritage (olie ad prited publicatio). Ask the class to fid parters (preferably male - female) ad read the below sectio of script from the Belgrade s Commuity & Educatio productio of Promise. Characters Dad A sigle father brigig up his daughter Grace, who has just left primary school. Grace 11 years old ad is about to make the trasitio to secodary school. Dad has just fiished a coversatio with Grace s mother o the phoe. Graces s mother, Dad s ex wife, has left the family home, leavig Dad to look after Grace. DAD: GRACE: That was your mum. Oh. DAD: GRACE: DAD: GRACE: Because it s fie if you re ot. Your mum left me ot you, you kow. (Starts eatig sweets agai) Yeh Dad. Good. Not too may love, you ll spoil your dier. Bad habit. Like your mum ad chocolate digestives! Comfort food. You sure you re alright? Yes Dad. Ask the groups to cosider- Why has the scee bee writte, what is its message? Why could this be used i a educatioal cotext? What age group would best coect to this short scee? Brig the parter coversatios to a class discussio ad attempt to gai a geeral cosesus o the purpose of the script. Remid the studets of the cocept of Theatre i Educatio. Mai Split the class ito parters agai ad give each partership a copy of the short scee. Ask the parters to rehearse the scee, bearig i mid the objective of the scee that was discussed i the starter exercise. At the ed of the scee, ask the parters to iclude a thought trackig momet from each character. This should offer a isight ito the character s feeligs ad also help the parters to fulfil the objective spoke about i the Exercise. Thought Trackig This is where a character speaks their thoughts out to the audiece while the rest of the performers remai still, givig the audiece a isight ito the characters ier feeligs. Ask the groups to cosider these Success Criteria whe rehearsig the scee. Target I have cosidered who my audiece are. I have thought about the reasos behid the script beig writte. I have created a piece that icludes everyoe i my group. I have thought about the rhythm of the script ad used it withi my drama. Tick if you have achieved it. DAD: Yes. Do t you wat to kow- I have icluded the text ad movemet withi my dramatisatio. 16 Stages through the Ages Educatio Pack 17 Stages_EduPack.idd 16-17 3/2/11 23:44:58
18 Stages through the Ages Educatio Pack 19 18 Stages through the Ages Educatio Pack Exercise 9 - The staff of a moder theatre Kow that a moder theatre has a rage of career opportuities o offer aside from the commoly kow actig ad directig. Uderstad the make up of a moder theatre by lookig at some of the professios that exist withi the Belgrade Theatre i Covetry. Lear how to fid a way ito the arts, ad discover a career that may suit you withi the arts. Split the class ito pairs. I these pairs ask them to discuss the routes that people take to get ito the arts as a professio, or ito other careers. Brig the class back to share their ideas. Ask them to thik of a career, or dream, they wish to pursue ad how they thik they are goig to achieve that goal. Ask the class if ayoe has a clear pla of how they wish to achieve their goals. If so, ask them to preset their pla. Share your career path with the studets. Mai Preset the studets with this selectio of iterviews. The iterviews are with people that work at the Belgrade Theatre i the preset day. Justie Theme, Associate Director (Commuity & Educatio) How did you become ivolved i Commuity Arts? I was iterested i theatre makig a differece. I got very excited by the growth I could see i people whe they were give the opportuity to be ivolved i rehearsals ad performig i a play. My first job was as a voluteer with a commuity arts outfit i Bristol, which is where I was at uiversity. The perso who was the paid support left ad I moved ito her role. The the perso who was directig it moved o, so I was give the opportuity to direct my first, very grass roots youth theatre piece called Do t Do That. It was about kids beig told ot to do thigs ad, as we have leart, that s ot always the best way to ecourage youg people ot to do thigs. From there I applied to be a drama worker at Dudee Rep Theatre, which has a very good history of commuity activity. I worked there for four years- it s what I call my appreticeship. I had the opportuity to work o such a wide rage of projects usig drama as a tool to develop persoal ad social skills. I worked o varyig size projects, all the way up to mai stage large-scale commuity shows. From Dudee I decided to work abroad, I wet back to my family roots i Suriame, South America. While I was there discoverig my family, I also maaged to get a job with the Miistry of Educatio with the Directorate of Culture. I delivered a lot of arts activities usig the arts as a developmet tool. I was ivolved i theatre i developmet, visual arts as I was based at a visual arts orgaisatio, i policy ad strategy developmet. I also had the opportuity to udertake a project i Seegal. I explored the liks betwee Seegal ad its former coloiser Frace. It was iterestig to build a uderstadig betwee the West ad the coutries it used to cotrol. My mai iterest is workig with black ad miority ethic commuities, so workig out i those coutries really helped whe returig to the UK. I stayed i Suriame for six years, the felt it was time for me to retur ad get a job that was more log term ad strategic. I saw the job at the Belgrade for Associate Director. The job excited me because there was a wide rage of work, I did t wat to go ito somethig very specific after my diverse job i Suriame. There was plety of opportuity at the Belgrade for log term strategy. The Artistic Director wated to grow the work ad make it accessible to margialised groups ad as a priority wated to build liks with the black ad miority ethic groups. It felt like a obvious ext step, back i a producig theatre. Jathi Mills, Geeral Maager What is your role i the Belgrade? Largely to oversee the geeral maagemet of the theatre with a specific resposibility for the Commuity & Educatio Compay. The latter ivolves beig i charge of the fiace ad persoel operatio of the departmet ad, i collaboratio, with the Associate Director (resposible for Commuity & Educatio) workig o the strategic visio for the Compay. Across the Belgrade Theatre as a whole, I look after Huma Resource issues, such as cotractig, ay persoel queries, geerally esurig everyoe is workig withi the law, everyoe is gettig the fees they should be paid ad workig the correct hours. How did you fid yourself i this positio? I did work experiece at West Yorkshire Playhouse ad I thoroughly ejoyed it. Up to that poit I did wat to be a actor, but I ejoyed doig the work experiece o the operatioal side. A lot of people thik there is oly oe way ito the theatre, ad that is to be a actor. I did a Performig Arts degree, ad through the degree I bega takig o a admiistrative role. Whe we were workig o projects I would be the oe lookig after marketig or lookig after the budget. After Uiversity, I was vice presidet of my Studet Uio, I was also editor of my studet ewspaper. I this role I made sure I wet ad reviewed shows, I got to kow people i the theatre. A job the came up about ecouragig ew people ito the theatre. I moved my way up through Derby Playhouse ad I eded up maagig a whole programme of audiece developmet work. Whilst I was there I did a Advaced Certificate i Arts Marketig. My qualificatio at Uiversity was quite practical, so it was good to get a admiistrative qualificatio to uderpi my udergraduate degree. The job the came up at the Belgrade. I really wated to stay at a rep theatre because I m really passioate about producig work i a city for a city. I kew about the Belgrade s history because of Theatre i Educatio (TIE). Hamish Gle, the Artistic Director, has a great reputatio ad I kew people that had worked with him, ad the Commuity & Educatio Compay seemed to be really itegral to what the theatre was doig. I also wated a step up to be maagig a departmet, whereas i the old positio I was maagig a few people but ot a whole departmet. I ca t imagie doig aythig else. If I have a bad day I thik maybe I should go ad work somewhere that does t take as may hours, but there is owhere else that I wat to work! What s your favourite part of the job, ad what s the bit that you would prefer ot to do? My favourite part is creatig somethig ew. People joke about the admiistrative part of theatre beig the borig side, but it s itegral to puttig a show o the stage. I feel icredibly passioate about beig part of what goes o the stage. I could do a budget somewhere else ad it would ot mea aythig to me, whereas here I kow it s about what goes o, o that stage. I like supportig people, I like supportig the orgaisatio to create amazig pieces of work that ca chage people s lives. 19 Stages_EduPack.idd 18-19 3/2/11 23:44:59
20 Stages through the Ages Educatio Pack 21 If you were goig to give advice to people who wish to have a career i the theatre, what would your advice be? Do t be afraid to show that you are passioate about somethig. It s a tough job, you ve got to love it. People say that about actig, but I thik it s about every job i the theatre, ad there are a millio people that wat to be ivolved i it. If you just thik it s a easy place to work, you get to see a few plays, the this job wo t work out. But if what you do is theatre, the be passioate about that. Get some volutary experiece too, put your all ito it, ad get to kow people. What is your future ambitio? I wat to be a Executive Director of a producig theatre. I defiitely wat to be i charge, but i charge with a team that are brilliat. Like here everyoe really kows their departmet ad kows how to work withi it, it s about brigig all those elemets together. We re i really hard fiacial times, so it s about keepig theatre alive ad makig sure it does t fall by the way side. It would be really easy just to keep churig out the same thig because there s o moey to create somethig ew, so it s great beig i a orgaisatio that creates opportuities. David Jae, Commercial Director What is your role i the theatre? I am the Commercial Director, which meas I am resposible for fud raisig through trusts, foudatios, busiesses ad idividuals, cofereces ad evets, frot of house, caterig ad aythig VIP. How did you fid yourself i that role, what was your career path? I wet to uiversity ad iitially started out doig a combied degree of Drama ad Eglish because I wated to be a drama teacher, ad at that time there were very few drama teachers out there. I got to the ed of my first year ad realised I hated readig! So I decided to drop Eglish. So I did Drama, Psychology ad a year of Philosophy. It was great fu. I got to the ed of my secod year ad thought I really do t kow what I m goig to do with the rest of my life, as I ca t become a teacher without a core subject. So I thought I would try ad get a couple of weeks work experiece at a theatre i Northampto, The Dergate. I wrote to the theatre ad said I was iterested i theatre admiistratio, I got a letter back which offered me a few weeks i their marketig departmet. At the time I did t eve realise that theatres have marketig departmets. So I wet ad did two weeks ad absolutely loved it. At the ed of it they said would you like to come back oe day a week paid? This positio was to build up a relatioship with studets ad to do some basic marketig dogsbody work. They took me o oe day which became two days a week. I also worked o the bars ad frot of house i the eveigs After I graduated from Uiversity, there were o jobs i the theatre so I wet ad worked for a ewspaper i their accouts departmet, which was awful. I carried o workig o the bars for about ie moths util a job came up i the Marketig Departmet, as sales group coordiator. I applied for it ad got that job. I the became marketig officer. At that time, The Dergate was mergig with the Royal. We were makig a lot of staff redudat because there was t the eed for two etire theatre s worth of staff, so we had a recruitmet freeze. We were also just about to begi a capital build project ad we had already started fudraisig for it whe the perso that had bee there as the Fudraisig ad Evets Maager left. Because of the recruitmet freeze, they could t brig aybody ito post, so I was asked if I would temporarily step ito the job so they could get started o the fudraisig rather tha wait the six moths ad lose that opportuity. So I did that temporarily for five years. As Developmet Maager, I wet through a fiftee millio poud fudraisig campaig ad refurbishmet. A moth before they opeed I moved to the Belgrade, which was a big shame because I had see all of this work happe ad I had bee through all the rubbish that goes with it. So I joied the Belgrade as Head of Developmet to oversee the ed of the forty millio poud programme we had here, but also to set up fudraisig goig forward as there was t aythig here at all. There had bee very little, the odd trust applicatio for Commuity work ad a little sposorship whe it happeed to fall ito their lap, but othig had bee set up. So the mai focus of my job was to set all this up. At the begiig of this year I took o the resposibility of Operatios ad I also asked to take o Caterig whe the last Marketig Director left. I was already dealig with them a lot through coferecig ayway so I saw it as a good way of broadeig out my experiece. What would you say is the worst part ad the best part of your job? The best part is the relatioships ad egotiatios with differet people. Everythig that is doe from my office really relies upo other people s goodwill. Thigs like Coferecig ad Evets. We are ot a coferece veue, we are a theatre. It takes a lot of goodwill from Productio, Frot of House, Box Office, from everybody to make it work as well as it does. We are the bae of people s lives. The relatioships that are built out of these favours is somethig that I love about this job ad I would ever wat to lose that side of it. Workig with busiesses is somethig I thik theatres, or people who work i theatre, are ofte a bit ervous about gettig ivolved with. I do t kow whether this is a sese of ot watig to get their hads dirty or if there is cofusio about what busiesses do? I really ejoy those relatioships with busiesses. What is the worst part of my job? There s a lot of paperwork ivolved ad admiistratio. It ca, at times, become extremely all ecompassig. But I hoestly ejoy my job ad there is t a bit of it that I would wat to get rid of. If you were goig to give ayoe advice to break ito the theatre, what would that be? Show willig, put the time i. If you re at uiversity, if you re at school put the hours i voluteerig. It is such a hard idustry to get ito ad it s eve harder to get out of. But you have to show that you are willig to do your time before you actually get paid to do it. Certaily those two weeks work experiece I did were the best use of two weeks I ever had, because it got me a career. For the vast majority of jobs, especially the admiistratio side of theatre, there is o course you ca go o. Ad what is your ambitio, what s your dream job? I kow exactly what my last job will be, but I do t kow what happes betwee ow ad the. My fial destiatio, my last te or fiftee years as I lead myself merrily ito retiremet, will be as Executive Director of Theatre by the Lake i Keswick. It s pretty specific, I am relyig o people leavig at exactly the right time. I was brought up i the Lake District, so it would be a opportuity for me to go home. It is such a beautiful ad vibrat theatre, ad it does some fatastic drama. The offices overlook the lake ad the moutais, I ca t imagie a better view out of a office widow. That s where I ll ed up. 20 Stages through the Ages Educatio Pack 21 Stages_EduPack.idd 20-21 3/2/11 23:44:59
22 Stages through the Ages Educatio Pack 23 Lori Ford, Assistat to the Productio Maager How did you get to the positio of Assistat to the Productio Maager at the Belgrade? I started i Youth Theatre here at The Belgrade, which I was i for seve years, I left i 1999. I the wet o to College to study Media. I did t wat to do Theatre Studies or Performig Arts because I d realised that whe I was i Youth Theatre, or comig to the ed of Youth Theatre, actig was t for me so I did Media there. I the wet o to uiversity ad did a two year degree i Commuicatio, Culture ad Media because that covered a lot of film productio ad set desig. Oce I had graduated, I thought to myself where would I like to be? It was here (The Belgrade) because it was such a big part of my life whe I was youger ad I just kew that I wated to start my career here. So I came i ad asked if I could do some work experiece i the marketig departmet. I was puttig posters up for free for three weeks ad the they asked if I would like to be paid for it, bearig i mid I had about twety other jobs elsewhere as you do whe you re a studet. So I did a bit of that for a few weeks, ad the I did a few shifts o box office which I really ejoyed. The usherig. I was puttig posters up durig the day ad the workig box office. I was i-betwee the three jobs, ad the a positio became available i the Commuity & Educatio Compay. That was the departmet I was most familiar with ayway because I kew how they worked. Though it had chaged a awful lot sice I was i it. Split the class ito four groups ad give each group a differet iterview to read. Ask the studets, i their groups, to discuss How the perso iterviewed etered ito their career. What advice they would give to others that wish to have a career i the arts. What the iterviewees dreams for the future are. Ask the studets to trasport themselves twety years ito the future ad cosider what they will be doig. Ask the studets to retur to their origial groups. I these groups they are goig do a hot seatig exercise (please see Exercise 3 for a explaatio of hot seatig ). I their groups they must hot seat each pupil. The studets beig hot seated should play themselves i twety years time. The studets should explore their ow dreams ad the routes they may take to achieve them. After they have completed the task, ask ay of the studets if they wish to share their path with the group. Ask the class to offer advice or ecouragemet o the created career paths of their classmates. There was a big shift i the Compay ad they lost their admiistrator. I left marketig, the box office ad usherig behid to move more toward the productio ad admiistratio areas, which I kew I was quite good at ayway. I was the Youth Theatre Coordiator. A full time positio became available i Productio, which I maaged to get ad I have t looked back sice. I started as Productio Assistat, the I became Productio Admiistrator, ad over the last few years I have gaied more experiece ad worked up to Assistat to the Productio Maager. What does Assistat to the Productio Maager do? Essetially there s a awful lot of admi i it. You have to make sure the budgets that are issued are put i the right places, which are i collaboratio with the Maagemet. I the have to make sure that whe the Heads of Departmets are spedig o those budgets, the sped goes ito the correct areas. I have to make sure that they have everythig they eed to do their jobs, whether that is moey or tools. I have to esure that the schedulig is all doe ad that everythig is o time. Ad make sure that the Desigers ad the Creative Teams are satisfied. What s bee the high ad lows of your career so far? I love beig i a tech week (the week where the productio moves from the rehearsal room to the stage), eve just as a assistat it s a great feelig. I have covered the odd productio maagemet shift here ad there. It s really dautig because the Director, the Desiger ad the Creative Team expect so much from you ad you ve got to deliver what they wat. It s scary but it excites me at the same time, ad that s exactly why I do it, I just love makig sure that it all comes together. Ad what is your career ambitio? I would love to be a full Productio Maager. I am very orgaised ad I ca do the admiistratio side. I would like to be more of a hads o Productio Maager- I would like more techical experiece. Simple thigs like goig o riggig courses ad learig backstage stuff, because that s ot the route I took ito Productio Maagemet. May others could have come i i differet ways, beig stage crew, for example, ad workig their way up ad learig the stage trade, which I do t have etirely. I ve picked up a lot of stuff alog the way but I d like to be a Techical Productio Maager. I defiitely wat to stay i a theatre, it s got to be theatre. Although outdoor evets, theatrical outdoor evets, excite me. 22 Stages through the Ages Educatio Pack 23 Stages_EduPack.idd 22-23 3/2/11 23:45:00
24 Stages through the Ages Educatio Pack Stages_EduPack.idd 24-25 Paitig (1) Paitig (3) With kid permissio of The Herbert Art Gallery & Museum, where the paitig ca be viewed. With kid permissio of The Herbert Art Gallery & Museum, where the paitig ca be viewed. Paitig (2) Paitig (4) With kid permissio of The Herbert Art Gallery & Museum, where the paitig ca be viewed. With kid permissio of The Herbert Art Gallery & Museum, where the paitig ca be viewed. 25 25 3/2/11 23:45:11
Paitig (5) With kid permissio of The Herbert Art Gallery & Museum, where the paitig ca be viewed. 27 26 Stages through the Ages Educatio Pack 27 Stages_EduPack.idd 26-27 3/2/11 23:45:15
Belgrade Commuity & Educatio Compay For more iformatio o the projects we work o please cotact o 02476 846 741 or email o commuityadmi@belgrade.co.uk For the Commuity & Educatio Compay Associate Director Geeral Maager Programme Co-ordiator Drama Worker (Actig Out) Drama Worker (BME) Educatio Officer Admiistratio Assistat Justie Theme Jathi Mills Keith Tustill Alice Nicholls Leo Phillips Sam Alliso Kare Nicholso Supported by Belgrade Theatre. Stages_EduPack.idd 28 3/2/11 23:45:20