Drama Tuesday - Reflections on international drama education

First World Congress Oporto, Portugal July 1992

In July 2013 during the 8th World Congress on Drama/Theatre and Education in Paris, France, I was elected as President of the IDEA Executive Committee and re-elected in  2017 during the celebration of 25 years of IDEA held at the University of Evora in Portugal. It was fitting that this celebration was held in Portugal because in July 1992, during the First World Drama Education Conference in Porto Portugal, IDEA was founded. I was one of the lucky ones who was in Porto at the founding of IDEA and have been to all 8 of the congresses. As well I have represented Drama Australia at IDEA meetings in Montpellier, Budapest, Bergen,  Belém. 

International Collaboration in 1992

Seven years as IDEA President has been challenging. During that time two planned congresses – Ankara, Turkey (2016/2017) and Beijing, China (2020) – have been cancelled because of civil unrest in Turkey and the Coronavirus COVID-19 Pandemic. 

During my time in this role I have visited many places and had the opportunity to learn more about the wider world of drama education. 

A short video presentation of my report can be found at https://vimeo.com/manage/461230241/general.

My final report to the IDEA General Council can be read at

https://www.ideadrama.org/Documents-for-IDEA-2020-GCM 

I have worked with a dedicated team of volunteers who have spent long hours in ZOOM meetings (before the Pandemic and during) in pursuit of the aims of IDEA. I thank them for their ongoing commitment and voluntary work.

In this post I make some observations about Drama Education from an international perspective.

The world of drama education is wide

There are many different approaches to drama education. Although I have a suspicion that the original proponents of an international drama education association, thought that their vision of drama education would emerge as the dominant model, the congress in Porto quickly established that there is not one way of drama education. 

The full title of IDEA is a clue. The clumsy construction in English  is drama/theatre. If you look to the titleWords and definitions can be slippery. Some words do not have ready translations. One person or country’s drama is in another worldview theatre. In fact, in some places, there is no direct or easy translation of the term drama. 

But it goes deeper than just words and definitions. In the French speaking world, there is the concept of partenariat where drama education is a partnership between classroom teacher and actor/professional/teaching artist and theatre expertise lies with the professional partner. By contrast the model adopted in the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Australia and Canada, for example, is based on a dedicated trained drama teacher. In a similar vein, there are places that assume there will be drama in the school curriculum; there are many places where that is not happening (see discussion below). Drama education is not solely found in school settings. It is in communities, associations, political action and the streets.

In some countries and cultures, local approaches are seen as the only approach. IDEA has had to negotiate a wide definition of drama and theatre education. This is noticeable in the aims of IDEA

There is another aspect of this wide church of drama education: the role of dominant language in sharing and limiting communicating about practice. Often there is exemplary practice happening beyond the world of English. As IDEA has shown there are drama educators in the Scandinavian countries that parallel what has happened in English speaking countries but with a unique identity and flavour. Similarly, the walls of language prevent outstanding practice in Turkey being shared with the wider community. English may be the dominant language of the Internet, but there many languages of drama and we need to recognise and acknowledge this multiplicity.

It is only when you are in-country that you can understand local perspectives. World-views are powerful. Don’t we say that the essence of drama is when we step into someone else’s shoes. Nowhere is that more evident than when we talk about the world of drama education. 

Drama in the Arts

Drama education is an integral part of arts education. The history of arts education, however, has seen drama accepted as part of a wider mandate for arts education. This has been a hard won battle (and continues to be so in many places where the dominant arts education narrative is written by music and visual (fine) arts. Drama education has been the giant knocking at the door (Stinson, O’Toole & Moore. (2009). Drama and Curriculum: the giant at the door. 10.1007/978-1-4020-9370-8). 

The concept of the Arts as a field of curriculum finds voice in writers such as Peter Abbs (1987) in Living Powers The Arts in Education. In the Australian context since the Hobart Declaration on Schooling  (1989) there has a commitment to with The Arts as one of the eight curriculum learning areas model. Drama has had a place at the table when it came to writing the Australian Curriculum: The Arts (ACARA, 2014). Just as the implied mandate of the Arts in schools is not realised in practice in all schools (see, for example discussion in, Ewing, 2020) the place of drama in all Australian schools s not necessarily secured.

The situation beyond Australia is similarly mixed. 

The impact of the pandemic in the united States shows contraction of arts education opportunities. In Greece the government announced that for 2021, the arts would not be offered for senior secondary students. The success stories of the arts and drama in the Welsh curriculum and in Romania are counterbalanced by what is happening in England. 

Drama educators must continue to be the giants knocking at the doors of curriculum demanding to be let in. 

There is a role for IDEA in this world wide claim.

IDEA was a founding member of the World Alliance for Arts Education WAAE  (https://www.waae.online/) and continues to support the work of the alliance drawing together ISME, the International Society for Music Education, InSEA, International Society of Education through Art, and WDA, the World Dance Alliance

IDEA and the wider world of Drama and theatre

A question to ask about drama education and theatre and drama is: why is there a need for IDEA when there are other organisations like ITI/ASSITEJ/etc working in the field with similar objectives? What is distinctive about the mandate of IDEA?

While IDEA has affiliations with ITI the mandate of this United Nations/UNESCO body is  broader than IDEA’s aims. Similarly the focus of ASSITEJ is on theatre makers and making while undoubtedly sharing an interest in young people. 

When IDEA was funded, there was a need for the specific and particular concerns of drama and theatre educators to be heard.

IDEA has long sought to strengthen its ties with UNESCO. Despite the troubled current situation of UNESCO, underfunded since the withdrawal of the USA, there is value in reaching out to the members of UNESCO to further the aims of IDEA. 

Drama Swings and roundabouts

In some places there are good news stories about drama education particularly in schools. There are sad news stories. In Iceland, Drama is included in the primary curriculum – a victory to be celebrated. In Finland, despite a long campaign from FIDEA, the Finish member of IDEA, drama in school has yet to be realised. 

It cannot be said that there is a universal entitlement for all for drama education. The struggle continues.

Some concluding thoughts

Seven years working voluntarily for an international organisation across languages, cultures and locations has been challenging. 

It has been rewarding and sometimes frustrating. There is work is still waiting to be done. There have been some small gains and victories; many disappointments. 

The richness of our professional lives is a reflection of our capacity to belong. Through IDEA (and similar) I have been a member of a guild of drama educators, learning from each other, enriching each other.  

I particularly thank my family for supporting my time in IDEA. Members of my family have accompanied me on the IDEA journey. My son Phillip was with me in Budapest for a General Council Meeting in 1997; my second son, Ben was with me in Kissumu Kenya in 1998 and in Belém, Brazil in 2010; my daughter Hannah was with me in Ottawa, Canada in 2004 and in Hong Kong in 2007. Finally, my wife, Liz, was with me in Frankfurt November 2019 (taking time from her busy career). More importantly, they have supported the travel i have undertaken (I stress, mostly taken at our own expense as funds within IDEA are limited and funding for travel in universities and institutions have long since dried up). As I move to the role of Immediate Past President, I leave with a sense of knowing that I could not have offered or done more. Even though there is always more to do, I pass the mantle to those who follow in the hope that I have contributed to our successes and survival into the future, stronger and more resilient. IDEA 

Bibliography

Abbs, P. (Ed.) (1987). Living Powers: The Arts in Education. London: Falmer Press.

ACARA. (2014). The Australian Curriculum: The Arts. Retrieved from http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/the-arts/introduction

Ewing, R. (2020). The Australian Curriculum: The Arts. A critical opportunity. Curriculum Perspectives, 40, 75-81. doi:https://doi.org/10.1007/s41297-019-00098-w

MCEETYA Ministerial Council on Education Employment Training and Youth Affairs. (1989). The Hobart Declaration on Schooling. Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs Retrieved from http://www.educationcouncil.edu.au/EC-Publications/EC-Publications-archive/EC-The-Hobart-Declaration-on-Schooling-1989.aspx

Seasons Greetings 2020

Stage Page wishes all of our readers a joyous and relaxing Christmas and Holiday season.

As we head towards the end of 2020, we hope that wherever you are, whether in another Covid lockdown, or lucky enough to be free to celebrate with family and friends, that you will find music at the centre of your celebrations.

And we hope against hope that 2021 will see the start of a return to more live music performance across the world and that the livelihoods of our precious musicians and singers will start up again.

We look forward to connecting with you all again in the New Year.

Drama Tuesday - Play and Drama

We are putting on a play! say the excited school students. 

Let’s study the play! says the English Literature teacher. 

Enter HAMLET and Players in Act 3 Scene II of Shakespeare’s Hamlet. And the test for Claudius set by Hamlet lies in the performance of the players. As Hamlet says:

…the play's the thing

Wherein I'll catch the conscience of the King

The https://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/play+a%2Fyour+part says that to play (one's) part is to do what one should and is expected to do within a group in order to achieve a particular result; to perform one's role.

"Play Your Part" is a song by Canadian singer Deborah Cox. 

A “play” is a term in American football. 

Wikipedia says: A play is a work of drama, usually consisting mostly of dialogue between characters and intended for theatrical performance rather than just reading. The writer of a play is a playwright.

In the film business, the shooting script is is called a screen play.

Around the world, there are theatres called the Playhouse

And there are many more references to play. Find and share them. 

There is a clear link between Play, Drama and Theatre. I would argue that drama and theatre are nested porously within the wider filed of activity that is play. 

So much of what we do in drama and theatre calls on our capacity for play, purposeful play. We explore ideas and feelings; we experiment with forms and approaches; we derive pleasure and satisfaction (that old fashioned term: fun).

It is useful to remind ourselves about play. 

Defining play is difficult. It has many definitions, characteristics, types and approaches. 

The dual nature of play is important to understanding drama. Play and drama are both simultaneously part of life and experience and separated from it. There are rules and conventions but also opportunities and unscripted or improvisational moments. Drama and Play are social. They engage our physical, thinking and emotional capacities. 

The connection between play and drama can be powerfully argued. 

The Australian Early Years Framework (ELF) Belonging, Being and Becoming, has a specific emphasis on play-based learning. It builds on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child that recognises children’s right to play. Play-based learning is a context for learning through which children organise and make sense of their social worlds, as they engage actively with people, objects and representations. 

It can be argued that drama is also a powerful learning medium where we make sense and meaning of our world as we experience it actively engaging with people and roles and representations of our experiences. 

In closing I share two images  taken a long time ago when I was in Porto, Portugal, July 1992 for the First World Congress on Drama Education (the founding of IDEA, the International Drama/Theatre and Education Association). On a rare afternoon of walking in the city, down by the dock area, I saw kids playing with old tires. The rubbish on the street of abandoned rubber tyres, had been appropriated by these kids and made into play. Two sticks of wood, the rubber tyre, energy and above all imagination to see the possibilities. This sense of play is exhilarating (in what looked like a low socio-economic setting). What looks like simple object play has the capacity to extend into imagination and role. 

Play is vital for understanding drama and theatre. 

In play we find our capacity for creative improvisation, imagination and exploration of form. 

Let’s play more!

The Australian Early Years Framework (ELF) Belonging, Being and Becoming 

can be found at https://www.education.gov.au/early-years-learning-framework-0 

Music Monday - Changing perspectives on performance

We are all familiar with the standard licensing agreements for school performances that stipulated  no recordings, etc. 

The world of the Coronavirus COVID-119 Pandemic has quickly changed all of that. Music Theatre International has just sent out this message.

What are the new “rules”?

What can and can’t be done?

For example, there is an asterisk about Broadway Junior plays: *(Excludes Disney’s Aladdin JR., Disney’s Aladdin KIDS, Disney’s Frozen JR., Disney’s Frozen KIDS, Disney’s The Lion King JR., Disney’s The Lion King KIDS, and Disney’s Moana JR.

You might check out:

Live Streaming: The Show Can Go on with an Online Audience

Streaming Previously Recorded Performances

It is great to see the licensing agents are responding to the needs of schools performance during the current pandemic. Will this last beyond the current situation?

What are the implications for rehearsing?

What are the questions we now have?

Drama Tuesday - A Process for Planning for Specific Year groups

The diagram included in this post is a route map for planning for a specific year group of students in the Western Australia K-10 Syllabus.

In this syllabus, each of the five Arts subjects – Dance, Drama, Media Arts, Music and Visual Arts –  is organised into two interrelated strands: Making and Responding.

The syllabus also provides

• Year level descriptions

• Content description

• Achievement standards

The planning process needs to take account of strands, year level, content and achievement standards.

Here is a flow chart I designed for my students to help them understand the processes of planning to meet the requirements of the syllabus. 

(Click here to see the flow chart in more detail)

Drama Tuesday - A Code of Ethics for Drama Teachers

All day long as I have been driving through the South-West heading to marking Year 12 Drama Practical Exams, the car radio blasts: Drama teacher on trial for sex offences with her fifteen year old student. Scandal cries the tabloid headlines.

A fuming parent knocks at the door of the drama office, complaining that his daughter has been at rehearsal from 10.00 AM to 10.00 PM on Sunday, even though she is in Year 12. The word passed around the carpark before morning school is outrage.

Restlessly, the cast of seventy in the school musical, wait as the Director rehearses the “star” of the show. Frustrated, the Director turns and blasts the waiting students for chattering: just wait your turn. Whose time is more valuable?

A Principal in a school taps his fingers on his desk waiting for an explanation from the male drama teacher about rehearsing late at night with an all girls class production. 

Another parent rings because she’s heard that in drama class, students are expected to lie on the floor in darkened rooms, being told to clench buttocks in a breathing and relaxation routine. She complains about this “meditation stuff” and calls it a cult.

There are questions raised about the local Saturday morning drama classes seemingly repeating each term the same tired exercises and not progressing kids learning. 

A Youth Theatre Director is using psychodrama techniques and is stunned when one participant discloses an episode of sexual abuse within her family. The Director is not a trained therapist. 

In a Shopping centre Mall, a cutie pie performance by a local drama talent school is taking place with associated stereotypes, over-acting, stage door parents and ego-centric “look at me” teacher.

These are some stories gathered from the field of drama teaching. 

There are many more.

The purpose of this post is to ask these questions rather than answer them. 

I know that it would help me as a drama teacher educator if there was a well-developed and widely known code of ethics for Drama Teachers and Drama teaching. 

It should be:

• Voluntarily accepted by us as a profession (always keeping in mind that there are now legal requirements to be observed)

• Transparent

• Published

• Owned by practitioners

• Endorsed by government agencies, parents, schools, community.

It is also important to acknowledge that there are many drama teachers who establish special but healthy relationships with their students. Drama teaching is relational. It thrives, when well managed, on co-construction of learning, friendships and relationships of trust. The learning in drama builds on participation, negotiation, student-centred learning and collaborative working relationships. With this learning is a need for a moral and practical compass based on clearly stated standards of practice. 

What is in your Drama Teacher code of ethics?

Music Monday: Oklahoma

I’m sitting in the foyer of the State Theatre Centre, excited to see a preview of Oklahoma at Black Swan State Theatre Co.

There is a feeling of excitement and celebration all around me, as friends and strangers alike greet each other, all happy to be back in the theatre after what seems like the longest year. And everyone seems very mindful that most of the world is still unable to go to the theatre, so many theatres worldwide are still dark and desolate at this time.

Interval. There is energy, vibrancy and some fabulous singing in this reimagining of Oklahoma. The production seems to have taken inspiration from the now famous Circle in the Square production in New York. Except that this reimagining has Curly and Laurie as two girls and Aunt Eller played quite gender neutral. But no lines have been changed, so Curly is still referred to as ‘he’. It is slightly confusing- or perhaps deliberately unsettling. Or maybe they simply couldn’t get the rights to alter the words.

The star of the show for me is the music arranging. The songs are the same but the orchestration is in bluegrass style. It’s very appealing and appropriate. Jud Fry’s “Lonely Room” which always feels completely different from any other song in the show, is wonderful in this arrangement. The tension is heightened by the orchestration, and further by the actor singing from offstage with video projections into the smokehouse.

End of show. As we left the theatre, the famous mock courtroom scene carried extra resonance in the current American political climate.

This show is really worth seeing. Nine actors cover all the roles and ensemble with some backup vocals from the band. You will love it - or perhaps, long for the original version- but you won’t be unaffected by it.

Drama Tuesday - Participating in Drama in virtual space

Ihave been preparing a recorded presentation for IDEC in Beijing China. The presentations focus on Building Confidence in Drama Teaching and on Progression in Drama. As part of this preparation there is a Question and Answer section and I share part of a really interesting question: 

问题：戏剧是在虚拟的情景进行体验。但有时幼儿对虚拟的场景感到害怕或不愿意参与。比如，教师构建了一个在森林里的场景，但是，个别幼儿表示不愿意去森林探险。这个时候，是否应该允许幼儿进行旁观？或者进行引导？

Question: Drama is experienced in a virtual situation.But sometimes young children are afraid or unwilling to participate in the virtual scene.For example, the teacher constructed a scene in the forest, but some children expressed their reluctance to explore the forest. At this time, should teachers allow children to be an onlooker? Or teachers should do some guidance?

To answer this question I started by thinking about participation in drama.

What is participation in drama learning and teaching – either in the virtual classroom or in the shared physical space of the drama workshop. 

In drama teaching we design our learning activities so that there are opportunities for students to participate physically, cognitively, socially and emotionally. 

By this we mean that students are actively using their physical bodies. They move through space and time. They interact with each other. They use their voices. They use their muscles and limbs and move with a sense of weight, time, space and energy (Laban).

They use their minds and thinking in collaboration with their physical selves. They explore ideas, express and communicate with words, thoughts, images and imagination. 

They interact socially – having a sense of themselves and their personal identity that is shared with others in developing social and cultural identity. 

They engage with their emotions, recognising their capacity to experience and share feelings. 

In drama we want students to be doing, thinking and feeling. 

As teachers we will encourage participation at all these levels and help students understand what we are looking for from them. 

What is the application of these ideas of participation in  the virtual drama classroom?

Learning drama in the changed world means that we are all coming to terms with teaching and learning drama in the virtual world. 

We need better research to guide us. But here are some starting thoughts about 

diagnosing the issue of participation in drama with the student in the virtual space. 

To understand the issue, let us ask ourselves some questions:

• In the virtual classroom, what screen is the student looking at – an iPhone or similar? A laptop? A TV screen?

• How much space is there for moving and participating?

• Who else is in the space with the child? Is she on her own? Other there others who are watching? Is there someone like a caring parent or other who is supporting and encouraging them?

• What is the time of day? Is this part of a routine of on-line teaching or a one-off session?

• What other experiences has the child had of online learning?

• Are they confident communicators?

• What is the child’s age and stage of development?

The reason I ask these questions is because the context matters. We need to diagnose what the underlying issue is.

• Is this a drama learning issue?

• Or a general learning issue?

• Or is this a technology issue?

Some students will respond well in the on-line environment and others will find it difficult. It may be that their language competence and confidence is not yet ready for the online learning situation where their voices and images will be mediated and shared. It may be  that their technology access or confidence is limited. We need to look at the student’s situation to understand the problem.

The first thing that we must do as drama teachers in the virtual classroom is to talk individually with each child and ask them for their answers to why they are reluctant about participating. To have that conversation we need to build rapport with the individual child.

For example, 

• What is the image of us as teacher that the student has – how do we fill the frame of the screen? Are we close to the camera and look directly at them on the screen?

• How are we using our voice? Are we quiet and close or are we using our teacher voice when we have a classroom of students?

• Have we adjusted our pace of speaking? Our tone? Our vocal dynamics?

• Do we listen when the students respond?

• To work in the virtual drama classroom (or any drama class) students need to have clearly explained expectations. We call this the drama contract.

We need to establish with these students in the virtual space our drama contract. Students in the virtual classroom need to know some basic information about drama learning. As teachers we need to explain and students need to understand that: drama is practical and embodied learning. We need to explain to all our students that while we know that students have different ways of showing their learning, in this class you need to show your participation by doing, thinking and sharing your feelings. 

In practical terms, it may be that we need to show reluctant students what we are hoping they will do in the drama lesson. We could show them video clips of students in drama and explain to them what the students in the video clip are doing.  

As with all teaching, we need to plan with a sense of progression – of planning activities in drama that match the age and stage of development of the children in our class. 

Teaching drama is a complex skill and these are some of the things we consider as we plan our drama teaching.

Bibliography

Goksel, E. (2018). Exploring Drama in Education. An Interview with Professor Jonothan Neelands. ETAS Journal, 35(2 Spring), 13. 

Neelands, J. (1984). Making sense of drama : a guide to classroom practice. In (pp. 24-32). London Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann Educational Books published in association with 2D Magazine.

Drama Thursday - Space as an Element of Drama in changing times

In a year when we are thinking about Coronavirus COVID-19 Pandemic, we have become conscious of social distancing and of teaching in virtual space. Audiences are not yet able to be in the same physical space of theatres. Classrooms have been shut down or moved on line. Yet we still think of space as one of the Elements of Drama. For example, the Australian Curriculum the Arts (ACARA) includes Space and Time in the elements of Drama:

The elements of drama work dynamically together to create and focus dramatic action and dramatic meaning. Drama is conceived, organised, and shaped by aspects of and combinations of role, character and relationships, situation, voice and movement, space and time, focus, tension, language, ideas and dramatic meaning, mood and atmosphere and symbol.

https://australiancurriculum.edu.au/f-10-curriculum/the-arts/drama/structure/ 

But, trying to pin down how we use the term space in drama can be tricky. At one level, it’s obvious that when we talk about space we mean the physical immersions of areas in which we work, the height, width, depth within which we move. This is physical space in which drama happens. 

Within this physical performance space we can make choices about how we use space to create dramatic action and show relationships between characters. 

In this scene from a drama performance in Nanjing, November 2020, students show the action of a group of soldiers, tied together in a forest during the Sino-Japanese War. The action of being physically and symbolically tied together amplifies the relationships between the individual soldiers.

You can see how this is developed in the video of the unfolding dramatic action.

This is embodied space – using our bodies to show space. 

In drama we can also show social space between characters to tell the story. Placing actors close to each other, or far apart can provide audiences with ways of reading the social relationships. (the term used is proxemics)

We can also talk about emotional space between  characters. When characters are intensely involved with each other sharing dependency and status – who has high status and importance and who is subservient. 

In this example also from students in China, the relative heights of the actors, and the eyeliner focus of the actors, tells us as audience about the interconnections between these characters. 

Space is also a factor in movement. Laban identified that movement is a combination of Weight, Space, Time and Energy in movement. How we move through space shows character and dramatic action. In the video example from Nanjing, the struggle of the actors is shown how they are constrained in this moment in the story. In drama actors are able to move through space, directly or indirectly; quickly or slowly; with increasing or decreasing tempo; they can be still in the space. There can be contrast between how characters move through space to show the differences between them – an aged or older character moving more slowly, with effort and deliberation contrasted with a younger character moving with freedom and flow. 

One aspect of being in lockdown COVID-19 spaces of learning is how we include and explore the element of space in our lessons. 

How do we think about space in drama in our changed worlds?

It is one thing to talk or write about space but that is not the same as experiencing the use of space in drama. Drama learning must be physical and practical and embodied. Our challenge in these times is to make space the focus of the student learning.

  Bibliography

Laban, R. (1980). The Mastery of Movement. 4th edition revised and enlarged by L. Ullmann. London, MacDonald and Evans.

Pascoe, R. and H. Pascoe (2014). Drama and Theatre: Key Terms and Concepts (3rd Ed.). Perth, Western Australia, StagePage.

Drama Thursday - Restoring beauty and interest in things that have been neglected

 The buzz of anticipation in a theatre audience is palpable. 

I am sitting in the Octagon Theatre on the campus of the University of Western Australia. It’s the first time i have been in a theatre since March. We have been through the long Winter drought of theatre as our society has grappled with the Coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic. I am here because Black Swan State Theatre Company is launching its 2021 season. 

Always hopeful to hear the new season, particularly after the year of no theatre that we have in this plague year. And the program from Black Swan looks interesting:

• a localised Cherry Orchard set in Manjimup and playing in and around the remnants of the Sunset Home on the banks of the Swan River; act 2 in the dying embers of sunset in summer.

• a new production about the relationships between Australian colonial settlement and indigenous people. York.

• a pick up from a Blue Room production.

• a year long quest to find the Shakespeare play that will conclude the season; Black Swan audiences asked to vote on which of the plays of Shakespeare will be performed. The director is named but everything else – actors, creatives – are up in the air.

• a celebration of 30 years of Black Swan as a company that was born out of the success of Bran New Day.

There’s much to look forward to. The Artistic Director, Clare Watson outlined the exciting season of productions for 2021 (not forgetting the Oklahoma production that will be what is left of the 2020 season that was pandemic struck). Revisiting the founding vision of the Company and an embedding of local stories and indigenous spirit.

But, in particular, I was struck by the words of Rick Heath, appointed as Executive Director just eight months ago and immediately before the pandemic shutdown. Describing himself as a pragmatic idealist and that “extraordinariness is for everyone if you choose to lean into it” Rick explored how “logic makes you think; emotion makes you act”.  

We are living in a time when our emotions are important. They are critical to our ell-being, our families and our neighbours, our lovers and relationships, our businesses and communities. Proust said that art is a mechanism that can restore beauty and interest in things that have been neglected – unfairly neglect. He also said that we can learn arts great lessons – to re-examine our relationship with the world

Rick went on to observe that theatre is a service industry – plumbers in better suits. He explored the idea that as curators of theatre we remember that that curators are “ones responsible for the care of souls”. and he moved towards his conclusion reminding us that the measure of success for a theatre company is twofold. Is what the company does great art? And how has the company shaped the circumstances put in place to make that art great?

Of course, the focus of any theatre company is not on any one person, let alone the executive director. But I found it refreshing that any executive director could and would share and shape thoughts in this way.

Looking forward to the year after a plague year. Looking forward to restoring beauty and interest in things that have been neglected. 

You can check out the whole launch as well as what Rick and Claire had say at the live stream of the event: https://www.facebook.com/watch/live/?v=413042723397048&ref=watch_permalink