Drama Project: “Tell Your Story”
Aims of Project
• To offer a drama project
for those aged 50+
• To build drama skills
training
• Offer it to an area of
high deprivation
• Skills build in weekly
workshops to performance
level
• 10 Places offered to Men
and Women
• To explore their own
stories, ideas and
histories: Valuing your
own story and telling it.
• To present these in a
performance
• To share this work on a
wider platform e.g.
performance in local
theatre venue
• No costs to learners
Workers’ Educational Association
Project Development: Reaching our Target Base:
Initially the Learning Age Project offered out a series of different project
ideas to groups and from this the interest in a drama project arose. In
order to achieve the “Tell Your Story” project we offered the idea out
to all our groups and in local media in order to reach those who do not
belong to groups:
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Contacted local groups for older people and held series of community meetings
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Advertised in local papers in both communities for interested groups/individuals
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Posters in local shops, Post Offices, Doctor Surgeries – where older people gather
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Notices in local Church Parish Bulletins – again in both communities
And from this a group of women from one area came forward to participate. Other
women from different areas joined too.
Workers’ Educational Association
Indicators of Initial Success
10 Places taken up immediately
Placed in Top of the Hill in the Waterside (Area of High
Deprivation)
Weekly Workshops progressed well over six months
Ideas began to flow for performance
Confidence and skills were growing (Noted in Workshop Visits by
Development Officer and with Tutor Feedback)
The project became known as “Top
Women”
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The project was presented in several parts:
Skills Build January 2009 – April 2009
Rehearsals April – June 2009
Performance 25th June 2009
• Workshops were run on WEA practice of “negotiated learning
space”. This means that the experience of the learners is taken on
board throughout the project and that the learners help to direct their
own learning with the tutor.
• Tutor was specifically chosen as she had community drama
qualification and experience as well as experience of working with
older people.
• Development Officer made several support visits throughout the
project to support both the learners and the tutor.
• Development Officer acts on any feedback for the group to the tutor
throughout the process.
Workers’ Educational Association
Theatre Visits Built
into Programme
Why?
Helps to inform their
own practice
• Widens their own
view of theatre &
performance
• View other pieces of
theatre in a different
light (comparison to
own work)
• Begin Critical
Analysis of other
work and their own
Top Women Visit “Oh what A Lovely War” @ The Playhouse March 09
Workers’ Educational Association
Final indicators of success Plus + Evaluation
• Performance of “De ye mind?”
• A devised performance piece based on their own stories and
histories.
• A very poignant scene looked at education from their childhood
which was in direct contrast to their educational experience with
WEA.
• Played to a full house.
• Good feedback on performance from audience.
• Publicity of project locally on radio and in papers.
• Performance in studio of main theatre in town: The Millennium
Forum (Reflecting quality of performance and belief in the group)
Workers’ Educational Association
Additional Developments
• Beginning to form as Theatre Company in their own right (See
Additional Developments)
• Group performed again at local festival by invitation without WEA
support
• Took part in recent Spring Chickens Project with Big Telly on the
main stage of Millennium Forum (Major Project across Northern
Ireland)
• Performing at WEA AGM as learner voices platform at their own
request where they will present the school scene and contrast it with
a new scene about their experience with WEA
Workers Educational Association
Delta Evaluation
• No male participation
• Not all performed due to illness but at least had an input
into the actual performance content
• No Protestant involvement in project
• Attracted age 50 to oldest participant – age 68: younger
older rather than a wider range
Workers’ Educational Association
The Future
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Next step is to introduce the two
groups together once Creggan
group is well established
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WEA continuing support for this
year 2009 – 2010 to “Top Women”
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Another feature hopefully will be to
develop an intergenerational
aspect to the drama projects
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Performance planned as part of
our celebratory events next year
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WEA has a similar group in the
Cityside now in Creggan due to
take off on 26th October and will
run until next year hopefully on a
similar basis
Two youth theatre projects the
Tutor Mary Fitzpatrick and Sinead
Devine work with who are both
very interested in establishing a
link with these two older theatre
groups
What makes this project
good practice?
• The project arose from an interest in the
community who wanted to explore community
drama and have their voice heard.
• Older learners were offered a range of ideas to
chose from (with space to suggest their own
ideas) and from this there was an interest in
drama and we decided to offer this as a specific
project to see how it would run.
• It was advertised widely – see slide 2.
What makes this project good
practice?
• Older people have been involved in its creation from the
beginning. The idea for the project arose from our older
learners. They also indicated the direction of the project.
• For example: they did not want to do a scripted project.
For many learning lines was difficult or impossible but as
the performance came from their own words – this was
much easier to remember and act out. It did not have to
be so precise like a scripted work.
• They wanted to write and devise their own work arising
from their own histories and experiences.
• The project has run on the premise of negotiated
learning between the tutor and the learners. The learners
have helped plan, manage and guide the direction of the
project and performance.
What makes this project
good practice?
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The project has been developed through the expertise of the tutor who was
specifically chosen for her community drama background and also as she
had direct experience in working with older people. The WEA Development
Officer also has expertise in community drama and offering drama to older
learners. This was a good support to the group and to the tutor.
The tutor worked with the experience of the learners themselves to help
create the performance.
This project could be adapted or transferred to be used by others whether
locally or regionally or indeed internationally. It has clear simple ideas – you
just need to have a tutor with community drama expertise. Evidence of this
is that we have a second group in Creggan who will begin a similar project
in late October 09 – see slide 10.
The original project is continuing this year – evidence that it can be further
developed and sustained in the long term. The performance will be a
different story but still coming from the learners themselves. Also the group
“Top Women” now see themselves as a community theatre company and
have begun to develop work outside of WEA involvement, further evidence
that it can be further developed and sustained.
Workers’ Educational Association
For Further Information
Contact
Sinead Devine
Development Officer Learning Age Project
Workers’ Educational Association
11b Clarendon Street
Derry.Londonderry BT48 7EP
Tel:028 71 369947
Email: sinead.devine@wea-ni.com