From 2013-16 I designed and taught this year-long unit for first-year Theatre majors. The class is designed to establish a working ethos for the overall course, establishing a common working language that will be the foundation for their three years of study. Through a term-long devising process, where newspaper headlines are the initial stimulus from which to generate themes of interest, a new play is developed as characters, settings and plotlines manifest.

JOURNEY TO CHRYSALIS

Winter 2013

In 2013, the ensemble (class of ’15) engaged the Bedford Health and Well-being Centre to devise a piece that, at the centre’s request, would address issues around self-harm. A series of workshops at the clinic, interviews with staff, and independent research, led to the collage play, JOURNEY TO CHRYSALIS, which was adapted for a tour across three different perfornance spaces, including the lobby of the well-being centre.

71013

Autumn 2013

In 2013-14, the ensemble (class of ’16) produced two new works. The first, ‘71013’ was devised from newspaper headlines from their first day of class. Based on actual news stories, the play is set in a primary school, where an unlikely pair take a journey through the news.

RUTHERFORD’S OPENING NIGHT

Winter 2014

The second piece emerged from a collaboration with the local Mark Rutherford School where a series of theatre workshops with the students, identified a set of stimuli to create a show that would be created and performed especially for them. The students requests for a suspenseful murder mystery, set in a nightclub, led to the Rashomon-style, MARK RUTHERFORD OPENING NIGHT, which was performed in the round.

QUARANTINE BLOCK D1.01

Autumn  2014

In 2014-15, the ensemble (class of ’17) produced QUARANTINE BLOCK D1.01, devised from headlines and borrowing structure from Peter Weiss’ MARAT/SADE, the audience is situated as inspectors, observing a cast of characters who have been plagued by the illnesses of The Internet.

IMBROGLIO,

Or 100 Momentz of Beauty

Winter  2015

In 2015-2016, we produced IMBROGLIO, which took the form of a farce, having emerged from student interests in mishaps and misunderstandings around the news reportage. The framework of the production situated the audience and characters in a SIMS-like world, with an 8-bit aesthetic, which was achieved through an in-depth collaboration with technical staff member, Jamie Spirito, who helped the students achieve the desired aesthetic through lighting and projection design.