IMPLEMENTATION

 

The decision to base the production of the actual play at Glan Ely high school had to be reassessed in the light of pressures on the school caused by extensive building work. It became clear that the dedicated workspace needed to further the progress of the project was not going to be available in time to produce the play for the Ely festival. In consultation with John Winslade of Ely Community Education it was decided to approach Glyn Derw high school to see if they were able to accommodate the project.

Fortunately they were delighted to get further involved so this section of the report deals primarily with the implementation of the project once it had moved to its new base in Glyn Derw high school. Owing to time constraints, some aspects of the project had to be carried out at Small World Theatre’s base in West Wales. Preparation of a large proportion of the set, props and puppets happened at weekends which extended the planned schedule of work days well beyond those budgeted for.

Most of the set (2 beds and 3 hospital screens) was donated by Ely Hospital, a fourth screen came from the Community Education Centre. Costume was donated by the divisional laundry unit at Lansdowne hospital, the local play resource centre in Ely was the source of a great many re-cycled materials. Some administration tasks were carried out at the Trelai Library office of Ely Community Education with the assistance of John Winslade, Gloria Yates and Pat Rogers. Co-ordinating meetings also took place there.

Re-establishing contact with the headmaster of Glyn Derw High school, Mr. Dewi Jones was made easier by his welcoming nature and his understanding of the situation. The term left to complete the project was also the one in which G.C.S.E. and other exams took place along with events like sports day, school trips etc. so progress of the work was not without its problems.

As a re-introduction to the project it was decided to perform a show from the company’s repertoire called MOVING!, a story of two refugee children. This was a chance for the pupils and staff to see many types of puppetry, mixed with acting and musical sound track. The whole school could not fit in the hall and organising more than one show was going to be hard to timetable so it was year seven that was selected to see the performance.

The show was an exciting stimulus and many of that year group came to the lunch time and after school sessions. A choice of rooms were made available and it was now possible for the project to proceed. It was not practical to link the puppetry, story writing, drama and social issues directly into the curriculum so late in the school year so working with groups in class periods was not an option. Participation in the project was voluntary and outside school time. This was no problem as more than enough people turned up at the sessions to create the play and the puppets.

Firstly an enormous poster was made with collage, drawn images and text. This took 3 sessions and was displayed in the school hall acting as an advertisement for others to join in. Liaising with teaching, administration and support staff was straight forward and occasional visits to the staff room were made to talk to staff about the aims and requirements of the project and to enlist support. This special effort was needed as the puppeteers operated during breaks and after school so meetings with staff did not happen naturally. Despite this a good relationship built up between the school and the project.

Finally, having a dedicated space to work in and a large group of enthusiastic participants the project was able to move quickly forward. Shadow puppet making, drama improvisation and story devising sessions rapidly took off.

Bringing the two generations together was going to have to wait until the project had an established presence in the school. Ann and Bill introduced the project to all the year groups during early morning assemblies in a effort to recruit older children. Unfortunately year 11 was involved in G.C.S.E.’s and year 10 were about to go out on 2 weeks work experience.

The hospital screens show the shadow puppets when backlit

Integrating different school year groups into the making, planning and drama workshop sessions was almost an inter-generational project in itself. The year groups were not used to working together so initially they were wary of working with younger students. By the rehearsal stage however they were a cohesive group.

Seeing is believing, and the children seemed to find that descriptions of the set design or projected scenes with specific, and as yet, unmade puppets hard to take on board as abstract ideas. This did not just hinge on an inability to think abstractly but more from a feeling of having been promised things in the past that failed to materialise. Consequently when the hospital beds arrived painted and adapted with covered mattresses the belief in the play actually getting completed rose and the process started to be more focused. As this coincided with some of the devised script being ready for rehearsal it seemed to be an ideal opportunity for the two groups, old and young, to meet.

Gloria Yates and John Winslade brought ten of the Healthy, Wealthy and Wise group and a reporter from the local paper to the school. They were introduced to the children who were now able to share the work in progress and be confident enough to be open to criticism and suggestions from prospective new members of the group. It was a very special moment for everyone. Although it had been talked about from the outset the Glyn Derw students had not taken on board that these older people were actually going to come in to school and work with them.

The discussion after the demonstration made it clear that the older people had strong ideas about the performance and that they had had prior involvement in the process. Four older potential performers put themselves forward, Shelagh Eckett, Sid Sellers, Les and Doreen Bowring. June Davies offered to write a poem as an ending to the play and Ken Hill offered technical assistance. Others offered to make costumes and find props. There was a very positive feeling throughout that first meeting. Once the generations started to work together behaviour, commitment and concentration levels improved noticeably .

From here on in the pace was frantic and Bill and Ann had to work at home to keep pace with script updates and finishing off the set and puppetry aspects of the project. The actors were settling in to their parts but they were still 'glued' to the sheets of paper with their lines on. It was an anxious period. The group dynamic evolved into a tight unit as the deadline for performance loomed and the level of commitment to the project was remarkable. Even though there were a couple of parts still to fill, restrictions on more people joining the group at this late stage were put in place. There was one part in the play that had yet to be cast .It was time to have a selective recruiting drive. The part of the father, once filled, meant that rehearsals could, in theory, be taking place with all the participants. However, dentist appointments, the main young character being suspended from school and others getting detention or having to compete in the sports day meant that the first time the full cast were assembled was for the first performance of the show.

Teachers were very understanding and would allow the performers to miss last period lessons to rehearse as the deadline approached. This also meant that some pupils tried to latch on to the project for a free lesson but they were unsuccessful as by this time it was very obvious who was really committed to the play.

The play was devised by the participants who revised and updated the script as the rehearsals progressed. The title of the play 'Act your age' was not an important element in defining the group neither was the name 'Old enough to know better' as the name for the group. The project gained it’s definition from the process and the commitment of all the participants.

 

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