London 3 TAPS Perspectives 2023

LONDON 3 TAPS PERSPECTIVES

LONDON 3 TAPS PERSPECTIVES Helen Abbott - ISTA Rep Helen Abbott studied a BA in Acting at Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and an MA in Shakespeare and Theatre and is now a theatre director and practitioner. Helen was the 2017 recipient of the John Fernald Award and, in 2018, co-founded the theatre company Light Bulbs in Soil.

Recent work includes: Hope Valley Hotel & Spa with Separate Doors (Guest Director); Persuasion at the Rose Theatre, Alexandra Palace and Oxford Playhouse (Associate Director); ISTA’s Digital Global Production 2020 Vision (Movement Director) nominated for an Outstanding Drama Initiative award; Digital Theatre Project Home (Artistic Director); Alone Together Alone (Light Bulbs in Soil).

Helen also works as an artist and Artistic Director for various ISTA projects and regularly works with International Schools around the world as an Artist in Residence. As the editor of Scene she is responsible for curating a wide and diverse range of articles from a broad collection of authors including teachers, academics, industry professionals, education specialists, artists and young people.

AN INTRODUCTION TO PLAYFUL ACTIVISM Collaboratively creating original theatre Workshop leader: Toby Peach About the company Coney is powered by a collective of makers who specialise in creating interactive theatre, games and adventures that invite people to take a meaningful part. Our mission is to spark change through the power of play, always guided by the principles of adventure, curiosity, loveliness and a touch of magic. Our work knows no bounds, taking place in theatres, schools, museums, on the streets and online. We believe in a world where ordinary people can do extraordinary things and this belief drives everything we do.

Collaboration and dialogue lie at the heart of work as we engage with audiences, partners and a diverse network of makers. Think of us a theatre building without walls; our teams come from a wide network spanning across the country and beyond, utilising everyday technology to connect people wherever they may be.

LONDON 3 TAPS PERSPECTIVES Biography Toby Peach is the associate director of Young People & Families at BAFTA award-winning, innovative theatre makers, Coney. Coney makes interactive theatre, games and adventures where people can choose to take a meaningful part. Toby works regularly with Coney’s resident group of young makers, the Young Coneys and has developed a Playful Activism programme over the past few years, exploring the passions of young people and giving them the tools to spark change through play. He has made interactive adventures for young people across the United Kingdom, from National Trust grounds, inside Alexandra Palace to arriving in mysterious boxes in schools.

IB DIPLOMA PERSPECTIVES Workshop leader: Moira Arthurs

Biography Moira's early career was in Britain, as a director at the Oxford School of Drama, directing Peter Moffat’s Katherine and Youth Theatre Director for the Royal Court, London. Moira continued her career in Hong Kong teaching at Sha Tin College and then at Edith Cowan University in Western Australia. Moira's passion is directing and she loves working with constraints – whatever the space, budget, size of cast Moira will make something happen!

Workshop overview This session will assist participants in framing their TaPS Perspectives experience so it relates to their DP Theatre course, their development as artists and as learners.

Participants will Reflect on their workshop experiences in relation to the IB DP theatre course Make connections between workshops and the IB DP theatre course Contextualise their workshop experiences in relation to the IB DP theatre course Consider their development as artists and learners to inform their learning in the IB DP theatre course

LONDON 3 TAPS PERSPECTIVES EYES FULL OF FUN: THE WORK AND GAMES OF PHILIPPE GAULIER Performing Theatre Theory Workshop leader: Amy Gwilliam

Biography Amy is a theatre maker and facilitator based in London. Passionate about what it means to be a creative and ludicrous human, she trained in Theatre at Ecole Philippe Gaulier from 2008-2010 where she began many international collaborations and her first theatre company, Teatro Entre Escombros.

With her natural attraction towards clown, satire and projects which seek to disrupt the status quo, her shows include Frankie Foxstone a.k.a. The Profit, MUMMY and the upcoming Prego (You’re Welcome). As dramaturg she has recently worked with Britt Plummer, Lena Natus and Myra Eetergenik, Eloina Haines and Steve Wilson. She is a member of Clowns Without Borders.

Amy teaches improvisation, devising, clown, comedy and interactive and site specific theatre. She has worked extensively with theatre training organisations and schools in London and in 2019, founded The School of Dramatic Unlearning. TSODU is an alternative training space for creative audacity, joyous disruption and wonder.

Workshop overview In this workshop we will be exploring the work and play of the notorious Philippe Gaulier, one of the world’s most famous Theatre teachers alive today. The session will be rooted in a practical exploration of Philippe’s most enduring lesson, Le Jeu (or ‘The Game’), which he believes is at ‘the source of everything’. Participants will be encouraged to revel in play, in fun and in complicity with fellow performers. They will be introduced to exercises and play games which excavate and illuminate their inimitable beauty and pleasure and how to give something very special of themselves to the stage and their audiences (with ‘eyes full of fun’).

LONDON 3 TAPS PERSPECTIVES WORKING WITH PLAY TEXT Staging Play Texts Workshop leader: Laura Ford About the company Fifth Word is an award winning theatre company based in the East Midlands, founded in 2007. We develop and produce vital new plays that change how people see the world. We make work with and for younger audiences (age 14-25) and underserved communities, uncovering stories that need to be told.

Our shows tour across the United Kingdom. Always powerful, bold and accessible, they amplify stories of those who often go unheard. We collaborate with a range of communities who do not always see the arts as for them, empowering them to tell their stories through artistic means. Our community projects connect closely with our productions; everything we do is driven by the desire to foster creative ambition, develop new talent and platform underrepresented voices.

We are passionate about contributing to a strong new writing culture in the Midlands, helping to discover and develop the next generation of talented playwrights. We produce plays by the most exciting playwrights of the moment, both from the Midlands and from across the UK. We develop a thoughtful, rigorous and bespoke process with each writer ensuring these stories reach the stage in their full power.

‘Winning the Writers’ Guild Olwen Wymark Encouragement Award for developing new writing gave Fifth Word national recognition. Its nurturing of this play is exemplary.”

The Stage

Biography Laura is artistic director of Fifth Word and co-founded the company. She is an experienced, award winning theatre director. The plays she has commissioned and directed have gained major industry awards and national recognition. As well as developing and directing new writing, Laura has worked extensively in community and education settings, working with a wide range of community partners and schools to conceive and deliver youth and community projects.

Directing credits for Fifth Word include LAVA by James Fritz (Nottingham Playhouse/Soho Theatre), All the Little Lights by Jane Upton (Nottingham Playhouse), Bones by Jane Upton (Edinburgh Festival Fringe/Tristan Bates Theatre/UK tour).

LONDON 3 TAPS PERSPECTIVES Laura has previously been a guest lecturer at the University of Derby and Buckinghamshire New University for performing arts courses and PGCE students.

Workshop overview In our workshop we will explore practical tools to better understand a play text and ways we can interpret this text for the stage.

Key areas we’ll explore include: Identifying the key ideas in the story Understanding/interpreting the text Staging moments Visioning the play for production

COMMEDIA DELL’ARTE FOR CONTEMPORARY PERFORMANCE Exploring world theatre traditions and Teacher/chaperone specialist workshop Workshop leader: Chiara D’Anna About the company Panta Rei Theatre (‘everything flows’) was founded by award winning director and performer Chiara D’Anna in 2011 as a collective of artists. Collaborations vary from project to project.

Our work includes stage productions, adaptations of classic texts, new writing, combined arts performances, site specific projects, devised theatre and Commedia dell'Arte shows. Panta Rei Theatre offers Devising, Physical Theatre and Commedia dell’Arte workshops for adults and young people often in collaboration with universities and drama schools. We work with high school and university students worldwide.

Our mission is to inspire, challenge and entertain our audiences with irony and humour. Our trademark is our mix of genres and styles; Panta Rei Theatre’s unique multilingual surreal tragicomedy.

LONDON 3 TAPS PERSPECTIVES Biography Chiara D’Anna is an award winning actress, director, Physical Theatre specialist and one of the leading Commedia dell’Arte practitioners in the United Kingdom. She is associate lecturer at RADA, East15 Acting School and Goldsmiths University in London; and the Accademia dell’Arte in Arezzo, Italy.

As artistic director at Panta Rei Theatre her mission is to inspire, challenge and entertain audiences with humour, irony and powerful imagery; combining her expertise in movement, Commedia and popular theatre. Chiara has written and directed numerous productions including adaptations of plays and novels, multimedia performances and site specific immersive work. Her solo show Don’t You Dare! , on tour since 2018, won multiple awards at the Città di Chivasso International Theatre Festival, 2019.

Chiara has also made a name for herself in the film industry, collaborating with director Peter Strickland in films such as Berberian Sound Studio and The Duke of Burgundy. Her most recent credits include The Unloved Ones, A Dice with Five Sides and Midnight Peepshow.

Workshop overview In this workshop, we will be exploring Commedia dell’Arte archetypes and mask techniques. It will be a practical session working with Commedia leather masks.

Participants will be introduced to: Improvisation Audience Interaction Physical Approaches to Characterization Grotesque and Absurd comedy Physical Storytelling We will focus on how to communicate through the body integrating mask techniques and slapstick comedy.

LONDON 3 TAPS PERSPECTIVES

THEATRE PYGMALION THE OLD VIC

‘I’ve a right to be here if I like. Same as you’ Eliza Doolittle aspires to more than selling flowers on the streets of Covent Garden.

After a chance meeting with Professor Henry Higgins and Colonel Pickering, she finds herself the subject of a rash bet to pass her off as a lady amongst the great and the good of London society. Olivier Award-winner Richard Jones (Endgame, The Hairy Ape) directs the Olivier Award-winning duo of Bertie Carvel (The 47th, The Crown) and Patsy Ferran (Camp Siegfried, A Streetcar Named Desire) in George Bernard Shaw’s explosively funny, biting and subversive satire on class, as the ruthless linguist Higgins attempts to transform the brilliantly irrepressible Eliza – who breaks the mould he creates for her.

THE EMPRESS ROYAL SHAKESPEARE COMPANY It is 1887, the year Queen Victoria celebrates her Golden Jubilee.

Sixteen year old Rani Das, ayah (nursemaid) to an English family arrives at Tilbury docks after a long voyage from India, to start a new life in Britain. On the boat, Rani befriends a lascar (sailor), an Indian politician and a royal servant destined to serve the Queen.

Full of hopes and dreams of what lies ahead, they each embark on an extraordinary journey. Will their expectations come true or will they have to forge a different path in their new country? Spanning 13 years over the ‘Golden Era’ of Empire, this story blends the experiences of Indian ayahs and lascars who worked on the ships carrying trade goods, alongside the first Indian politician to be elected as a Member of Parliament. This epic story reveals how socially diverse the Asian presence was in nineteenth century Britain. Transferring directly from the Swan Theatre in Stratfordupon-Avon and directed by Pooja Ghai, Artistic Director of Tamasha, this new production of The Empress will take you from the rugged gangways of Tilbury docks to the grandeur of Queen Victoria’s Palace, whilst unveiling the long and embedded culture of British Asian history.