Birmingham Repertory
Birmingham Repertory Theatre are working in partnership with The Open Theatre Company to facilitate non-verbal physical theatre sessions in special schools across the midlands.
The Open Theatre Company has developed a theatre methodology over a period of 20 years of working with adults and young people with learning disabilities within a range of settings including special schools, community groups and youth theatres.
This theatre practice grew out of the company’s creative work with The Shysters Theatre Company (1997-2011), a pioneering company of actors with learning disabilities run by The Open Theatre Company.
The sessions in Meadows School are fun and engaging – bringing out and exploring those hidden abilities for improvising and performing – exploring all kinds of interesting and amusing situations and characters. We don’t work with scripts but we create our own stories and tales using music and colourful props. The key elements of this methodology are as follows:
· It is essentially interactive, non-verbal, and physical and is drawn from a range of international theatre practices
· It uses music as the basis for a devising process, instead of script, to support the development of character, situation, narrative and emotion
· It places the creativity of people with learning disabilities at the heart of the process
· It trains young people with learning disabilities as performers to professional standards
· It creates performance work on the borderlines of theatre, dance and mime
· It develops a range of communication and interaction skills beyond words
· It has significant impact on children and young people’s learning within the school curriculum
· It supports the development of the skills, abilities and qualities that these young people need to survive and thrive as they make the transition into adulthood
If you have any questions please email Melissa on the email address below.
Melissa Daly Email melissa.daly@birmingham-rep.co.uk
