Drama Project: “Tell Your Story”

1. 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 Drama Project: “Tell Your Story”

2. 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: • Contacted local groups for older people and held series of community meetings • Advertised in local papers in both communities for interested groups/individuals • Posters in local shops, Post Offices, Doctor Surgeries – where older people gather • 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.

3. 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)

4. The project became known as “Top Women” • 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.

5. 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 Workers’ Educational Association

6. Top Women Visit “Oh what A Lovely War” @ The Playhouse March 09

7. 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)

8. 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

9. 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

10. The Future WEA continuing support for this year 2009 – 2010 to “Top Women” Performance planned as part of our celebratory events next year 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 Next step is to introduce the two groups together once Creggan group is well established Another feature hopefully will be to develop an intergenerational aspect to the drama projects 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 Workers’ Educational Association

11. 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.

12. 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.

13. What makes this project good practice? • 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.

14. 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