Youth Theatre

Drama for Life

Michael Richardson

• Publisher: Taylor & Francis
• Year: 2015
• Print ISBN: 9781138841024
• eBook ISBN: 9781317555230
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Literature
• Subtopic: Drama
• Index: Literature

Youth Theatre: Drama for Life defines the youth theatre process, by outlining its constituent parts and explaining how these activities work in order to support young people's development. As well as describing what is done in youth theatre, it also explores why it's done and how to ensure the best possible outcomes.

The book is in four parts:

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• Part 1 explores the nature and purpose of youth theatre, drawing on Michael Richardson's extensive personal experience as a practitioner and manager.

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• Part 2 explains, in detail, the youth theatre process: warming up, playing games, voice work, developing skills, devising and the presentation of devised work.

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• Part 3 discusses how to create an appropriate environment within which the youth theatre process can be most effectively applied.

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• Part 4 covers the most common applications of the youth theatre process, namely using it in different education environments; and youth theatre productions and performance.

On top of this, two appendices give a list of over 60 games that are useful to use in youth theatre; and a list of recommended further reading that supports this book.

As well as giving key tips and advice from his own invaluable experience, Richardson offers comments from practitioners and participants on what makes a successful youth theatre experience.

Michael Richardson has worked in youth theatre for over 20 years, has been involved in the training of other practitioners, and in the strategic development of the youth theatre sector in the UK.

Part I

Youth theatre, its nature and purpose

Chapter 1

What is youth theatre?

Youth theatre gave me confidence, charisma, friends and the best days of my life so far. I learned skills both in teamwork and in drama. I have had experiences that I would never have had without youth theatre, like travelling and being on stage. Youth theatre is not a school or a college or anything like this, it is a friendly environment whereby you can learn but also have fun.

William, former youth theatre participant

In March 2003, the National Association of Youth Theatres (NAYT), the flagship youth theatre development agency for England, published a report that it had commissioned from the Centre for Applied Theatre Research (CATR) at the University of Manchester. The report, Playing a Part, was a study of the impact of youth theatre on the personal, social and political development of young people, and defined youth theatre as follows:

‘Youth theatre’ is a broad term used to describe a wide variety of organisations engaging young people in theatre related activities. Youth theatre takes place outside of formal education, is facilitated by adults (to greater and lesser degrees) and is based on the voluntary participation of young people. Youth theatre has wide-ranging beneficial impacts upon young people, positively contributing to transitions from childhood to adulthood.

The report as a whole tends to define youth theatre in terms of a process that is significant in contributing to the development of young people. Indeed NAYT still (in 2014) has a vision statement that reflects the view that this is the primary function of youth theatre:

To empower and develop young people through participation in excellent youth theatre.

Furthermore, Youth Theatre Arts Scotland, the youth theatre development agency for Scotland, included the following description of youth theatre within its aims and objectives at its incorporation in 2004:

By youth theatre we mean all not for profit organisations and individuals engaging young people, who are participating voluntarily in drama activities in any setting outside of formal education.

We recognise youth theatre as a unique form of theatre practice which:

• engages children and young people as active participants in the creative process;

• engages children and young people as active participants in the creative process;

• encourages the development of the whole person through the use of theatre techniques;

• views process and product as equal and mutually beneficial.

As well as the reference to the developmental role of youth theatre, the last clause here also introduces the idea that the quality of the theatrical product is as important as the process that leads to its creation. This is a crucial statement. In Scotland, indeed in the UK as a whole, the ‘process or product’ debate continues to haunt the sector: is the quality of the drama-based activities, the way they are implemented, and the developmental outcomes which follow from them more important; or the quality of the artistic product which is made available to audiences to watch?

Of course this is in many respects a false premise on which to argue. The youth theatre process is central to what youth theatre is, and the natural end point of using a drama-based process is the creation of theatrical material: in this sense the product is part of the process. A more valid question is whether the quality of the process can be measured simply by measuring the quality of the theatrical product, or whether better evaluation procedures need to be created which assess the success of the process in its own right. At its heart, all youth theatre should be process-driven: but the creation of theatrical material may not lead to the creation and performance of a production. If this is the case, then proper tools for evaluating the process are essential.

The CATR report Playing a Part recognised that the relative balance between process and product is different in different settings, and identified four distinct models of youth theatre. Each demonstrates the three key features of voluntary participation by young people in drama as non-formal education, with developmental outcomes for participants; but each has a different balance of process and product. The four models are:

Theatre/arts – the ‘reason for being’ within this model is to provide access to professional quality drama and theatre processes. Personal and social development outcomes may be by-products of this work but the driving force is to create theatre and performance.

Community – the ‘reason for being’ is to reflect and represent concerns of specific communities and promote community development through theatre.

Youth arts – the ‘reason for being’ and overriding aim is to support the personal, social and political development of young people through theatre.

Applied theatre – the ‘reason for being’ is to address specific issues using theatre as a tool.

Historically, the theatre/arts model represented the original style of youth theatre, and this may explain the emphasis on product in measuring success. Michael Croft, a professional actor teaching at Alleyne’s School in London is generally credited with creating the first youth theatre, running a summer school with students to produce Shakespeare’s Henry V in 1956. His initial success led him to continue, and by 1960 Croft’s group was receiving external funding. In 1961 it was given the title of National Youth Theatre, opening up membership to all young people in the UK, including, for the first time, girls. At this time typical projects were summer schools tackling traditional theatre texts.

During the 1960s and ‘70s youth theatre provision spread throughout the UK, delivered either within the regional repertory theatres or founded by local authorities. Devised material became a more important feature of the work, and the community theatre model of youth theatre grew, allowing young people to influence the content of the work they produced. At the same time, youth theatres based in youth service settings also developed – the youth arts model – and the ongoing process or product debate began.

Product has always dominated this debate. Historically, youth theatre has grown from the theatre arts model, and National Youth Theatre and Scottish Youth Theatre in the UK continue to offer provision based most publicly around creating productions. In addition the sector has been dominated at national levels by practitioners employed in the theatre sector rather than practitioners working as freelancers in youth service and community settings: these are the practitioners with the salaries and the organisational backing who can more easily afford to be part of the Boards of national development agencies and to attend regional and national forums and meetings. It is small wonder that product continues to been seen as more important than process, and that the successes and failures of youth theatre are still measured by the quality of the artistic product.

The historical context does, however, help us to define further what modern youth theatre is, a process-driven activity which draws partly but not exclusively on theatre. Again from the CATR report Playing a Part, the key factors which create effective youth theatres are that they:

• include all young people, regardless of ability or background;

• occur in informal settings – outside of school/home;

• are characterised by an informal, yet disciplined, process;

• involve young people in voluntary and purposeful activity;

• provide opportunities to young people to develop informal and supportive relationships with adults and peers from a wide variety of backgrounds;

• project a welcoming, non-judgmental atmosphere;

• provide challenge and opportunities to take risks – bringing young people to an awareness of capabilities they did not know they had;

• aim to provide insight into the discipline and skill of theatre;

• provide opportunities for young people to take part in performances;

• provide opportunities for young people to take responsibilities necessary to maintain the organisation;

• involve a sense of urgency, enthusiasm and commitment to work hard;

• work to real deadlines;

• are committed to producing high quality theatre;

• are not managed for commercial gain;

• are sustained by the energy and enthusiasm of young people.

This is another useful list, and gives more of a feel for how a youth theatre works, more of a sense of what youth theatre is. But it still does not give concrete ideas about what the youth theatre process is: the only specific, measurable outcome in this list is still theatrical performance.

So what is youth theatre? We have seen some useful definitions that demonstrate that it is a process-based activity: voluntary participation by young people in drama as non-formal education, with developmental outcomes for participants. The end point of the process may be the creation of a theatrical product, but this does not mean that youth theatre is merely a theatre company for young people which operates in an inclusive environment and as a by-product makes young people more confident.

Good youth theatre aims to support the personal, social, educational and creative development of young people. It uses drama activities in a focused and channelled way to achieve this aim, through the application of the youth theatre process. It is confident in its use of the constituent parts of the youth theatre process, and can use them to evaluate the success of the youth theatre. It is a unique form of practice that draws on the techniques of youth work, non-formal education and theatre.

Chapter 2

The youth theatre process

I’d never been to anything like it; we did a warm up and played some strange games, and I don’t remember doing anything that I thought was ‘drama’. But it was immensely fun and those warm ups and games started to have an impact on me. I think I was quite introverted when I first joined the youth theatre, but the people and the activities really helped me find my own voice and build my self-confidence.

James, former youth theatre participant

I have now referred several times to the youth theatre process, the constituent parts of which can be listed as follows:

• physical warm-up;

• voice work;

• games;

• skills work;

• short sketch devising;

• long piece devising;

• presentation of devised material.

In Part II I will explore these features of the youth theatre process further: what they are, and why they work. Each will be described in more detail in its own chapter.

At this stage, however, it is more important to consider how each of these diverse constituent parts can be successful components of the youth theatre process; that is how can they effectively contribute to the personal, social, educational and creative development of the children and young people who take part in them. To do this we need to consider three different types of learning.

Formal learning

Children and young people spend more time engaging with (or being encouraged to engage with) formal learning than any other type of education. It is the form of learning that is predominant in schools and colleges, and can be characterised as being teacher-driven and focused on the direct achievement of specific learning outcomes. These learning outcomes are typically stated at the start of the learning process so that all those involved in it know exactly what they are aiming for, and also how they might be able to use their achievements at some point in the future. The outcomes are usually easily measurable and evaluation of learners’ success against those outcomes is simple to undertake.

A simple but effective example of a formal learning experience is the teaching of times tables in primary school mathematics classes. The intended learning outcome is easily stated as being the ability to count, for example, in multiples of four. The outcomes are clearly four, eight, twelve, sixteen and so on. To achieve the learning objective the teacher need only ask the pupils to repeat, ‘one four is four, two fours are eight…’ until the answers are remembered. The acquisition of the new knowledge is easily tested in a short mental arithmetic test.

Informal learning

Informal learning occurs at the opposite end of the spectrum of learning experiences from formal learning, and can be thought of as accidental learning. Nobody is responsible for guiding the learning experience and there are no specific learning outcomes against which to measure achievement. New knowledge or skills are acquired without any understanding of how they might be useful at any future point in time.

As an example, I once heard on a radio programme that, in an evolutionary sense, whales and some other sea mammals are effectively part of the horse family, with the hippopotamus representing a surviving link between the different species. I found this a fascinating piece of information, although of course at the time I had no idea that as a piece of learning it would ever have any relevance to my future life. Despite that, I have subsequently used it while speaking at con...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Half Title page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Foreword
• Acknowledgements
• Introduction: Why youth theatre?
• Part I Youth theatre, its nature andpurpose
• Part II The youth theatre process, itsconstituent parts
• Part III Youth theatre in practice
• Part IV Applied youth theatre
• Conclusion: Why youth theatre?
• Appendix 1: Useful games for youth theatre
• Appendix 2: Recommended further reading
• Index