Session Nine
Industry Masterclass
Session: 9.1 Part 1 of 2
Title: Shakespeare in the 21st Century
Presenter: David Berthold, La Boite Theatre Company
Suitability: Middle, Senior & Tertiary
Form: Masterclass
Description:
David Berthold's Hamlet blew the roof off La Boite's Roundhouse Theatre in 2010, becoming one of the company's highest grossing productions and winning the 2010 Matilda Award for Best Mainstage Production. This Hamlet was unlike anything Brisbane audiences had seen: present, pulsating and potent. David returned to Shakespeare in 2011 with a gutsy contemporary reinvention of Julius Caesar, and in 2012 will turn his hand to Shakespeare's most joyous comedy, As You Like It. In this masterclass, David shares some principles towards Shakespearean success, offering special insights into his approach to reinventing the classics for contemporary audiences. David will reference both Hamlet and Julius Caesar, with a particular focus on As You Like It, opening at La Boite 18 February 2012.
Biography:
David Berthold is the Artistic Director of La Boite Theatre Company. He has also directed for most major Australian theatre companies including Sydney Theatre Company, Melbourne Theatre Company, Queensland Theatre Company, Belvoir, Griffin Theatre Company, as well as internationally for Auckland Theatre Company, the Royal National Theatre London, Theater an der Parkaue Berlin and in London's West End.
Industry Masterclass
Session: 9.2 Part 1 of 2
Title: Devising & Creating for Physical Theatre
Presenter: Lynne Bradley, Zen Zen Zo Physical Theatre
Suitability: Middle, Senior & Tertiary
Form: Masterclass
Description:
Over the past 20 years Australia has led the way in the world in the arena of body-centred Physical Theatre. ‘Devising’ performance, where work begins with an idea and is created in a shared arena by the entire cast and creative team collaboratively, has become the preferred mode of working by many theatre artists and companies around the world. This workshop will introduce participants to devising and creating for physical or body-based performance work drawing from techniques used by Zen Zen Zo, SITI, and Frantic Assembly.
Biography:
Lynne Bradley founded Zen Zen Zo Physical Theatre 20 years ago, and is currently the Training Centre Director. She has worked as a director, choreographer, performer and in actor-training around Australia and abroad. She lived in Japan where she studied Noh, Kabuki, Butoh and the Suzuki Method, which are now her specialty teaching areas along with Viewpoints, which she introduced to Australia in 1998 after having studied with Anne Bogart and the SITI company in Japan and the USA. Lynne continues to return to Japan regularly, and she is currently engages in a large-scale collaboration with Dairakuakan for the Brisbane Festival in 2012.
Industry Masterclass
Session: 9.3 Part 1 of 2
Title: Paper Puppets
Presenter: Dead Puppet Society
Suitability: All
Form: Masterclass
Description:
This hands-on Drama Queensland masterclass, introduces Dead Puppet Society’s approach to exploring puppetry in the classroom. This workshop will inspire you to utilise this original art form in various units of work and promote the notion of incorporating puppetry into live performance.
During this workshop you will be introduced to key elements for the inclusion of puppetry in the classroom. You will explore object manipulation techniques and abstract puppetry and key activities on how to create the illusion of character. Following this you will then explore and participate in basic puppet construction, this includes the creation of your very own puppet using just newspaper and masking tape. You will then use these puppets to interact with one another whilst simultaneously perfecting the manipulation techniques learnt earlier in the workshop. The best part about this masterclass is that you can take what you have learnt and use it your classroom the very next day.
Biography:
Dead Puppet Society is a Brisbane based theatre company. Their productions incorporate puppetry, shadow work and live performance to create immersive worlds where the mythic sits alongside the macabre. The company prides itself in designing and creating all elements used in their productions, from initial script conception to the design and construction of every puppet. Dead Puppet Society has created productions for Brisbane Festival, Adelaide Fringe, Brisbane City Council, Metro Arts and La Boite. In August of 2012 Dead Puppet Society have the privilege of presenting The Harbinger as part of La Boite Theatre Company’s 2012 mainhouse season.
Forum
Session: 9.4
Title: Drama Australia Board and Presidents Open Forum
Presenter: Chaired by Mark Bailey, President of Drama Australia. Panellists will include members of the Drama Australia Board and Representatives from the State and Territory Associations.
Suitability: All Drama Australia and State and Territory Association Members
Form: Forum
Description:
This session will take the form of an interactive forum/conversation between participants and the panellists. It will present participants with an opportunity to engage in conversation with the members of the Drama Australia Board, State and Territory Presidents and DALOs (Drama Australia Liaison Officers) over a range of issues/topics, national, state and local. To help establish an agenda for the conversation, participants are encouraged to forward issues/topics for discussion to Mark Bailey at president@dramaaustralia.org.au prior to the session.
Curriculum
Session: 9.5
Title: Aesthetic engagement and process drama in TESOL
Presenter: Patrick Pheasant, Centre for English Teaching, The University of Sydney
Suitability: All
Form: Workshop
Description:
This research-oriented workshop sheds light on the moment of student aesthetic engagement– that “Aha!” moment in the classroom, when the students have an emotional, intellectual or spiritual breakthrough and experience their learning on a profoundly deeper level. We capture the aesthetic moment in the language classroom, explore what it is and how it contributes to learning. Specifically, we hone in on process drama as a teaching technique in language learning environments and explore how international university students in a process drama, where it is believed aesthetic engagement is rich and prevalent, have greater learning and a greater student experience.
Focus in this workshop is on presenting a toolkit that Drama and English teachers can use in their classrooms to utilise the benefits of drama as an educational tool. Specific conventions in process drama will be explained and demonstrated with emphasis on experiential learning for the participants.
Biography:
Patrick Pheasant is director of the Centre for English Teaching at the University of Sydney. Drawing on his recent research in the study of language interaction and proxemics in drama and 20 years international teaching experience, Patrick highlights techniques in identifying student aesthetic engagement and the teacher behaviors that trigger it.
Teaching and Learning: Primary Years
Session: 9.6
Title: Delving into history: Integrating history with drama in the primary classroom
Presenter: Claire Austin
Suitability: Primary & Middle Years
Form: Workshop
Description:
In the History strand of the new Australian Curriculum students will need to use a range of historical sources to examine the reasons for and impact of historical events. They use sources to identify different points of view in the past and the motivations of individuals and groups. Students explain the significance of events in bringing about change. Students compose historical texts, including narratives, using appropriate historical terms. They present their information using a range of communication forms (written, spoken, visual).
This workshop is designed to share ideas on how to use drama for this purpose. The workshop is based on a process drama which has been successfully applied in a primary classroom setting. The workshop is targeted at either primary classroom teachers or primary Arts / Drama specialists. Participants will take away a practical unit of work which they can adapt and apply in their classroom.
Biography:
Claire Austin is an experienced primary drama teacher. During recent years she has also conducted a variety of professional development drama workshops for teachers at Queensland University of Technology, Queensland Arts Council, Drama Queensland and PAN (Primary Arts Network). She is currently employed as a teacher-artist with the KITE program at Queensland Performing Arts Centre.
Teaching and Learning: Middle Years
Session: 9.7
Title: Verbatim ritual; From realism to ritual
Presenter: Hannah Brown & Linda Statham, The Stuartholme School
Suitability: Middle Years
Form: Workshop
Description:
This practical workshop explores the voice and movement conventions of the Ritual style. Participants will learn how these conventions can be manipulated to transform a Realism Verbatim text into a Ritual performance, exploring the style through the contexts of fire and flood – two elements that have touched the lives of every Australian recently. Verbatim scripts Watermark by Alana Valentine and Embers by Campion Decent will be used in creating small group pieces, as well as other relevant source material.
For Australian school students the fire and floods of the past years will become indelibly printed in the memory of their childhood, having a profound effect on their resilience and empathy as adults. “Verbatim Ritual – From Realism to Ritual” is a practical means by which students can make sense of events in their world through Drama. Participants will receive the unit outline and assessment tasks suitable for middle school students.
Biography:
Linda Statham is currently Head of Drama at Stuartholme School. She is a State panellist for Drama and has been a Drama educator in Queensland for over 25 years. Linda was a recipient of a National Excellence in Teaching Award in 1995.
Hannah Brown has worked at Stuartholme for 3 years. Prior to this, she worked as a co-curricular Primary Drama teacher at Moreton Bay College. In 2010, Hannah was one of six finalists in the Queensland College of Teachers Excellence in Beginning to Teach Awards.
Teaching and Learning: Senior Years
Session: 9.8
Title: Learning through emotion: Moving the affective in from the margins
Presenter: Julie Dunn & Madonna Stinson, Griffith University
Suitability: Facilitators of Process Drama
Form: Workshop and Discussion
Description:
During this workshop Julie and Madonna will share thoughts emerging from a recently developed process drama that used “A Streetcar Named Desire” by Tennessee Williams as a pretext. The focus of the drama, which was designed for a group of young adults, is on the repeated cycle of domestic violence. In our recent work we have begun to consider the interrelationship between emotions, identification, distancing, protection and artistry. We draw into the discussion the ideas of influential drama pioneers: Gavin Bolton, Richard Courtney and Dorothy Heathcote, as we attempt to understand the processes affording the range of contrasting emotions generated in the workshop, and the protections in place for the participants. The workshop will be of interest to anyone who works with the process drama form and with any age of student. Participants will be given a copy of the drama.
Biography:
Julie Dunn and Madonna Stinson work as part of Griffith University’s Applied Theatre team. They teach on undergraduate and post-graduate programs in teacher education and applied theatre. Recently they have been thinking and researching about drama and emotion, and seeking ways to foreground emotions in drama pedagogy.