ESTRATEGIAS PARA REDUCIR VARIACIÓN SOMACLONAL

The relationship between directors, participation and theatre form was acutely apparent in the TiE movement, as it fostered an innovative set of education and theatre practices, devised for specified age groups in pursuit of learning and artistic objectives. From its inception in 1965, at Coventry’s Belgrade Theatre, this new branch of participatory theatre set out to involve audiences in participation which examined relevant problems and issues. It was a hybrid-theatre based on principles of education and theatre (Redington 1983). In the context of this thesis, it is relevant that the first director, entitled Head of Department, was a teacher and Youth Theatre director, Rosemary Birbeck. The appointment indicated expectations that the new team would contribute to curriculum drama, young people’s theatre and teacher-training, as well as produce their own theatre-making (Redington, 1983: 95).

In 1965, no equivalent directorial models existed, other than Way at Theatre Centre and Caryl Jenner’s touring theatre at the Unicorn. Directors who adopted alternative approaches in mainstream were more frequently acknowledged by the new TiE directors, such as Littlewood and Brecht (Redington, 1983). The new directors needed to create dialogue with schools in order to create new forms of practice which was relevant to school needs (Redington, 1983: 88). The Belgrade Company began the process of establishing practices that were to become identifiable characteristics of TiE in which ‘participants are invited to engage physically and emotionally with the work by professional practitioners’ (Nicholson, 2005: 10). Part of the radical nature of the artistic process was that companies began to work collectively. This was particularly apparent by the mid 1970s when many companies began to work as creative or ‘group democracies’ and the artistic and education role of the director often disappeared from company policy statements (Redington, 1983: 119). This may be one

reason for the lack of research critiques on the discrete identity of the role.

The Belgrade’s wide-ranging development plans gave their director responsibility for a portfolio of practice. This dilution of directors’ energies between teaching, administration and theatre-making within the context of developing job descriptions and changing directorial responsibilities, did not prevent different forms of participation being introduced. These new styles created the need for directors to appraise their contribution and re-define their role in a new theatre-making context. Directors could not remain responsible for the artistic dimension of the theatre only. They required knowledge of curriculum, an understanding of teaching methods, skills in facilitating and group planning strategies.

Theatre-making which involved the degree of participation that was employed in such programmes as Troubled Water (1976) at Nottingham Roundabout or Pow-Wow (1972) at Coventry Belgrade required directors who understood the new dimensions of theatre-making: questioning techniques; facilitation-in-role; group organisation. In these programmes, children were central to narrative events and given responsibility to ‘investigate, interrogate and make decisions’ (Jackson, 1993: 23). However, ‘participation’, as a generic descriptor, does not adequately define the nature of the children’s roles in Pow-Wow or Troubled Water.

These were two very different experiences. A short description illustrates the directorial challenges which were immediately more political than the theatre of Way, inviting children to consider and make their decisions about socio-economic and humanitarian issues. If Slade and Way were concerned with personal development and self awareness, the directors of TiE were determined to offer theatre which

enabled children to question, challenge and take responsibility for social change (Wooster, 2007: 16).

In Pow-Wow, the children aged 6-7 years do not adopt a fictional role. They meet Mr Tex, an American showman who is lively and fun. He explains about his Wild West touring show, Black Elk. After the playtime interval the class return to see the show, with Black Elk, a Native American, trapped behind a cage. Mr Tex leaves to make a phone call. The children make friends with Black Elk and learn about his lifestyle. Mr Tex returns to find Elk out of the cage. He demands that ‘the Indian’ is put back and that the two symbols of friendship, a pipe and tomahawk, which Elk has given to the children, are returned. The class must now make choices about the ownership of the two objects, Mr Tex or Black Elk (Redington, 1983: 145).

In Troubled Water, two classes of children aged 9-10 years adopt and research their roles weeks before the performance. One class are members of an imagined Scottish island, the other are members of an imagined, multi-national oil company. The performance of the programme is kept secret until the day of the theatre company’s visit. The two class groups then meet (in role) on what transpires to be the day of the island’s festival. The islanders discover who their visitors from the south are and what they want. A decision must be reached about the prospective oil terminal which is to be placed on the island. The children, in role, as islanders or oil executives negotiate, discuss and, eventually, make their decision(s).

The participation in both programmes raises some interesting insight into the benefits and ethics of participation. In Pow-Wow, Mr Tex and Black Elk are both played with a significant degree of theatrical ‘emphasis’ as the children observe Mr Tex taking Black Elk through a series of circus-style ‘tricks’. Although the children do not have a defined role, they are ‘drawn into’ fishing and hunting sequences by

Black Elk. In Troubled Water, the children are asked to go to the other extreme, learning biographical details such as the composition of their family, the location of their homes on the island, before the company arrive. The visit is part of a sustained curriculum project.

There are two questions that immediately arise from the children’s roles in Pow-Wow and Troubled Waters. In Pow-Wow how ethically acceptable is it for children not to be made aware of the fictional nature of the context? In Troubled Water does the detail of the role restrict their freedom to discuss and make decisions about the oil terminal? Does the factual information constrain and restrict?

In Pow-Wow, is the class teacher’s presence, the slightly presentational emphasis of some sequences of acting, the historical costumes and the ‘rodeo-style show setting sufficient indication that a fictional story is taking place? The fact that they have no fictional role enables the children to make friends with Black Elk on a far more real and direct level of engagement; this is the pivotal moment of the programme. More ethically problematic, is Mr Tex’s faked exit for a phone call, which places the responsibility with the children in an uncomfortably real way. It might have been more appropriate if a dramatic convention had signalled his ‘exit’ from the scene.

As evident in Chapter 1, ethical issues pervade all forms of artistic interventions. In addition to participant confusion or uncertainty, a lack of awareness of the fiction prevents productive reflection through which the children ‘make sense and give meaning to their feeling experience’ (Goode and Clarke, 1991). This ethical issue highlights one of the director’s most significant responsibilities; the establishment of a clear ‘contract’ distinguishing fiction and reality and establishing expectations and understandings (Neelands, 1984).

In Troubled Water, the detail of the lifestyles enables the children to debate issues from a committed and knowledgeable level of engagement. This model of role-taking, the adoption of one role throughout the performance, does not necessarily restrict participants to fixed positions. They still have flexibility and manoeuvrability within that single role to make decisions, reflect upon events, evaluate different perspectives and make personal connections between the metaphorical context and the real world (England Their England, 1978).

As evident from the above, the adoption of role is central to the theatre-making, particularly in developing participation. The multiple layers of role-taking and their value to participation has been subject to research and analysis (Bolton, 1979; Heathcote, 1984; Neelands, 2000).