Staff Workshops: Exploring Disabilities Drama  or Student Workshops

Full Day Workshop

Having worked creatively with people with a disability for over ten years, as a tutor and director, I draw upon my experience to introduce drama participants, or potential drama participants, to practical and fun drama methods.

Support workers and people with a disability are introduced to a range of creative drama methods that can used to create drama for personal growth and/or performance.

This Day Workshop plants the seed for the future use of Drama as an important resource for people with a disability!

The Workshop involves support workers and clients – people with a disability – who actively participate in a range of creative activities that show that Drama is more than just acting to a script.

What better way to show and experience the use of Drama than having clients – people with a disability – on board?

Strategies are tailored to the needs of participants at the same time as valuing the need to challenge and extend skills.

Focus includes:

• Building Drama from participants’ skills.
• Exploring Physical Theatre.
• Creating Drama from photographs.
• Creating Drama from games.
• Using music to develop Drama.
• Using improvisation with people with a disability.
• Re-evaluating what we mean by Drama and Theatre: ‘what works’.

This Workshop is highly interactive and practical. I work sensitively with support workers, and people with a disability, to explore drama’s potential.

As in the best workshops many interesting things happen off-the-cuff.

This can be a moving and highly engaging session planting the seeds for the use of drama within an organisation.

Student Workshops: Integrated Drama Project

This project involves students with and without a disability, working together, to create and perform an integrated drama production.

I facilitate and direct the project. Students with a range of mixed abilities have the opportunity of working and acting with each other in a democratic and positive environment.

The Project takes place within a school and includes general students, and special needs students – either within that school or from an external organisation.

The Project leads to a performance within the school and within the community e.g. other schools, a festival , or a nursing home.

The Project utilises a Forum/Open theatre approach that minimises the use of props and means that the piece can be performed in an open space. This increases the possibility of bringing the production together quickly, efficiently and to a wider audience.

This Project is based upon a similar and succesful school-based project I directed ending in a performance at a school and at the Awakenings Festival.

Disability Drama experience:

• Click for an overview of my experience in this field.

• Click to read my testimonial to the Awakenings Festival.

• Click here (Word doc) for contact details for Denise Leembruggen, Director of the Awakenings Festival, who can act as a referee for my experiences in Disabilities Drama.

Contact Darron