Leading UK theatre company, The Paper Birds, recently visited Nexus International School (Singapore) and led a workshop for its Drama and Theatre Arts students. Read on to find out what happened…
It’s not every day that your school gets a visit from world-famous personalities. So when The Paper Birds – a leading theatre company from the UK – visited Nexus International School (Singapore), its learners were understandably super excited. This is especially the case for its IGCSE Drama and IB Theatre Arts learners, who were starstruck as they had recently researched The Paper Birds for their lessons.
Learners were invited to a special workshop led by a member of The Paper Birds
Meet-and-greet wasn’t the only thing Nexus and The Paper Birds had in store for the learners – they were in for a treat! Drama and Theatre Arts learners from Years 10-13 were invited to participate in an all-day devising workshop that’s led by Josie Dale-Jones, a member of the theatre company.
Josie started the workshop with some simple and fun warm ups to break the ice as many learners have never worked together before. Not only did this help the learners to get to know each other better, but it also built trust between them – a must-have when working on collaborative theatre. After that, it was time for the learners to start creating materials for the workshop.
Devising is a theatre-making method where all performers collaborate to create a script or performance – a new skill for Nexus’ learners. The theme they were given for the devising workshop was climate change. After they were shown a speech by Greta Thunberg, the learners broke into groups to discuss and create material based on what climate change meant to them. They experimented with different ways to present information, including interviewing each other and recording the responses verbatim, writing fairy stories about climate change, and even creating an advertisement.
By combining their ideas and adding movement to the materials, Nexus’ learners managed to create a series of short abstract verbatim performances within a day. Though short in duration, each piece had an important message about climate change that really hit home.
A valuable experience for Nexus’ learners
The workshop proved to be a really valuable experience for Nexus’ Drama and Theatre Arts learners, who got a chance to learn devising from a theatre professional!
At Nexus, lessons in Drama and Theatre Arts don’t merely prepare learners for a career in the arts, but prepare learners for the world stage as well. Skills learned from their classes may be used to improve their communication skills, be it in public speaking, presentations, or ensuring they can express themselves clearly in everyday situations. Neuxs’ learners are shaped holistically to apply these skills in all aspects of their lives. Having the chance to learn and speak to a member from The Paper Birds also taught its learners how they can translate real world issues and causes they’re passionate about into messages that can reach a greater audience.
This post is in partnership with Nexus International School (Singapore).
