Thursday 11 June 2009

I have just returned from the Sibiu International Theatre Festival in Romania.  I took a piece of work from my company Until Thursday entitled Christmas Dinner.  This work takes the form of a deconstructed Pantomime that takes a satirical look at a theatre form that has become somewhat formulaic and diluted in the UK, but which nonetheless holds a special place in the hearts of many theatregoers in this country.  As a contemporary performance maker I have always been intrigued by the devices employed in Panto that parallel those in experimental performance - such as audience participation, self-consciousness in the performers and space for social comment, perhaps three 'concerns' that also run through teaching practice. 

Creative learning is grounded in being able to bring the 'learner' into a particular kind of world, providing them, quickly, with the tools to access a particular learning environment, enabling them to reflect on their own relationship to their learning within their particular cultural context.  This is hard, but whether you're at the delivering end of a lecture theatre or on stage wearing a beard and a dress, looking the person you are addressing in the eye and telling them the truth is a good start.

Oliver Bray
New Teacher Fellow 2009
Senior Lecturer in Performance Practice
O.Bray@leedsmet.ac.uk