New for 2020! Digital workshops added to our programme!
At The Paper Birds we pride ourselves on inspiring young people through theatre and enabling them to thrive through participation. We have a reputation as leaders in the delivery of devised and verbatim theatre workshops throughout the UK. Working in hundreds of schools each year, we have a Creative Learning Programme that can be adapted to fit the needs of your students. Whether as a launch to a devising unit, or as a refresher session to kickstart a process mid-way; The Paper Birds can visit your school at any time throughout the academic year.
But as well as visiting your school and working directly with your students ‘live’; we have spent 2020 developing a new digital offer for schools, encompassing our engaging workshop sessions into 2 versions available to programme from September 2020.
As an alternative to booking in a ‘live’ visit from one of our practitioners to deliver a full day workshop, this package gives you access to 4x 1 hour workshops, delivered over pre-recorded video by our Co-Artistic Directors, Kylie and Jemma. This programme allows participants to explore in depth the key ingredients of how to make a performance in the style of The Paper Birds. Utilising our trademarks of verbatim, choreography and political/social content, this series of videos is pitched at KS4 & 5. Upon purchasing the programme you will have access to the material for 12 weeks. In this time you can use the videos to deliver practical workshops with multiple classes. The programme comes complete with a PDF Resource Pack detailing all of the exercises to enable you to work in tandem with the video and pause and play at the right times.
All the exercises included in these sessions are broad enough to work with any stimulus, whilst ensuring that participants gain a detailed understanding of the techniques and processes that we use in the making of our original devised theatre.
There are 4x 1 hour workshops spanning the key ingredients of our work:
We suggest that participants have a stimulus or ‘umbrella’ theme already in place that they are going to use for their devising process. They also need to have conducted some research including an interview to use in the sessions.
WORKSHOP 1: VERBATIM
WORKSHOP 2: MOVEMENT & MOTIF
WORKSHOP 3: CHARACTER & NARRATIVE
WORKSHOP 4: EXPOSING THE METHOD
We understand that for many schools this academic year, inviting practitioners into school just isn’t going to be feasible. With this in mind, we are offering one of our acclaimed 2hr Devising Theatre workshops to be delivered over video-call by one of our highly experienced practitioners. Utilising whichever video platform software your school is compatible with, we can be present in your drama studio to deliver an engaging and practical workshop exploring the devising methodologies of The Paper Birds. With social distancing measures taken into consideration (following up to date government guidelines) we will lead participants through a practical workshop incorporating movement tasks, developing text and building a non-naturalistic devised performance. Suitable for students studying all specs, this session can be tailored to incorporate devising stimuli, whether centre chosen or supplied by the exam board.
Ahead of running one of these sessions, we will schedule a short ‘dress run’, so that we can check in and make sure we are tech compatible!
All of our live workshops can be delivered in 2 lengths; either a 2 hour session or a 5 hour (full day) session.
This dedicated session introduces participants to our popular Theatre Creativity Cards. Designed to get you thinking in new and unexpected ways, this workshop offers a new and highly effective approach to devising. If you have a set of our Cards already, this session can serve as refresher on how to use them best! Find out more about our Theatre Creativity Cards here
Explore common devising practices utilised by The Paper Birds enabling participants to collate exercises to use throughout their own devising processes. Focusing on turning research into performance; direct address, and choreographing movement. Suitable for use with all specs; (for Eduqas/WJEC and OCR we will choose one of the set stimuli and demonstrate how we would work form it, or for AQA and EdExcel we can either bring a stimulus or use what participants have chosen.)
In-depth approaches to creating physical material derived from a stimulus. Aimed at all levels, exercises allow participants the freedom to choreograph and utilise their physicality; developing confidence and experience in shaping their own physical performances.
Explore engaging techniques in how to use verbatim material; from page to stage — what to do when you get up on your feet? Participants will collate several approaches on how to use the interviews and data they have collected throughout their devising process.
‘Had the most amazing workshop with the fabulous Paper Birds. My group loved absolutely every minute and were so inspired. They’ve found a new lease of energy and are going back to their devising unit with raw excitement and enthusiasm. I would 100% recommend! The Paper Birds always deliver.’
Drama Teacher, Victoria College
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