Community

Icon Theatre runs a broad programme of community activities, designed to transform disadvantaged lives through the performing arts. For full information on our community programme, please see our sister site www.iconcommunitytheatre.org.uk

Education - Touring Production Workshops

Icon Theatre offers a free workshop to each venue booking a show. These can be for young people or for a general adult audience.

Typically, they aim to:

a) provide an enjoyable and relaxed introductory session to movement led theatre

b) introduce the idea of using the body as a vehicle to express individual feelings and ideas

c) teach new skills such as · creating a character from a mask · improvising with a mask · creating the illusion of an object with the hands · portraying forces against the body, such as pushing or pulling.

'My students learnt so much! And were both entertained and challenged. I want anything else that Icon are doing.'

- Steve Martin, Head of Drama, Farmor's School, Gloucestershire

Workshops for school groups will also:

a) Introduce simple techniques that teachers and students can use in the future, to enliven curriculum or classroom led theatre. For instance, mime and mask techniques can be used in school plays from Shakespeare to Oscar Wilde, and can be used to include students who might not normally take part in text led productions.

b) Help young people who have difficulties with language and the written word to explore mask and mime as a non-verbal form of expression. This can be particularly helpful for those with dyslexia, those for whom English is not a first language, those with hearing impairments and those with learning difficulties.

c) Leave written support material for teachers and students. This will be in the form of a ‘Mask & Mime Pack’, and will cover what we explored within the workshop, as well as ideas for the future.

For more details, please contact us.

Improvising and Storytelling Workshops

These sessions aim to:

a) Introduce simple ways to create stories and develop narrative lines that can also be used in the classroom.

b) Provide an accessible and fun introductory session to improvising and story telling.

c) Encourage young people's creativity and self-confidence, in an enjoyable and secure environment.

d) Develop narrative lines into structured scenes that were then performed to the rest of the group.

"I wanted to say thank you for delivering such a fantastic workshop! It was pitched absolutely right for the boys, and I was delighted with the way they responded."

- Gill Scott, Head of Drama, Warwick School for Boys, Waltham Forest