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Use theatre in education

Is it racist to correct somebody if they pronounce your name wrongly? Does an abortion solve the problem with a teenage pregnancy? These were some of the questions raised when five drama students set up a play for upper elementary school students.

– Ok. Go to the toilet, but be quick about it!

It is seconds from showtime, and the mood is focused. The students from class 10 ab in Sandgotna Upper Elementary School are waiting outside.

The students from Bergen University College have set up a living room scene, and are doing the last minute preparations.

– Remember to do the gesture with the stomach when reading the paper. It's an important detail, Sindre says.

Opens for discussions

A group of psychologists enter the stage. They thank us for taking the time to shed some light on case 348, which is about unfold. They are keen to learn what aspects we, as a group of fellow professionals, can share.

The 17-year-old daughter in the family comes home. She seems distressed and makes a call. When suddenly realizing her father is at home, she hurriedly hangs up.

The play is part of the exam on the course "Theatre in Education" (TIE). The task is to devise and set up a play for a target audience, to have a touring period of two weeks and to have a final exam, performing for and with the target group in school.

– The purpose is not so much what we want to tell them, but what they can tell us. Certain topics are taboo in some families, and the theatre can be a good arena for discussing such topics, Sindre Dybvik, one of the five students and actors, says.

Anything can happen

The students have been working on the TIE-programme for two months, and are keen to finally see how it interacts with the audience.

– There is no way of knowing how they will react. We have to be prepared for anything, Vaida Uosyte says.

Vaida is an exchange student from Lithuania who has come to Bergen to learn more about drama. She is one of 9 international students in the class, together with 26 Norwegians.

– I studied stage art in Lithuania, but this form of theatre is very different. You can see the audience, and the play evolves in dialogue with the audience. You need to really know your character and how they would react, she says.

Learning process

In their group, they are two Chinese, two Lithuanians, and one Norwegian student. Learning to communicate with each other has also proven a useful task, although a struggle at first.

– There was a lot of shyness in the start. We had to start by learning to know each other before we could even begin to solve the assignment of setting up a play, Sindre says, the native speaker of the five.

The assignment was very open with regards to subject and structure. They had to pick a target audience, consider whether they should use light, if they should bring stage material or use whatever accessible in the schools, but much was open.

Applied Theatre/ Theatre in Education
20 ECTS credits over 3 months. International students can contact international@hib.no for more information. The course runs in the spring semester

– At first we had no idea how we should go forward. We literally started with nothing, and the process towards the finished program has been a long, but rich learning experience, Vaida says.

Important to test the ideas

Guest lecturer and internationally renounced TIE-dramatist and director, Chris Cooper, also helped the students in piecing the play together. He reminded them to try out their ideas in practice, on the stage floor.

– It's easy enough to talk, but before you test your ideas out, you really don't know if they work on stage, Sindre says.

Through the subject the students also have learned a lot about themselves. They have also realized how powerful theatre-in-education can be – if you are open for the participant's ideas and use them in the performance.

– In Norwegian schools, we are mostly taught about the specific subjects. There is less emphasis on the everyday challenges of being human. Children who are taught drama, generally become more empathetic, as the DICE-studies show. This is an important aspect, he emphasizes.

 

Marianne Mathiesen