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Out of the ordinary

Desperately wanting to create a fresh project, drama club leader Alex Marker cast around his neighbourhood for a setting that would have a different impact... I was in a rut. Summer and holiday courses had always proved incredibly popular. Still, I could not get away from the nagging feeling that all I was doing was using similar material to that which I used in the weekly sessions, condensed into a two-week theatre project culminating in a performance watched by a handful of parents. There had to be a more interesting alternative. This final article in my series deals with more specialised projects. The ideas could be worked up over a term but are perhaps most suitable for intensive holiday courses.

I was in a rut. Summer and holiday courses had always proved incredibly popular. Still, I could not get away from the nagging feeling that all I was doing was using similar material to that which I used in the weekly sessions, condensed into a two-week theatre project culminating in a performance watched by a handful of parents. There had to be a more interesting alternative. This final article in my series deals with more specialised projects. The ideas could be worked up over a term but are perhaps most suitable for intensive holiday courses.

ON SITE

Setting can greatly enhance the impact of a performance on actors and audience alike. This got me thinking, what if we were to produce a performance 'on location'? A friend of mine introduced me to the staff of the museum at Gunnersbury Park in Ealing, the London borough in which the group is based. We gained permission to use parts of the house and its 18th century landscaped garden to mount a site-specific performance loosely based on the story of Romeo and Juliet. The audience were led from location to location around the grounds.

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