Acting for Austerity

This project is yet to be approved. It is a collaboration between Crooked House (Ireland) and OSMOSIS - CENTRE FOR THE ARTS & INTERCULTURAL EDUCATION (Greece).

We will work with 12 Irish and 12 Greek young people aged between 18 and 30 over a 7 day period. The participants are involved in acting: some are studying drama at third level; others are active members of youth theatre; more are active members of college drama societies; and some are active members of amateur drama groups. None of them is a professional actor. Some are unemployed.
The project will explore how they can use their acting skills to work, as drama facilitators, with groups of people for developmental, educational and political purposes. It aims to help them find work in times of austerity, especially when there is little opportunity for mainstream employment.
We will use participants' experiences of unemployment and living under austerity as themes in the training. Each country is dealing with the financial crisis in a different way, so the young people will develop an understanding of each other's culture when they share their experiences.
We hope that, by the end of the project, the participants will:
* be able to co-facilitate a drama session
* understand group dynamics in drama work
* apply their acting skills to help direct small projects with groups
* be able to plan projects that they can develop in the future
* be motivated to find ways in which they can turn their learning into employment opportunities
* appreciate the common situation facing Greek and Irish young people in times of austerity.
The project will use a mixture of task-based activity, interactive workshop, drama exercise, discussion, sub-group work, research, and presentation to create the learning.

Many of our young people now find themselves unemployed. Those who are finishing college are realizing that there is no work for them in their specialised subject area. We would like to help them develop employment opportunities using the skills they have acquired in theatre. These skills have been acquired during their time with us in our youth theatre (or informally through their involvement in other theatre based activities). We hope that we can stimulate their entrepreneurial abilities, and help them realize that there are opportunities for them in today's climate of austerity and cutbacks.
We would like them to use their acting skills to explore:
- setting up theatre-in-education projects for primary and secondary schools
- facilitating groups in youth projects
- developing staff training days and team building exercises for corporate clients.

We see this as being the first phase of our project. Having come together in Greece to start this work, and to share methods and training, each group will continue to work at home in their own country. They will be supported by Crooked House and by Osmosis in developing employment projects that use their acting skills.

The project meets YIA priorities by stimulating and supporting youth entrepreneurial skills. It also encourages cooperation and understanding between Greece and Ireland in terms of young people facing very similar financial realities. The project uses the young people's creativity as a tool to enhance their employability. It is about helping them take action themselves to find employment.

Main Theme / Interests and Needs of the Participants
The main theme of the project is to stimulate creative thinking in our participants so that they can develop methods of working in the educational theatre sector. They have all got experience as actors and of being involved in informal youth theatre groups. They've all performed on stage and have learned a lot about theatre. Each is also actively looking for work (or soon will be) in an economic climate that is hugely depressed. We want to help them use what they already know in creative and innovative ways. We'd like to show them how to make short issue-based plays for primary school children; how to use their understanding of drama to create workshops for second-level school pupils; how to develop team-building and other workshops for the corporate sector; and how to run a short developmental drama programme with youth clubs and community groups.
Mostly, our project is about inspiring confidence in the young people and helping them realise that they can actually do all of this themselves with a little help from us. Our project therefore will use methods to bond them as a group, to develop their confidence as performers and facilitators, and to stimulate their innovation. We will show them some of the methods we use ourselves, asking them to be critical participants in the drama workshops, short devised pieces, and creative presentations which we will implement during the exchange.

The Working Methods / Participants' Non-formal Learning.
The methods of work are inspired by the work of Augusto Boal and of Paulo Freire. These educators are principally concerned with the activation of citizenship abilities; combatting oppression; and manifesting social justice. Our participants are also influenced by the use of theatre as an educational site – in which learning of major importance can take place for participants. Within the drama workshop, as within the rehearsal process, participants develop a wide range of skills and abilities that go well beyond the practice of theatre. In addition to obvious skills such as leadership, collaboration and creative expression, participants also develop their abilities to:
□ research and use information effectively
□ channel impulsive behaviour into creative expression
□ make decisions
□ react to feedback
□ understand and employ long-term gratification
□ apply discipline, focus and control.

The actual methods of engagement with the participants will be
□ demonstrations
□ praxis (activity followed by reflection and discussion, leading to action)
□ discussion
□ presentation
□ collaborative creation
□ rehearsal
□ trial-and-error and experimentation
□ activities and exercises that can be used as metaphors for understanding wider social issues
□ research.

During the project, (which will begin daily at 10am and conclude at 8pm) participants will research information about theatre-in-education, take part in workshops given by Peter Hussey and Christina Zoniou, and explore different methods of using acting skills to facilitate drama workshops.

Young People Actively Involved.
Our young people have been involved in all stages of the project. It was their idea initially. They have been meeting every month to work out what they'd like to do and how the programme should evolve. They are helping us to complete this form. They will be involved in the Advance Planning visit. And they contribute online via the Facebook page.