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MOVING PIECES MISSION STATEMENT

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Moving Pieces - Arts in Health Theatre Collective (All quotes other than Taylor are from ‘Moving Pieces’ Website, 2010)

What does the mission statement tell you about the key purpose of the Company's practice?

Moving Theatre is a London based applied theatre company. They provide help to people that encounter ‘mental health challenges.’ Their mission statement conveys their passion to grant people with mental health issues a chance to express themselves in a creative way. The performers devise performances based on personal experiences. This is open to mental health professionals and those who’re attentive in ‘drama therapy, physical theatre, applied theatre and arts therapy.’

They ‘combine performing arts with the containment of psycho-therapeutic practices and emergent ideas relating to neuroscience.’ This blend of art and science generates a balance and a fresh way for communicating feelings. This company inspires and encourages participants and doesn’t hassle.

They build awareness worldwide about mental health issues that are not discussed as often. They perform at fringe festivals, community hubs, small theatres and collaborate with other physical theatre companies.

What do you consider to be the underlying values of the Company and how are these revealed through the statement?  

Their mission is to permit a creative outlet to negative situations. It’s clear that they’re inclusive offering a wide range of opportunities as they welcome anyone from any background and age.

I see that this company’s intention is to provide a comfortable and freeing environment for people that find expressing emotions difficult. An underlying value I see is creating an open space granting participants’ voices to be heard which enables a transition to a positive atmosphere. They aim to normalise free expression of thoughts and feelings artistically.

Their unique application of science in an imaginative method highlights their encouragement for people to bask in the moment. They assist mentally and physically as the combination of arts and science supports ‘mindfulness and self-regulation’. Mindfulness ranges from meditation, yoga, colouring and performance which I describe as a release for participants.

I believe this practice aids in participants building resilience to negativity and self-doubt. Their extensive range of courses from ‘Physical Theatre Workshops’ to Psychotherapy Clinical Supervision’ spotlights their desire to providing participants with autonomy that felt impossible to acquire.  

With reference to Taylor's The Ethics of Applied Theatre (2003), what do you consider to be the strengths and weaknesses of the Company's approach to applied drama practice and what are the ethical considerations they face?

Taylor asks, ‘Is applied theatre moral?’ (Taylor, 2003, pg. 76) What are the morals of this company’s practice? One of their strengths is that their moral underlies ‘humane values informing the choices’ (Taylor, 2003, pg. 76). As they primarily focus on mental health, their values foregrounds people involved, their feelings and their decision on what’s the best way to release a bleak vision.

Additionally, Taylor explains, ‘Teaching artists strongly believe in the power of theatre art form to create situations and protected moments that enable participants to interrogate their past and present lives as they begin to build a successful future.’ (Taylor, 2003, pg. 81). This is fitting to Moving Theatre’s practice as they ‘embrace the relationship’ between art and science.

Taylor reveals, ‘The imaginary world becomes a potent medium for participants to explore the real world; rather than the applied theatre being an escape, it is grounded in real-life experiences.’ (Taylor, 2003, pg. 81). Creating similar situations in safe conditions empowers individuals to find a solution in dire situations which I believe is a strong ethical consideration. ‘

A weakness is if these teaching artists maintain an emotional distance as Taylor explains, ‘teaching artists believed that emotional distance was critical to the applied theatre’ (Taylor, 2003, pg. 82). How much ‘psychological distance’ is required? As I would imagine people performing their real-life events would have an impact on teaching artists.

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17 Best Drama Therapy Techniques, Activities and Exercises. 

PositivePsychology.com 

Ackerman. E, C 

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TASK 2

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THE GROUP

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Workshop Evaluation

At the beginning of our process, we wanted to gain a better understanding and an insight to what applied drama means. When researching, I read Monica Prendergast and Juliana Saxton’s Applied Drama: A Facilitator’s Handbook for Working in Community who explains how ‘Applied drama is a field of dramatic arts practice that is process-based, one in which spectatorship and performance happen within communities’ (Prendergast and Saxton, 2013, pg. 1).

What struck me as I continued to read up on their theories is how the nature of applied drama means more than the physical body, it focuses on feelings, emotions and the mentality behind all of it as, ‘Applied drama involves physical/body working in harmony with the phenomenal/experiential body.’ (Bresler, 2004, pg. 7). The power behind bringing our minds and bodies together as one is incredible and foregrounds the strong effects applied drama possesses.

Another key influence that inspired our process is how applied drama has the ability to help a variety of people from different backgrounds, different ages and different lifestyles. Having the ability to teach people skills they might not have tried or maybe they have hidden away is rewarding. I understand that applied drama ‘always takes places within a community of practice’ (Prendergast and Saxton, 2013, pg. 4) highlights how inclusive and welcoming it is to its participants.

A significant key theoretical influence that inspired me was the Five C’s which Prendergast and Saxton delve into:

· Communication

· Cooperation/collaboration

· Concentration

· Commitment

· Caring

These elements engage the facilitators as well as the participants. This sparked my thought process and as I shared this observation with my group, it resonated as we aimed to transpire these elements throughout our workshop. We believed this would be essential to not only a prosperous workshop but to an effective facilitating strategy.

Communication is extremely important because with good communication, the facilitators are able to authenticate with participants their comfort and enjoyment. Facilitators having clear communication with one another is just as important as it is imperative that there is confidence with the plan in motion.

As I reflect back on our journey, I contemplated our strengths and weakness during the process of creating the workshop to leading the workshop with the Blackwood Company. It was important to note throughout the course of our planning and discussion how we have worked cooperatively.

Teamwork is a strength I believe we upheld which enabled us to create an open and comfortable space as we were determined to generate a blooming workshop. We possessed a great work ethic which in my opinion is one of the vital components to working collectively as a unit. Additionally, we were able to discuss our own ideas which we would then collaboratively expand on them. Everyone had the opportunity to express their own ideas freely and we were able come to agreements on what would be appropriate for the group after close observation of their workshop. We were able to assign relevant research to each person without argument and then come together to deliberate and discuss our exploration. Our adaptability was strongly shown as we had to adapt to the uncertainty of participants' attendance and had to swiftly modify the ending of our workshop.

A weakness I recognized about our workshop plan is how it could’ve been improved. I believe that we underestimated the time given and didn’t plan the timing of our activities as well as we could’ve. With this flaw in our plan, we were not able to fully conclude our workshop. We had an hour to complete the workshop and with our inaccurate plan of time, we had to quickly wrap up.

I have acknowledged that the number of activities we included in the workshop is another weakness and with noticing this problem, less activities could’ve given us more time to finish our full workshop.

Taking into consideration that this was our first workshop, I have procured knowledge on how much time and preparation is required for building a rewarding workshop. However, there are certain aspects that I would improve on and develop if I were to do another workshop such as being more aware of timing. Paying attention to this detail would allow the opportunity to complete our workshop fully and finish on a smoother note. Another improvement would be less activities as this allows for more time with other activities. Furthermore, I would like to look further into other unique activities as I feel that would challenge me to dive deeper with divergent possibilities as ‘applied theatre is primarily concerned with developing new possibilities for everyday living’ (Nicholson, 2014, pg. 4).

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WORKSHOP PLAN

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Bibliography

Ackerman.E, C. (2020). 17 Best Drama Therapy Techniques, Activities & Exercises. Home / Therapies. PositivePsychology. Accessed on: 25/03/2021 Link: https://positivepsychology.com/drama-therapy/

Moving Pieces. (2010). Registered Charity, REG Number: 1183981. Accessed on: 25/03/2021. Link: http://www.movingpieces.co.uk

Nicholson, H. (2014). Applied Drama: The Gift of Theatre. Theatre and Performance Practices, Second Edition London:  Palgrave Macmillan UK.

Prendergast, M and Saxton, J. (2013). Applied Drama: A Facilitator’s Handbook for Working in Community. Bristol: Intellect

Taylor, P. (2003). The Ethics of Applied Theatre. In Applied Theatre: Creating Transformative Encounters in the Community, (pg. 76-101). Greenwood Press (Heinemann, Portsmouth, NH.

Thompson, J. and Schechner Richard. (2004). Why “Social Theatre’? Cambridge University Press. New York University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The Drama Review.