Dramatic Need — GUEST BLOG: My final week...

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GUEST BLOG: My final week…

My last week at Dramatic Need was here. It came round so fast it was almost unexpected and definitely unwanted.

The zines were finished and I handed out the photocopies I’d made of each one and asked the kids to remind themselves who their zine was for and the messages they wanted to protray. Was their message clear? Would their audience understand it? The kids reviewed their work and using the design tools we’d learnt such as colour, fonts, shapes, emphasis and layout made a few final amends and assembled thier copies ready for distirbution to their audience.

After a panicked first half (in some cases) we counted down to the finish line and the kids gathered together to complete the final piece of the project and an important part of being a designer; presenting and explaining our work. To guide them in what can be a daunting task for even the most proficient designer I asked them to answer four questions: What is your message? Who is your audience? Why did you use the fonts, colours images etc and what are you most proud of?

What followed was lively, fun, touching and made me feel extremely proud. In some cases I really had to hold in the tears listening to heartfelt speeches as the kids thoughtfully explained their zines. I was amazed at the wisdom and creativity that was shown and just how how much thought and care had been put into their work, with no exceptions. Topics such as lesbianism, being yourself and being proud of it, depression and anxiety, not judging others because you don’t know the truth of any situation (along with a really clever visual representation of this), as well as crime in the community, health issues and more lighthearted fashion and football zines. There were the usual laughs between presentations, but when the more serious topics came up silence fell and the kids listened intently and showed amazing support and respect for each other.

It was intense at times and incredibly moving as I realised something else that was so special about Piet Patsa; the way that kids felt safe enough to express themselves in such a vulnerable way which, I think, is down to a variety of factors; being away from the township, the support they had for each other and the open, kind and respectful culture that the Dramatic Need staff have managed to create. Being able to be part of it for a few short weeks felt like an incredible privilege.

I finished my workshops by explaining the types of career you can have as a graphic designer, the routes you can take to become one in South Africa and finally showing them my own portfolio; a chance for them to be the ones to judge my work. I hope they learnt something about design and possibly a career that they could be good at and enjoy. But I know that what I did is minimal compared to everything that Dramatic Needs offers them… a safe place where they can find out about themselves and their world without judgement, where they can express themselves and realise that they have their own opinions and that they matter. Where they can get support, encouragement and be heard. And where they can have fun, let off some steam and have a good old laugh. These things are so much more valuable than I ever realised before arriving in South Africa’ and learning about it’s complicated past and the realities some of the kids in this country face daily.

My experience with Dramatic Need is easily one of the most rewarding and inspiring things I have ever done. Getting to know these gorgeous teenagers and seeing their individuality and everything they have to offer has been an amazing experience that I’ll never forget. It’s unbelievable how quickly you can become attached to them, leaving their smiling faces was heart breaking but it helped to know that despite the things they have to deal with they are lucky in one way at least; to be part of Dramatic Need.

Kaysha volunteered as a Graphic Designer at our Piet Patsa Arts Centre during January 2018. To find out more about how you can volunteer with Dramatic Need please visit http://www.dramaticneed.org/volunteer

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New Year, new adventures

Janet Lindley, Dramatic Need’s Operations and Development Manager, shares about our exciting start to the new year! 

I woke to the sound of steady falling rain at Rietpan Farm near Rammulotsi this morning, so packed my car in readiness for a quick getaway as the farm roads very quickly become waterlogged and impassable! But it soon stopped and, although it remained very grey and gratefully cool, did not look like it would become floodlike.

Kekana ‘Tatu’ Somfula, Dramatic Need’s operations manager and senior arts facilitator in Rammulotsi, Free State, Lawrence Chabalala, (DN arts facilitator) and myself were due to leave for Welkom (about an hour and a half’s drive from Viljoenskroon) for the ASSITEJ  South Africa’s multidisciplinary arts facilitators’ training workshop. ASSITEJ SA is the South African chapter of the international organisation for the support of theatre for children and young people. They offer wonderful arts teacher facilitation workshops that our team are attending. I hoped the rain would not return as the roads are tricky and potholes are not our friends when it’s very wet! We were due to stay in Welkom for two nights and would be returning to Viljoenskroon on the Sunday.


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It had been a good week and we are settling into the new Dramatic Need programme for 2019. We are working with the following fantastic groups of students:

Evergreen Primary School: (ages 5 to 9)

Evergreen is a local primary school which sits adjacent to our largest arts centre on Rietpan farm in the Free State. We have had a long relationship with the school but have recently re-started our arts programming with their young students. We are offering them a series of art activity classes for their age group organised and led by Lawrence after school on each Friday. The children are thoroughly enjoying their arts classes, especially when it comes time to create their own artworks.

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Adeline Meje Primary School: Grade 6 (ages 10 to 12)

Adeline Meji is a school in the centre of Rammulotsi Township, Free State and the site of one of our smaller shipping crate art centres. This is an in-school programme where we are working with the creative arts teacher to facilitate her grade 6 students. There are three Grade 6 classes, each with about 40 children. Each week we focus on a different art discipline, covering music, dance, drama and visual art. This week we used the art of mime to explore different ways the students could create their own artworks using their bodies as sculptures. This is a wonderful and non-threatening way for them to begin to express themselves through drama, starting with frozen images and moving on to little mimed scenes.

Grade 8: (from the five local high schools and aged 13 to 14)

This is our after-school group on Mondays. The number of student attending is still fluctuating but we maintain between 35 and 40 students each week, which is manageable and fun. We are going to use the same lessons with them as we are with the Grade 6s in order to streamline prep and resources, but obviously will raise the level of intricacy and expectation with this group. We also have more time for games and meaningful discussions arising from the work. The Grade 8s wrote their monologues this week; these are their own stories about a day they will never forget. These monologues are the first step towards our next big Children’s Monologues fundraiser, which takes these stories and develops them into professional performances, and will take place in 2020. They focused well and wrote quietly for the whole session, which we began and ended with some lively games. They can choose if they want to remain anonymous or not, and it gives them a chance to explore a day that may or may not have been a good one for them, and rethink its impact on themselves and their lives. They are a very engaged group that are keen to explore new ideas and experiences.

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Grade 9 to 11: (from the five local high schools and aged 15 to 20)

These students cone after school on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday each week. All our loyal attendees are back from the previous year and although we lost last year’s grade 11s, as they have to focus on their final year exams, we have gained many new and enthusiastic participants! This week we began a four-week session to explore the meaning of the signals and signs. They loved it. Tatu led the session which took them through exploring the signals and signs we see around us every day. The students then spent time each designing their own personalised sign that sends a message they feel should be seen by their community. Over the next three weeks they will paint large versions of these on to the wall of the local stadium (permission received from the municipality!), which is a place most of the community walks or drives past at some stage. Many came back a second or third time to make more signs! It was lovely to see them so engaged in their creations, of which they were very proud. This will be a wonderful opportunity for them to start to define their personal values and views which they can share with their whole community.

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MACs: (Our Morning Arts Club for those who have left school aged 18 to 25)

This group is for those young people within the Rammulotsi community who have left school but haven’t yet found a job or vocation. We have a steady group of 6 young people at the moment, both boys and girls, and others have showed an interest and will hopefully join us during the coming weeks. During their Thursday session we go over the lesson we will be teaching the Grade 6s the following week. We are training our MACs as arts facilitators so that they can eventually teach the grade 6s, but they have to participate in each session and, as with the grade 8s, we facilitate these session in a manner appropriate to their level of maturity.

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The MACs are slowly warming to the idea of what DN can offer them. And what they can offer to DN. When they first arrived this week they were incredibly shy and reserved, but after one or two games they started to relax and become themselves. They engaged very meaningfully with the lesson, which centred around the creation and understanding of Tableaux. We also introduced the idea of conflict in theatre. These concepts will be taken forward in more complexity and detail during the course of the year. It is very rewarding seeing these young people who have previously struggled with school or work blossoming by the minute as they learn how to explore their inner and creative selves in this safe, non-judgemental and equitable space.

It has been a good week. The schedule is quite a demanding one, but we are all enjoying the work and the rewards it offers. Tatu and Lawrence are star facilitators!

Dramatic Need supports 16 Days of Activism for No Violence Against Women and Children

Between 25 November (The International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women 2018) and 10 December (Human Rights Day), the South African government (amongst others) marks 16 Days of Activism for No Violence Against Women and Children. This campaign aims to raise awareness of the ubiquity of violence within households and intimate contexts, which in South Africa is primarily directed against children and against women, female-identifying and non-binary individuals.  Dramatic Need works with many vulnerable adults and children using arts-based advocacy and community theatre to build awareness, self-confidence and help them to speak out against abuse and abusers. We also work with boys and young men to encourage them to better communicate and to express their anger and frustrations in a non-violent way. This form of psychosocial care is crucial if intimate partner violence is to be obliterated in future generations.

In support of all those who are vulnerable to domestic, intimate and carer-inflicted violence,  we will be posting short videos of individuals from all walks of life, from all round the world, highlighting the appalling extent of this problem in South Africa . Please share these videos with people you love. It’s time for awareness and it’s time for change.

We acknowledge that gender-based violence exists in all communities, amongst all genders and affects both trans and cis-gendered people. Gender-based violence and violence towards minors, of any form, are abhorrent and we stand in solidarity with those who have experienced it, whatever their gender or age, wherever they are in the world.

In these videos we have done our best to use reliable and verifiable statistics. Where statistics were not measured within the last two years we have specifically mentioned this fact. Sexual violence and rape statistics are difficult to accurately measure due to low levels of reporting and the intimacy of the crime.

STATISTIC SOURCES:

South Africa’s femicide rate is 5 times higher than the global rate. A woman is killed every 4 hours in South Africa, with one every 8 hours classified as an intimate femicide. This is the murder of a woman at the hands of their current or ex-husband or boyfriend, same sex partner or rejected would-be lover.

https://ewn.co.za/2017/07/13/fact-check-femicide-in-sa-3-numbers-on-the-murder-of-women

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Almost 8% of South African men think it is acceptable to hit a woman if she argues with him

6% (Around 1.18 million) South African men think it’s acceptable to hit a woman if she goes out without telling him.

South Africa has one of the highest incidences of rape in the world

http://www.statssa.gov.za/publications/Report-03-40-05/Report-03-40-05June2018.pdf

41 percent of rapes in South Africa are committed against children

In 2014/15, there were 15 520 child rapes reported. Only 1799 ended up in successful convictions. In 2015/16, 16 389 were reported. Just 2 488 were convicted.

In 2016/17, the numbers rose even further to 19 071. Thankfully, there was a small improvement in convictions; 6 366 were convicted.

https://www.thesouthafrican.com/rape-statistics-41-children/

In 2017/18, a total of 50,108 sexual offences were recorded by the police, up from 49,660 in 2016/17. The majority of the sexual offences recorded were rapes.

https://africacheck.org/factsheets/factsheet-south-africas-crime-statistics-for-2017-18/

A NEW VOLUNTEER ON THE SCENE! ’ 

October was a busy month of preparation for our new volunteer from New York, Raven Cassell’s visit. The students wanted to present their plays they had been working on to her on her very first day with them, so the first two weeks before she arrived were spent writing scripts and getting their stories finalised into scenes. This process not only hones their writing skills, but also affords them the opportunity to negotiate and come to an agreement as a group about the specifics and flow of their stories. The role of the facilitator is key here as it is important that, while giving technical guidance, they ensure that the students maintain ownership and management of the production of the plays. The last two weeks of October were spent rehearsing and creating costumes, props and simple sets. The stage was set!Reflections on this last week:Raven’s first session with the Dramatic Need students was on Monday 29 October. There was much excitement as they presented their work to a very appreciative audience. Raven then took them through a process of developing their own community values which are to be agreed upon and upheld for the six weeks that they will be working together. The students showed a good understanding of the values instilled through the Dramatic Need process. It was a valuable exercise in rethinking and reinforcing the way we strive to work together in the sessions. The students really enjoyed meeting and working with Raven and are looking forward to the next few weeks with her. She has already added huge value to the sessions.Next week’s plans:This next session will continue to build on the community and dialogic principles from session 1. Raven will start the session with meditation and check-in. She will lead the students through an interactive lesson on theatre vocabulary and techniques. The students will then have to opportunity to collaboratively redefine these concepts for themselves. Students will then be asked to find objects. These objects will be used for an improvisation exercise. 

Images from left to right: Agreeing on ‘shared values’ in Raven’s first workshop with Dramatic Need students; Raven outside the staff house at the Dramatic Need Community Arts Centre, Free State South Africa; Discussing and brainstorming on ‘what makes a community?’

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Welcoming our new volunteer: Raven Cassell!

Reflections on this last week:

Raven’s first session with the Dramatic Need students was on Monday 29 October. There was much excitement as they presented their work to a very appreciative audience. Raven then took them through a process of developing their own community values which are to be agreed upon and upheld for the six weeks that they will be working together. The students showed a good understanding of the values instilled through the Dramatic Need process. It was a valuable exercise in rethinking and reinforcing the way we strive to work together in the sessions. The students really enjoyed meeting and working with Raven and are looking forward to the next few weeks with her. She has already added huge value to the sessions.

Next week’s plans:

This next session will continue to build on the community and dialogic principles from session 1. Raven will start the session with meditation and check-in. She will lead the students through an interactive lesson on theatre vocabulary and techniques. The students will then have to opportunity to collaboratively redefine these concepts for themselves. Students will then be asked to find objects. These objects will be used for an improvisation exercise.

Learning to tell our stories

In September we explored the creation of positive and negative tableaux. It was very interesting to see the students’ interpretations of their peers tableaux and also sobering to note how the majority used violent images to portray a negative scene. These moments always serve to remind the facilitators that violence is something with which our young students are often confronted. The transition from their positive to negative tableaux enabled discussions to emerge on what instigates violence and how it may perhaps be mitigated in various family and community situations. After the performances we then spoke about things that make a tableau more interesting, like the focal point, expressive body shapes and positions as well as exaggerated facial expressions.

We also experimented with how to create sets for scenes using our bodies instead of real furniture etc and much fun was had with mobile chairs and doors; a wonderful kitchen was created complete with oversize kettle; Janet had a shower in the most magnificent bathroom; we even had a talking cross hanging in a church which was being led by a corrupt pastor!

The team felt that the students needed a break from performance art for a session so Tatu and Lawrence led the students through a process of kitemaking during the third week of September. The kites were made from waste material that the students decorated and collated. Each one was unique and all were beautiful.

During the final week of September they returned to their plays, exploring conflict and conflict resolution. Although this was done through little enacted scenes and a further exploration of their stories, Tatu, Lawrence and Janet spent many hours before the lesson going through what this could mean in the lives of the students and how important it is for them to recognise different types of conflict and learn how to deal with these in the real world. Quite a simple lesson, but with complex content that was explored in great depth by the students.

These plays will be taken forward into scripts during October and we hope to perform them for our next volunteer, Raven Cassell, a drama practitioner from the USA, when she arrives in Viljoenskroon on 29 October. Raven will be with us for 6 weeks and the students will be proud to be able to offer her something of their own on her arrival.

Raven  plans to co-create a unique society with the DN youth, co-developing values and practices. Thematically she plans to look at science fiction or visionary fiction as an entry point to “creating new realities.” Over the course of the session they will look at community, collaboration as a process, relationship to body, earth and else, how to be in conversation with art and its context and personal history - all through the lens of theatre.

By the end of the course she’d like students to walk away with the ability to understand what it means to be a  collaborator, to create work with the knowledge of how to be in dialogue with identity and the position they hold in the world and to have learned how to use the theatre as a tool for community building. She plans to introduce the students to the works of artists that reflect the students and their communities, and to guide them through a process of finding ways to express themselves through art. They will use theatre, music, photography, poetry and film to achieve this.

Janet, Tatu and Lawrence also met with all the Grade 7s at Adeline Meje Primary School (at 07h30 on a chilly spring morning!) to tell them about Dramatic Need and invite them to join our sessions in 2019. They all came outside with their chairs and congregated on the netball court next to the DN container to hear what we had to say. There were 130 of them and they were all very interested and engaged. We taught them a song (Tony Chestnut) which they loved and they all went back to their classrooms smiling and chuckling. The teachers are very supportive of our work and asked if we could not come and work with them in the Primary School too. Tatu and Janet are working on a plan to include morning sessions in the local primary schools of Rammulotsi in the DN programme from January 2019.

August: Song, dance, and secrets

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This month was an exciting one where we guided the students through a process of bringing their characters to life. The first week was spent trying out the different physical characteristics and personalities that their characters might have and embody. Once the students had worked out how their character might walk, sit and move around the space, they each had to take up the “hot seat” and answer questions (posed to them by their peers) as their character. We got to know some very interesting characters over the course of the week! It was amazing to see how imaginative the students were when they answered questions as their characters. It was very valuable for both those asking and answering the questions to learn how different people can respond to the same situation, depending on their unique personality and characteristics. We did notice that many of them had brought their characters to life as gangsters. While there was definitely an inherent understanding that these were not people to admire as model citizens, it became clearer and clearer as the week went by that many of our young students saw them as successful navigators of their circumstances, and that their alternatives were few and often unattainable. In the society that these children inhabit, the gangster is often the only role model of financial independence and entrepreneurial success. This is a reality that we as facilitators have to be cognisant of as we progress.    

During the second week our students became composers and, through a guided process of musical exploration, composed a short piece of music that could be considered to be their character’s musical signature. They were encouraged to think of musical signatures that we have all come to know (Jaws music for a shark, Pink Panther music, the musical signatures of their favourite Anime characters) and to create one for their own characters. Our marimbas and other instruments were put to good use and some budding composers were discovered!

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The following week saw them flex their choreographic muscles as we guided them through a process of choreographing unique movement pieces for their characters. This was great fun for all involved and some very interesting steps were achieved! It was very inspiring to see how creative our students could be through musical composition and dance choreography. Often we assume that these skills lie with the professionals and are not accessible to all. Our students learned that they could all be composers and choreographers if they chose to be, and that their creations were valued and admired. All their pieces were performed for their peers and they were very proud of showcasing their original compositions and dances.

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Week three was a more introspective one, where they explored the possible secrets that their characters could have. This was an interesting exploration into the secret lives we all live in our heads, and what that means for our lives and relationships. The conversations that arose were not always easy ones, but Tatu and Lawrence facilitated these with the thoughtful care that is an essential and integral part of all the work that we do. We had many debriefing sessions that week in order to ensure that all issues and concerns were dealt with in such a way that no participant felt threatened or compromised at any time during the process. It was ultimately a very rewarding week for all involved, and contributed to a greater depth of understanding of the complexities of the people alongside whom we live and work.

During the last week of August, we created the beginnings of little original pieces of music theatre. This is an amazing process that enables the students to tell their own stories through a democratically created scenario in which their chosen character has to redefine their life after an irrevocable occurrence that permanently disrupts it. Their stories ranged from corrupt pastors to the tragic loss of a pet with many more interesting scenarios in between! There were some beautiful scenes created, with many innovative ways of stage presentation explored. At this beginning stage their stories are told by a narrator and enacted through mime, with musicians providing background and mood music. These will be taken forward into scripts during September and October and we hope to perform them for our next volunteer when she arrives on 29 October. The students will be proud to be able to offer her something of their own on her arrival.

July: Making our own worlds

July was full of activity! We started the month by painting amazing murals designed by Dramatic Need students on the outside walls of our staff house on Riet Pan Farm, Viljoenskroon. Tatu and Lawrence organised all the paints and materials and assisted the students with transposing their images on to the walls. Mixing the colours to achieve just the right one each time was a wonderfully satisfying task! The students did an incredible job and completed this artistic feat during their mid-year holidays. They worked very hard to get it done on time and we all think they are beautiful.

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The centre closed for the last week of the holidays so that Tatu and Lawrence could attend the Assitej South Africa teacher training course for Creative Arts teachers in Kroonstad from 9 to 14 July. This was a wonderfully informative and innovative week crammed with activities and information that has given us great content to include in the Dramatic Need curriculum. Tatu, Lawrence and Janet have taken some of the Assitej lessons and combined them with the amazing Visual Arts curriculum compiled by Shannon Brinkley and we now have a comprehensive and magical multidisciplinary arts curriculum planned for the rest of 2018!

The first week of the term commenced with the Creating Characters lesson, where the students go through a thoughtful and democratic process of creating imaginary characters complete with their own musical and dance signature. Once they have defined these characters and know them well, they will give them unique costumes and explore their hidden Secrets and Needs. This is a wonderful process for exploring the complexity of human beings and the darkness and light in all of us and for ultimately getting to understand who we are as individuals within a diverse and multicultural society.

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June: youth month in Rammulotsi

June is always an important month for Dramatic Need as the country takes time to focus on its youth. Our wonderful Ambassador, Chi Mende, came out to spend a day with them and led them all through a thoughtful and fun filled time of love, learning and light! Each one of us came away feeling just that little bit more special and empowered, and with a beautiful little candle to remember the experience. It was very special to see how the young people responded to her care and positive energy, finding the courage to tell us all more about themselves and those dreams and hopes that they have. These young people of Rammulotsi/Viljoenskroon that attend Dramatic Need have aspirations of achieving so much in this life, and we are doing all that we can to help them realise those!

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