REPORT ON THE RECENT MAD/SIG WORKSHOP
DAY AT PODKOWA LESNA (see photos)
For those who did not attend, you
all missed a day to remeber!!! We enjoyed a lovely meeting with good
refreshments, courtesy of our host, Ewa Rogowska and the morning session
of lively discussion and planning was well-complemented by an afternoon
spent in a practical way, being led through a Mystery Play performance,
thanks to Danuta Furszpaniak, who brought some lovely costumes for
us to work with and wear.
The Festival was the main topic discussed
in the morning, and a team was provisionally gathered to plan for
a festival in the new year......March 19th was the date set as the
best possible one for all parties concerned. The venue is likely to
be Warsaw again and negotiations are on-going regarding a fee for
an ideal theatre centre with a capacity for 150-200 people. Keep checking
the Festival section of our website for further details when they
become available.
We also considered the website and
possible improvements to it most people were happy with the layout
and design, and we now hope to be more proficient in publishing regular
up-dates. Few people, though, ever write to the website with news
of any sort opinions or even, jokes! This situation has to change,
and people must realise that the website represents our 'Dramnews'
- it is our magazine and it's your contributions that count!! I have
announced news of a forthcoming play to be performed in Warsaw "Teechers"
and I would hope that our members, wherever you are, will contact
us with similar snippets of information recommending plays, festivals,
etc. giving dates, too.
We also discussed the venue for our
workshops presently, Podkowa Lesna and we would love some feedback
as to your choice of venue or even proposed venue(s) for future use.
Is Podkowa - too far from the centre of Warsaw? Does it put you off
from coming to a workshop? Let us know.
Also, let us know about your preferences for future workshop subjects/
themes/ ideas and recommendations, of course.
After some excellent, filling pizza
for lunch we launched into the afternoon session, led by Danuta, and
she introduced the idea of what is a Mystery Play - showing us a vast
array of photos and charts to make it clear to us what to expect.
She showed us work performed by her students, and also told us of
her plans for taking her ideas to Britain, where she is going to attend
the next IATEFL Conference.
I am very sceptical about the idea
of using religion in a Drama context - it has always seemed dangerous
to me. You can never be religious enough for some people, and your
interpretations of the Bible are there to be 'shot in flames' but
maybe that's because I have bitter experiences in Britain perhaps
it's different here in Poland. Danuta dealt with the story of the
birth of Christ in a very matter-of-fact way - giving us scope to
develop our given roles in a series of improvisations which were to
be linked
together. She gave us no propaganda or input as to how we should perform,
simply information relevant to our scenes, and thoughts for us to
reflect on - eg how would Joseph be thinking after he's been around
all the hotels of Bethlehem, and found no accommodation....and he's
tired, and got to face Mary with the bad news? This open-ended method
was most refreshing, and got the most out of those performing! The
use of costumes really helped us feel the transformation of being
in Bethlehem, Jerusalem, Galilee, etc....and not Podkowa Lesna! Also,
the combination of scripted dialogues with improvisation was very
effective it gave the whole process a sense of strucure and purpose.
The performers gleaned confidence from having a firm idea what to
do.
What I say here can not do justice
to what Danuta achieved and hopefully she'll write an article for
our website to outline her ideas further, and help us unravel the
mystery of Mystery Plays. They are well worth considering as a Drama
project for the future. If you wish to contact Danuta - her e-mail
address is: dfurszp@amu.edu.pl
I hope the next MAD/SIG workshop
day will be better attended (date to be confirmed yet) and above all,
you contact us more to help our group become a truly thriving one
once more!
Peter Whiley (MAD/SIG Co-ordinator)
MAY
2003 MAD/SIG
WORKSHOP
...
OCTOBER
2002 MAD/SIG WORKSHOP DAY
A REPORT FROM THE CO-ORDINATOR
The meeting was held at Podkowa Le¶na, at the home of Ewa Rogowska.
It was a lovely venue, and the sunny weather helped us appreciate
the beauty of that area. The atmosphere was very conducive to fruitful
discussions, and at the end of the day I was well-satisfied.
Anna Fabjanczak, our main speaker, and also the IATEFL Regional Rep.
for £ód¼ region gave an excellent 2 hour talk on the uses of music
in the classroom, and their psychological benefits. We usually concentrate
on Drama activities, so this was a bit different from our usual practice.
Anna had everyone doing physical exercises, and gave us a range of
songs, including several Beatles tracks, to use. She also gave us
a lot of theory and relevant book sources for further reading on the
topic. Some songs are especially helpful to the learning process,
due to their effects on our brains, and this was a particularly fascinating
aspect of Anna's talk.
Lunch followed, prepared beautifully by our hostess, Ewa and payments
were made, by those attending, to cover the costs of the lunch.
After lunch, we discussed the annual Drama Festival for Children and
we received two proposals from groups in Toruń and £ód¼, who were
interested in hosting the event this year. We usually host the Festival
in May or June but Basia ¦ciborowska, our main organiser, was not
able to organise the event in the summer due to work commitments.
We eventually decided to put the event back till November giving students
and teachers 2 months to prepare, after returning fresh to their schools
in September. The teachers could plan well ahead, in the meantime,
and we could advertise the event well in advance...We decided to hold
the Festival the weekend after the IATEFL Conference in Poznań Nov.
16th/17th. This way, we could advertise the event at the Conference.
Since then, I've had a follow-up e-mail from Toruń pledging a good
network of interested teachers to help with the organisation of the
Festival. It appears to be our likely venue.
In the late afternoon last Saturday, we discussed our website and
had present Marcin Stanowski, who has set one up already he gave us
necessary advice, and we discussed possible designs and content.
So, the meeting ended at 4 pm....after I gave further announcements
of recent developments on the International scene, including a report
from a Conference I attended in Slovakia last October.
Our next meeting will probably be held in June at the same venue.
reports/