Nonentities Youth Theatre
Production - The Children
Last Update 22-Sep-2011
by Edward Bond
Directors notes
Edward Bond’s The Children is a challenging but rewarding play for young people to perform. The play is written in such a way that it can be both improvised in parts and performed by script in others. The allowance of such spontaneity enables performers to engage and connect with the world of the play in a way that is real for them. This often makes for interesting performances in which both performers and audiences are taken on an ever evolving journey of extreme situations.
They children in the play all come from a the same housing estate and it is the friendships that are formed here which pave the way for how they respond to the sequence of events that follow. The script refers to the ‘new estate’ and infers that the children are very separate from it and have no place there. Therefore prior to being introduced to the text or even the notion that they would be doing The Children the group spent time creating their own run down housing estate, developing the characters that lived on it and exploring how they were connected. This was a crucial part of the process as it enabled the young people to really visualise and own the image of their estate without being influenced by the text. It allowed them to step into the shoes of the types of characters they may encounter in the play; The result of this pre work was an estate which the young people created referencing their own realties and knowledge. Stereotypes or preconceptions were challenged and performers achieved a very real state of being before being exposed to the text. For the performers this mental and physical preparation enabled a more visceral and somatic connection with the worlds of the children in the play when introduced to the text.
Each week the group worked on developing a different scene. This was approached through an initial group read-through followed by the identification of the key actions/things that needed to happen in the scene along with any important dialogue. Mapping these out gave the group a framework within which they could improvise. The most challenging part of the process has been harnessing the spontaneity achieved in early improvised rehearsals and replicating it with the same fervour many months down the line.
Providing the conditions in which adults and young people can work alongside one another in a professional manner encouraged the sharing of knowledge and skills, exposed people to new ways of working and offered many learning opportunities for all. During the rehearsal process a number of young people were invited to perform with adult arm of the society in The Darling Buds of May and the knowledge gained through this experience was shared with their fellow actors and all contributed to preparing the group for their performance.
The final performance was a shared collaboration between directors and performers. The show featured scripted work, improvised sections, movement sequences and a soundscape - all devised and created by the company. .
Director - Georgina Biggs
"The performance was great. It wasn't what I was expecting and it was clearly a big challenge but they were all so professional and it far exceeded our expectations. A real achievement." Parent
"I'm really pleased with the progress. This is the first time they have really committed to something and i see their confidence building each week" Parent
"I'm learning so much each week. It been great to explore so many different techniques" Company Member
"We have all grown so close by doing this production. It's like we started out in our little groups but now we are a family. Its been great to get to know new people and make friends" Company Member