Case Study Evaluation Preperation: 'Cathy' Cardboard Citizens

1 . Who is the company and what is the particular project you would like to look at? (Please write a paragraph explaining who they are and what they are trying to do)

In my Case Study Evaluation I will be evaluating Cardboard Citizens aims and weather they had met those aims or not as a company in their recent performance called ‘Cathy’. Britain’s Cardboard Citizens is a company that makes theatre with and for homeless people. Their main aim is to “to change the lives of homeless people through the performing arts”. Also the company strives to spread awareness of homelessness and the misconceptions of this in society. To achieve their aim the companies objectives are:

• To tell stories through performances in public places such as the streets, hospitals, the stage and centres (Cardboard Citizens, 2016).
• Provide a main place for those that are homeless or excluded (Cardboard Citizens, 2016).
• Improve the confidence and skills of those people through workshops and support (Cardboard Citizens, 2016).
• Reach out to theatre lovers all around the world (Cardboard Citizens, 2016).
 

2. Why have you chosen to look at this particular project/ event?

I have chosen to look at the company’s performance ‘Cathy’ because personally I had been homeless at a point in my life when I was little, so I thought this would be an appropriate event for me to evaluate. I feel that I will be able to give a more fair and accurate evaluation on a subject matter I know, rather than one I do not know. I will be solely evaluating the event by using the aims and objectives of the company as a criterion, and then seeing whether the company met those aims and objectives or not. What I will be looking into is whether the performance I watched was truthful, diverse in its own right, widely accessible to all audiences, the audiences experience of the performance and how well the joker and the performers performed. I will also be evaluating how well the company applied Augusto's theory of 'Theatre of the Oppressed' and weather they linked it back to their aims and objectives or not.

3. What resources will you be using to evaluate this event? ( eg. going to see a workshop, video of a production, reviews... ) please be specific.

So far the resource I have looked at and will use to evaluate this event are: the performance I watched, Cardboard Citizens main website, a YouTube clip of the trailer of ‘Cathy’, an article about the company by Nick Smurthwaite and a review by Jessie Thompson. To be specific here is the list of resources below:

Bibliography

Ancock, G. (2009) Cardboard Citizen’s promotional video [online video] Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0I7CZ7GbJ4 [Accessed 3 December 2016]
Cardboard Citizens (2016) Audience reactions to Cardboard Citizens’ Cathy [online video] Available from:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Cx9Pu0JJ1A [Accessed 3 December 2016]
Cardboard Citizens (2016) Cardboard Citizens ‘Cathy’ Trailer [online video] Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2IoSgUIgfJA [Accessed 2 November 2016]
Cardboard Citizens (2016) Speak with impact [Online] Available from: https://cardboardcitizens.org.uk/events/speak-impact [Accessed 28 October 2016]Cardboard Citizens (2016) The work of Cardboard Citizens [online video] Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8J8gKD-G_RE [Accessed 3 December 2016]
Cardboard Citizens (2016) Theatre of the oppressed [Online] Available from: https://cardboardcitizens.org.uk/theatre-oppressed [Accessed 28 October 2016]

Cardboard Citizens (2016) What we do [Online] Available from: https://cardboardcitizens.org.uk/what-we-do [Accessed 28 October 2016] CommunityChannelTV (2011) Untold stories- Cardboard Citizens [online video] Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-69yuzCxKz8 [Accessed 3 December 2016]Smurthwaite, N. (2015) ‘Cardboard Citizens: refusing to put the homeless in a box’, The Stage, 6978: 36-37.

Thompson, J. (2016) Cardboard Citizens on responding to Ken Loach’s Cathy Come Home fifty years later: ‘homelessness can happen to anyone’ [Online] Available from:  http://www.standard.co.uk/goingout/theatre/ken-loach-cathy-come-home-cardboard-citizens-a3366341.html [Accessed 15 November 2016]  

As I write my Case Study Evaluation I will keep on looking and referring to these resources. I will also look at more resources and pieces of evidence outside this list so my Bibliography will be longer and more varied once I wrote the whole of my Case Study Evaluation. As I write my Case Study Evaluation and comment critically, I hope that I will learn more about Cardboard Citizens and the work they do. This Case Study Evaluation will be my very first one, however I hope to learn a lot from it and I hope to improve my critical thinking skills.

Pedagogy of the Oppressed

1. What does Friere mean by the Banking model of education? Please be specific.

The Banking model of education is to do with the relationship between teacher who is the subject and student which is the object. The teacher gives students information and facts which they feel is true and the students absorb this information, without questioning its relevance and how it may impact them on a day to day basis. The more of this knowledge the students absorb, the more likely they are to adapt to the world as it is. In the Banking concept, it is said that the teachers feel superior due to having vast range of knowledge and the students are inferior due to having no knowledge at all. In the Banking concept Friere explains that the more information teachers give to students, the better they are. Also the more information students retain, the better of a student they are (Freire, 1972). The attitudes and practices which keeps the Banking concept alive are: 

• The students are taught by the teacher (Freire, 1972).
• The students no nothing at all and the teacher knows everything (Freire, 1972). 
• The students are thought about by the teacher (Freire, 1972). 
• The students listens carefully when the teacher speaks (Freire, 1972). 
• The students get disciplined by the teacher (Freire, 1972).
• The students does as they are told by what the teacher says and their choices (Freire, 1972). 
• The students think they are acting but they are just part of when the teacher acts (Freire, 1972). 
• The students adapts to what is chosen for them to do by the teacher. They are not consulted in this process (Freire, 1972). 
• The teacher expresses their own knowledge to the students. They accidently mix up their knowledge with the knowledge the teacher gives (Freire, 1972). 
• The students are the objects of the banking model of education and the teacher is the subject (Freire, 1972).       

2. Have you had experience of this type of teaching, how do you feel about it? If you haven't how do you think you might feel about it?

PLEASE NOTE: I will not mention any names due to confidentiality reasons.

I have had a lot of experience of some elements of this type of teaching, especially in a non-school setting. For example, when I lived with my parent and step-parent over 5 years ago, they both told me what to do all the time. If I didn't do what they asked of me correctly then there was serious consequences for me. Some of the things I had to do for them was to clean the house every single day when I came back from school, walk the dog, organise the recycling weekly, take the trash out weekly, keep an eye on my younger step-sister all the time and many other things. I could never express my views or opinions on different subject matters to them because if I did then it would be classed as "back chatting" which was very rude in their eyes. I was never allowed to have a say in things, even if I was right. Due to my visual impairment, I was never aloud to go out on my own and learn about my surroundings. I was also not allowed to practise cooking. Life was very hard at this point in my life. My parent and step-parent were the oppressors and I was the oppressed. 

Looking back on the past, I did not like this way of teaching and how I was raised because I was not allowed to be my own person. I had to be the person that my parent expected of me. During this point in my life I felt completely worthless, a failure and I generally felt that I could never get the approval from my parent even though I tried my best in everything. I generally thought that I always made them both unhappy and that I was the worst daughter they ever had. 

This is just one of many experiences of how the Banking concept effected me. Due to being dictated to all the time by  teachers, specific family members and other people, I feel as if I have lost confidence and self-esteem overall in myself which now unfortunately is having a negative impact on my life.   

The Banking concept still happens today to a certain extent. It is wrong as everything is just one-sided and the oppressed are not given any freedom to flourish and thrive as individuals. Overall I believe that everyone in the world an in society will not progress and get the maximum out of life if they are either the dominant oppressor, the oppressed or are people that takes everything they learn or experience as at face value.

3. How do Friere's ideas chime with Augusto Boals theories of Theatre of the Oppressed?

As I briefly mentioned in the previous question, the oppressors are people that force their views and opinions on the oppressed. The oppressors force their views and opinions on the oppressed either through, violence, mental or emotional abuse, physically or a combination of most of these things. The oppressed people are people normally in either disadvantaged backgrounds, different ethnic groups, people with a range of disabilities and mental health conditions, the young and many more. These people are the ones that are dictated to and are forced to adapt to the world and take on the oppressors way of thinking (Boal, 2008).

This links with the Banking concept because the teachers or anyone else in some form of authority are the oppressors and the people who are not superior are the oppressed. However, there is a main difference between Friere's ideas and Augusto Boals Theories of the Oppressed. The main difference is that in Augusto's theory, the oppressors and the oppressed take action to either not be the oppressor or to rehearse solutions on how to solve a social or political issue through different art forms such as Forum Theatre.

From these two readings, the main thing to think about is to not fall into the trap of being the oppressor or the oppressed. In a workshop situation the facilitator must remember to not accidently apply some of the elements of the banking concept as they will either make some of the participants agree with everything they say, or some of the participants will rebel. I now fully understand why my lecturer made my class and I aware that as facilitators we cannot force our own views and opinions on the participants through what we say and how we use our language. I am a facilitator in the making and I must facilitate and guide a workshop, not teach a workshop.   

Reference List

Boal, A. (2008) Theatre of the oppressed. London: Pluto Press.

Freire, P. (1972) Pedagogy of the oppressed. London: Penguin Books Ltd.

Augusto Boal: Theatre of the Oppressed Part 2

Explain in your own words : 

1 Third stage - Theatre as language. 1st degree- simultaneous dramaturgy , 2nd degree - image theatre. 

The 'theatre as language' stage is divided into three parts. These parts are simultaneous dramaturgy, image theatre and forum theatre. These parts represents different levels and degrees of participation (Boal, 2008). These parts are explained in more detail below:

The 1st degree is simultaneous dramaturgy. Firstly the actors perform a scene to the spectators up to the point where the dilemma or a problem reaches its crisis. Then the spectators can intervene by giving the actors possible solutions to solve a dilemma or problem without physically being on stage. The actors then try it out all the solutions suggested to them through improvisation (Boal, 2008). The  spectators then watch this scene, with their solutions and ideas in it. Boal gave a scenario of How simultaneous dramaturgy works. For example: 

• The husband told his wife to keep documents (Boal, 2008).
• The wife puts them away without suspicion (Boal, 2008).
• They then had a fight (Boal, 2008).
• The wife wanted to find out what the documents were about so she asked her neighbour to read the documents for her. The wife found out that the documents were love letters written by the mistress of her husband (Boal, 2008). 
• The wife wanted revenge (Boal, 2008). 

In this scenario the audience had to suggest to the actors solutions to how's the wife could have revenge on her husband. Some of the suggestions were:

• It was suggested that the wife could cry a lot in order to make the husbands feel guilty and bad about his behaviour. Then husband would ask the wife to make dinner afterwards. The solution was not excepted by the audience (Boal, 2008).
• Another suggestion was made for the wife to abandon the house and leave the husband to think about what he had done. The solution was not thought to be a good one in the end as the wife would only end up punishing herself (Boal, 2008).
• Then a suggestion was made that the wife could lock the house so then the husband could not get in and would have to go away. The husband begs to be let in a number of times. In this scene the husband eventually leaves his wife and takes his salary with him. The actress in this scene commented that she did not like this solution (Boal, 2008).
• The final solution made was for the wife to let the husband come in, hit him with a big stick, serve his dinner with affection and forgive him. Everyone agreed and they liked this solution (Boal, 2008).

This type of theatre breaks the wall between audience and actors as the audience is given more freedom to intervene and potentially change what is going on in the world.

The 2nd degree is image theatre. In This degree the spectators responds more directly through movement to a direct problem or an abstract theme. An example where they can do this is through the process of sculpting. One participant acts as a sculpture and everyone else is the clay. Silently the sculpture shapes everyone else into different images according to the theme or situation raised. The sculpture firstly moulds everyone into an actual image, then the ideal image and then transition to get to the ideal image. When each image is created, the sculpture asks the other participants who are observing if they agree with the images or not (Boal, 2008). I used this activity in one of the workshops with my peers. Our Theme was Brexit and how the majority of people did not like the fact that Teresa May got in power. We created an ideal image of Jeremy Corbin in power and then we created the transitional images on how to get that ideal image. Overall, this way of working allowed participants to try out their solutions and what they would do but in a safe controlled setting.

The 3rd degree is forum theatre. This is where the spectators intervenes decisively. Firstly the actors perform a scene which could be 10-15 minutes long based on a social or political problem. The actors then present the solution to the audience and then ask the spectators if they agree with this solution or not. The same scene is then performed one more time, but this time the spectators can directly intervene and replace one of the actors on stage. The spectators can apply their suggestions made on stage, however they have to continue the action and still act as the character they are playing (Boal, 2008). I have participated in forum theatre a few weeks ago. For example, I went to the Trinity Community Arts Centre and watched a play called 'Cathy' by Britain's Cardboard Citizens. This performance was about a mother and a daughter and the struggles they went through when it came to homelessness. After the performance, the audience was given the opportunity to change the fate of the central character Cathy and how she could of dealt with situations differently. I made a suggestion that Cathy could present her problems on stage and give the landlord a bad reputation, due to him threatening to chuck her and her daughter out. I practiced my suggestion on stage as the character Cathy. This was very difficult to perform this scenario on stage as I have never been on the news before and I did not feel that I knew the central character well enough to act like her. Participating in forum theatre was an amazing experience as I learnt a lot from the audience responses and the central character, so I now feel that I have got extra knowledge to deal with different aspects of life.

2 Fourth stage - Theatre as discourse. 
George Ikishawa said that the ‘Bourgeois Theatre’ is the finished theatre. George also said that the bourgeoisie knows what the world is like and so they can create this finished image. They can present the spectacle. However the oppressed groups and the proletariat groups do not know what their world will be like and what it will entail so their theatre is a rehearsal in preparation for life instead of a spectacle. Theatre as discourse is where thoughts and ideas are practiced in a theatrical form and different issues are challenged. The spectators can intervene directly in performances, ask questions and practice their own ideas through a theatrical form (Boal, 2008).

The different forms of 'theatre as discourse are listed below:

• Newspaper Theatre- The Nucleus Group Arena Theatre of Sao Paulo developed this form of theatre. The techniques that came under 'Newspaper Theatre are simple reading, crossed reading, complementary reading, rhythmical reading, parallel action, improvisation, historical, reinforcement, concretion of the abstract and text out of context (Boal, 2008).  
• Invisible Theatre- This is a type of theatre where scenes are performed in a non theatrical setting such as a town, a restaurant, a park and many more areas. The spectators in these non theatrical settings do not know that the are spectators as they arrived at that place by chance. These spectators do not know that the scenes are a spectacle. Prior to the scenes being performed in a public setting, the actors rehearse these scenes constantly as they need to prepare for every type of situation that arises (Boal, 2008). 
• Breaking of repression- Certain groups or types of people crush the other group or types of people through repression. For example, the old crushes the young through forcing their ideas and views on them. They may see the young to be weak and inferior so they think its ok to force their thoughts and opinions on them. This repression can be broke as the spectators could be asked to remember a time when they felt repressed, accepted this and then acted upon this to stop being repressed. Then the spectators can be asked to perform this experience in a scene (Boal, 2008).
• Myth Theatre- This is to do with discovering the obvious through a myth (Boal, 2008).
• Analytical Theatre- This is where one of the spectators tells a story and the actors improvise this story. After this the actors are put into their social roles and the spectators choose an object to represent that role (Boal, 2008).
• Rituals and masks- The overall structure or thing determines the culture of a society (Boal, 2008).  

3 In detail -   How might you use these stages in your own work?

As a facilitator I may facilitate a workshop around the theme of anti-bullying to a group of secondary school children aged 11-12 years old. In this workshop I would introduce the 1st degree of which is simultaneous dramaturgy which is a part of 'Theatre as language'. I may get the students to think of a time when they got bullied and how that made them feel, through physical activities. Before they explore this physically, I would ask them to sit in a circle and I would then ask them if any of them either experienced someone who got bullied or if they have got bullied themselves. I would also ask them if they know of different kinds of bullying that can take place in and out of school. After the discussion I would get the students into small groups and ask them to rehearse and then perform a 3 minute scene of the bullying taking place. One or two students in the scene would be the victims, one person or two people would be the outsiders watching and the others are the bullies. This will all depend on how many people there are in each group. The rehearsal would be for 5 minutes. Then afterwards each group would perform their scene to the rest of the class. After each scene performed the students watching would be invited to briefly make suggestions to the performers on how to solve the situation of bullying. This overall activity would help all of the students to think about appropriate ways to deal with and prevent bullying in the first place.  

Once the students have thought of all of these ideas, I would implement the second degree of 'Theatre as language' which is 'image theatre'. I would ask them again in their small groups to spend 5 minutes to create an image where someone is getting bullied, based on one persons experience per group and then create that persons ideal image. At the end each group would show their two images to the rest of the class. This will show everyone that there are different forms of bullying that can take place. Following on from this activity I would get the class to have a vote on which group of two images that they want to work on as a whole class. The voting system would be done where the students close their eyes and raise their hand on which group of images they want to work on as a whole. After the voting the whole class will discuss what transitional images they can put in place to get from the original image to the ideal image. These images will then be created by the small group and the whole class. If some students want to be part of this group image then they will be given the opportunity to be a part of it. This whole class activity would be a team effort by everyone.  

These activities would be the starting point for the students as it would help them to identify different kinds of bullying and ways of dealing with this situation in everyday life. The structure of these activities would start to get the students actively involved in the issues of bullying and what they think of it. If I were to work with these students for a longer period of time, I would eventually get them to create a piece of forum theatre at the end of the year, as near that point, they would of gained a lot of confidence. Depending of the level of the students confidence and also with the consent of parents and teachers, I would get the students to perform in a public setting such as a church hall. If parents and teachers do not give permission for the students to perform outside the school, I would get the students to perform in their school which is a non theatrical setting.

Reference List

Boal, A. (2008) Theatre of the oppressed. London: Pluto Press.

Augusto Boal: Theatre of the Oppressed

1. What specifically stood out for you in the Boal reading? ( Give 2 examples, Be specific) What is your response to that? (Did it make you think about something - if so, what? Did it raise questions for you - if so, what are they?)

Near the beginning of the book when Boal discusses 'Experiments with the People's Theatre in Peru' I found out that in August 1973, it was estimated that 3-4 million of Peru’s population which at the time was 14 million were illiterate or semi-illiterate. I found this very shocking because it is thought that the spoken language is at the heart of communication and it is what people heavily rely on to interact with one another. However at the same time there are other ways of communicating, whether that is in another language, through body movements and other art forms. These ways of communicating can seem to be easy and obvious at first, but they are not to those people who are not aware of different ways of communicating. If those people are not aware of different ways of communicating then they may start to feel isolated, lonely and sad. In August 1973 the ALFIN project worked with the people of Peru to teach them literacy in their own first language and in Spanish as the second language and to teach literacy in all possible languages and art forms (Boal, 2008). The ALFIN project seemed to of opened up different kinds of communication to the people in Peru. My question to this subject matter is as follows: If there are different ways of communicating such as through movements to multimedia to even emails, why do people constantly rely on verbal communication? If language opens up a persons way of looking at life in general which they can then pass on that knowledge, why isn't these alternative ways of communicating presented and promoted to people at the early stages of their lives? Why in the 21st century do some people not fully appreciate that not everyone communicates the same as then, especially those with a learning, physical or sensory or mental disorder?

Another aspect of the book that I found interesting was when Boal stated:

“In order to understand this poetics of the oppressed one must keep in mind its main objective: to change the people- “spectators”, passive beings in the theatrical phenomenon- into subjects, into actors, transformers of the dramatic action.” (Boal, 2008: 96)

I found what Boal stated to be very inspiring and I completely agree with it all because theatre should not be just audience and actors, it should be the participants as the audience and actors at the same time. We all have an influence on our own and other peoples lives so it is our right to try out new things through rehearsals, performances and Forum theatre so then we not only inflict positive change and challenge the status quo, we also try out and practise things in preparation for what awaits us in the big world. As Boal stated "the theatre is not revolutionary in itself, it it is surely a rehearsal for the revolution" (Boal,, 2008: 98). My question to this subject matter is as follows: If theatre can be used as a tool by anyone to promote positive change and try out new things, why is this not being made easily available to the general public? Why are people not constantly being made aware of the benefits of theatre? Why do people either have minimal knowledge of the purpose of theatre or have stereotypical views of it?

2. What can we learn from Boals experience with the mans picture of home on pg 100? 

We can learn that a photo can tell us a lot about the daily lives of people and what they go through on a day to day basis, so this is a very powerful tool. For example, Boal met a man from Peru that had a picture of the child who's face was bleeding as the rats ate bits of their nose (Boal, 2008). Even though this photo was not a photo of home, it was a photo that clearly revealed how other people just like this child live and how their lives are at threat every single day. In addition, a photograph can become more significant and has more meaning to people when some of them share similar experiences to one another (Boal, 2008).

 

Overall the main thing we can learn is that we should appreciate how a person communicates, whether it is through movement or through presenting photographs. Also, just because someone communicates differently and other people may not understand what they are communicating, does not mean that a type of communication or what is communicated should be undervalued and dismissed. In a workshop situation or in the rehearsal room, participants will respond to stimuli and activities in a different way through different forms of language and communication. This is a good thing as it shows each persons uniqueness and creativity, so the facilitator should promote this.   
 

3. Please explain Boals first two sections ( 1 Knowing the body, 2. Making the body expressive) briefly in your own words.

Boal discussed in his book about the first stage of 'knowing the body and the second stage of 'making the body expressive. In the first stage when Boal discusses 'knowing the body' he is referring to participants identifying their whole self their muscular structures and the types of habitual behaviours they acquire through social expectations, their work or hobbies and their upbringing. Over years and years of going through life, these habitual behaviours shapes each person in terms of how they behave. Boal outlines different activities which addresses these habitual behaviours and then work on minimising these behaviours, so then participants can free themselves up and start to work on a variety of exercises and become different characters. The exercises that helps participants to become more aware of their body are:

• Slow motion race
• Cross legged race
• Monster race
• Wheel race
• Hypnosis
• Boxing match
• Outwest

Once participants get to know their body and have worked on it for a very long time then they can work on developing to express themselves through the body, but remembering not to get into those common habitual behaviours. Boal believes that in day to day life, everyone communicates mainly verbally which then means that our bodies is left underdeveloped in terms of communication (Boal, 2008). Boal gave an example of an exercise where each participant is given a piece of paper with their animal on it. They have to act as that animal mainly through movement and try to find another person who is acting like that animal as well. In this exercise participants solely use their bodies to communicate and act like their chosen animal and they have to look to see who is acting like that particular animal as well (Boal, 2008). By participants making their body expressive, they uncover things about themselves that they never knew and they start to create unique pieces of work.

Reference List

Boal, A. (2008) Theatre of the oppressed. London: Pluto Press.

The Six Polarities

1. In your own words discuss what Johnson means by the six polarities

When Johnston talks about the six polarities, he means the different relationships or things that have two polar opposite sides to them but are somehow connected and dependant to one another (Johnston, 2005). For example in everyday life these polar opposites could be day and night, positive and negative magnets, ground and water, sad and happy, North and South and many others. In Johnston's book 'House of Games: making theatre from everyday life' he discusses the six polarities which can occur in either a workshop, rehearsal or a performance situation. These polarities are: 'the fixed and the free', 'surface and depth', 'the centre and the edge', 'the individual and the collective', 'the performer and the audience' and 'the simple and the complex' (Johnston, 2005).

2. Choosing one of the polarities name a situation where a facilitator might encounter one. In a workshop situation a facilitator may encounter some of the polarities. For example, the facilitator may encounter a situation where one of the participants may of felt upset because none of their peers feel comfortable to work with them on a mini scene. The participant may think that their peers feel uncomfortable with them due to their appearance, their disability or simply because they may think that their peers may think of them as being unintelligent. In this situation it is very important for the facilitator to create a fixed rule or statement which could be to remind the whole group that there must be equal opportunities within the group and that everyone has to be professional towards each other. From this kind of statement everyone will realise that they have freedom to choose who they would like to work with but at the same time, consider everyone equally. This type of situation can be avoided if the facilitator lays out fixed rules at the beginning of the workshop and before each activity e.g. the facilitator could say to the group "Now you need to work with people you necessarily have not worked with before", "Remember not to talk in this activity". "Remember to support one another when creating a freeze frame in silence".

If fixed rules are put into place then this will allow the group to know their boundaries and they will be able to be free to expand on their creativity skills, which results them to create beautiful pieces of work. The relationship of the group will be more stronger and the group will be more supportive of one another. Also each individual will feel safe physically and mentally during the workshop, so there will be nothing in the way of them participating in a workshop and activities within it.

 
3. Describe how Johnsons descriptions of polarities might relate back to last weeks reading?
Johnston's description of polarities relates back to the reading I read last week. For example, the 'fixed and the free' polarity can link into when a facilitator gives clear instructions and uses 'side coaching' techniques in an activity. A facilitator could say to a group on a particular activity "remember you are not allowed to talk to each other when organising yourselves in order of the date and month you were born. Remember that you need to stay stood on the chairs when organising each other. Support one another doing this." The group knows the rules of this activity but they are free to creatively get to their space one chair at a time as they like. This activity also links with the polarity 'the group and the collective' because the group closely works together as an ensemble and communicates in different ways to organise themselves in order, but at the same time not falling off the chairs.

Also in the last reading, it was mentioned about Kinaesthetic Learning and how this way of learning allows participants to explore their bodies, its limitations and the environment surrounding it (Kelly, 2014). This way of learning can link with the 'surface and depth' polarity. For example, the facilitator may ask the group to get into pairs and do the pushing and pulling activity with their hands and bodies. At first the pairs may not put much effort into this exercise because either the pairs feel that they cannot work on this activity due to not knowing each other much or they simply do not see the point in this activity. At this point, it is the facilitators job to remind the class to "explore more with the forces", "play about with it". In the end the pairs may start to think more detailed about their surroundings, each other and the story they start to develop through the pulling and pushing exercise. This exercise may start as being something pointless to the group but in the end, this exercise is thought of in a more detailed way and so it could be a start to a story or issue raised.

Each exercise or each situation has either one or multiple polarities within it so it is the facilitators job to identify these polarities and then take appropriate action to address these. There is nothing wrong with there being opposites to each kind of relationship or situation. As long as these opposites are used in a positively effective way, the group will get the maximum out of a workshop and activities within it.  


Reference List
Johnston, C. (2005) House of games: making theatre from everyday life. London: Nick Hern Books.   
Kelly, D. (2014) Laying the Foundations: A guide to youth drama. Dublin: National Association for Youth Drama.