Context

Quicksilver Theatre has been working in pre-school and primary schools to support children’s’ development for over 30 years, with programmes and projects which enhance the curriculum, build self-confidence, self-expression and communication skills and enrich the imagination.

The project came about originally as a research and development exercise to learn about the life experiences of contemporary 10 and 11 year olds. For over 30 years Quicksilver has been developing and touring new writing for children, both in the UK and internationally. Consultation, research through workshops and listening to young audiences has always been at the heart of their work.

The Primary Voices project was initially piloted in 2005 with 10 schools from Hackney and Islington. Primary Voices 2009 took place exclusively in Hackney.

Aims & principles

• Children can achieve high standards of playwriting, given the right support.
• To empower children’s writing and give it high status by having it performed by professional actors
• To feature children’s writing at every stage in the creation process
• To make children hungry for writing plays and creating narrative

Summary

The project followed the same structure in each of the eight schools over the autumn term. The Year 6 class in each school had two half-day workshops with professional actors and a director.

In the first workshop the children learnt how to write a scene; in the second they learnt how to write a play. The children were then invited to submit new plays for a showcase. From over 100 scripts 20 were chosen for professional production. All the children involved in the playwriting workshops came to the showcase and were recognised for their achievements in an awards ceremony whether their work was one of the 20 final plays or not.

“You cannot imagine the enjoyment and excitement of these Year 6 pupils. Usually it is so difficult to motivate and keep a theme running with these teenagers who think they have outgrown the primary school but these pupils had grins as big as four year olds at Christmas time. In the SATs in Year 6 our writing results were better than our reading results. I have no hesitation in commending Primary Voices as a way of supporting the school to achieve expected standards of attainment,” Head Teacher, London

In Practice

Quicksilver supplied a theatre director and a group of actors into ten Year 6 classrooms in Hackney schools to help the children to understand that writing has a purpose, and to reveal to them the power they have as writers.

The first workshop focused on writing stage directions, showing the new playwrights what a powerful effect they could have on the actors through their words. The children worked in groups to explore how to write a scene, focusing on character, dialogue and stage directions.  Each scene written by the children was performed by the actors.

In the second workshop groups of children wrote a short play. Again, each play was performed by actors in a workshop. At the end of the second workshop the children knew how to write a play and were keen to write more.

After this session, the children were challenged to write a complete play – either individually or in groups – and two of the best plays from each class were chosen to have a fully professional premiere, with real actors, at a local theatre.

All the children and teachers who took part in the playwriting workshops were invited to the performances.  There was also a weekend public performance for families and friends, followed by a production party.

At the showcase, the children were introduced to range of VIPs, all of whom addressed them as writers and aspiring writers. Hackney MP Meg Hillier told children she would write to the Prime Minister to tell him about their excellent work; Hackney Council Cabinet Member for Children’s Services Rita Krishna congratulated them on their achievements; celebrated playwright Sir Arnold Wesker was astounded by the plays he saw and told the children their plays were more sophisticated than he could ever have imagined.

Partnerships

Quicksilver Theatre achieved a successful Primary Voices programme in partnership with the Arcola Theatre and eight Hackney schools:
Brook Community School, Colvestone School, Princess May School, Bethnal School, St. Scholastica’s RC Primary School, Baden Powell School, Shacklewell School and Nightingale School. Pete Lawson, Quicksilver Associate Artist, wrote the workshop scripts to support the children’s writing in the workshop.

Primary Voices involved 20 professional actors overall.  The showcase took place at the Arcola Theatre in Hackney, a hotbed of new writing and innovation. Quicksilver has developed a relationship with the Arcola with the Primary Voices project particularly in mind because they feel it is really important for the children to have the experience of visiting this kind of theatre in the heart of their local neighbourhood.

Quicksilver Theatre is funded and supported by the Arts Council, who also attended the final event.

Outcomes

In practice, the Primary Voices project produced 20 new plays written by children and inspired 300 children to have greater confidence in their writing.

The response to the challenge to the children to write their own plays was overwhelmingly positive. Quicksilver received over 100 scripts written by 173 children, both individually and in groups. All the children involved in the workshops came to see the final 20 plays that were produced for the showcase. The showcased writers were the special focus of the event and felt immensely proud of their achievements.

“I couldn’t believe it was my play – it was even better than I expected!” Year 6 pupil

The other children were proud to be associated with their classmates and inspired by their achievements. Several boy writers stepped up to accept their applause, making a particular impact on other boys making them realise that they too could write a play.

All the teachers involved want to be involved in the project the next time around. All of the teachers involved in both this project and the initial pilot project have commented on the increased confidence and flair their classes now exhibit when writing play scripts.

Teachers have commented that certain pupils have gone on to write several plays independently of Quicksilver or their teachers, and have taken the enthusiasm for writing scripts for actors with them into secondary education.

“The work the children did amazed me…usually getting them to write creatively is difficult – they normally copy television or a movie they’ve seen – they started to write very elaborately to make sure everything came out as they envisioned. I would definitely encourage other teachers to do the Primary Voices project – my children are better spoken, can concentrate better and their play scripts are amazing,” Year 6 teacher, St Scholastica’s Primary School

The workshops and the showcase have had incredible feedback from both the teachers and the young playwrights who took part. The showcase performances that were staged were in such high demand that in future Quicksilver is considering putting the young playwrights’ work on at a theatre for a longer period of time to ensure that everyone that wants to see it can get a ticket. Quicksilver also wants to extend the opportunity to children from other schools to come and see what can be achieved and see how much fun and satisfaction can be had from writing plays.

Quicksilver has recently decided to roll out their educational work to the rest of London and therefore are currently in talks with several other boroughs about bringing the Primary Voices project into their Year 6 classrooms during 2009 - 2010. 

Resources

“The most powerful thing about this project is children being able to see that their writing has a purpose. Professional actors can bring alive a child’s script in front of their eyes, minutes after they have written it. Discovering the power of being able to make that happen was fundamentally inspirational to the children. They appreciated that they were being taken completely seriously,” Carey English, Quicksilver Theatre Company

Useful links

The Arcola Theatre, where the plays were staged: http://www.arcolatheatre.com/

Quicksilver Theatre’s website, featuring the educational brochure for the Primary Voices project:  http://www.quicksilvertheatre.org/

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