Today, Melanie brought her physical theatre
skills to the mac in conjunction with mac’s Next Generation New Shoes project.
A group of ten young people from the Prince’s Trust in Birmingham learnt lots
of physical theatre skills, from how to create a story using simple movements,
sentences and music to basic character creation.
The young people came out of their shells to
develop their confidence, physical and vocal skills. By using simple games,
Melanie created a space for the young people to develop their ideas and work
comfortably as a team. Examples of physical theatre given included Charlie
Chaplin, Marcel Marceau and Frantic Assembly, which gave the participants a
real example what these basic skills can eventually lead to.
Melanie builds her workshops to make physical
theatre more relevant and applicable to everyday situations. For instance, using a simple starting
and stopping activity, the task builds into a fully-fledged performance, shown
in front of the group. This not only demonstrated skills in confidence, but also public speaking,
team work and physical skills.
By sitting in on this session we learnt a lot
about applicable skills, confidence and team building. We found out that all of the young people
enjoyed the workshop and found the skills learnt, the artist involved and the
service provided by the staff was 100% Excellent/Good. Well done to the young
people at The Princes Trust for participating in today’s Physical Theatre
Workshop, we look forward to seeing you soon!
Written by Charlotte Bell & Georgina Lee
18/04/16
