I left my workshop with Graeae in the pouring rain with soggy trainers and lots to think about.
Graeae (pronounced ‘grey eye’) is the UK’s flagship disabled-led theatre company. Founded in the 80s, Graeae boldly places d/Deaf and disabled artists centre stage and is a force for change in theatre on their doorstep (London’s East End), nationwide and globally. I spent the day leading a mask performance masterclass with seven fantastic theatre makers from Graeae’s Ensemble who have all come on a pioneering artist development programme, to “develop and challenge themselves and be Deaf and disabled leaders in their field.”
I began the day admitting to be being nervous. And I was. I was nervous of making mistakes, I was nervous of causing offence, of using the wrong language. And so the conversation began…how others were nervous…nervous of the masks, of making fools of themselves, of also making mistakes. So we started by agreeing; mistakes are ok; let’s learn together. And by heck did I learn.
Most importantly I learned to ask the artists on how best to support them as individuals. I decided not to cut any thing from my workshop by presuming it wouldn’t work because of the diversity of needs in the room. Instead, I lead each exercise, explaining each learning point and then asked individuals to adapt the exercise for themselves. It felt like a risk…but an exciting one. How often do we believe that we have to think the whole thing through, make changes based on our own presumptions? Why are we afraid to just ask?
The results were inspiring. Adaptations of games became equally, if not more, cheeky and surprising. The discussions in the group were far more searching and demanding (than I’ve know in my 20 years of mask theatre) and that’s because I was being challenged. This felt like an extraordinary group of young people who wanted to bend the rules, break the rules, change the rules, and all I could say at times was, “I want to know more, tell me.”
I’ve asked to share thoughts with the students via email, I wish I could explain it to you now, but I still haven’t got a proper handle on my rules that today were smashed! Perhaps I’ll convince a student to share their thoughts through a Vamos Theatre blog…watch this space…voices that need to be heard.
And their mask work…well that beautiful, detailed, intelligent and at times rude, oh so rude! mask work…I get that, that’s my language and it speaks directly to me. And I realise yet again…it’s words, bloody words… that frighten me.
Rachael