We run projects alongside many of our productions, giving students an opportunity to explore the world of Donmar productions in depth. Recent projects have focused on playwriting, set and costume design, and devising, and have engaged students from schools and Further Education colleges from across London and beyond.
Thanks to the generous support of our sponsors, each project is available to schools completely free of charge. Projects typically take place over a period of about a month, and we work closely with schools to ensure that each project is delivered in a way which accomodates both their curriculum and logistical needs.
Examples of projects that we offer include:
WRITE UP
Working with a professional playwright and director, participants take part in a masterclass and a series of in-school workshops to develop their own short plays, based on the themes of a Donmar production. A selection of these plays are then performed in a rehearsed reading by professional actors in front of an invited audience.
Our most recent WRITE UP project focused around the Donmar Trafalgar production of SALT, ROOT & ROE. Participants wrote short plays based on stories from their communities, a selection of which were performed as a curtain raiser to a performance of SALT, ROOT & ROE by professional actors.
SETTING THE SCENE
This design project aims to introduce participants to the skills and techniques used by set and costume designers; working with a professional designer, students come up with original set and costume designs, build model boxes, and are given feedback on their work by experts.
Our most recent SETTING THE SCENE project revolved around the production of INADMISSIBLE EVIDENCE. Using Soutra Gilmour's design as inspiration, students worked to develop their own ideas for a Donmar production of Osborne's play, and gained both technical skills and an understanding of how to set a production within a particular period.
CHANGING SCENES
Now in its third year, CHANGING SCENES is a month-long devising project, with participants taking their inspiration from a Donmar production. Participants work with professional theatre practitioners to creat teir own original responses to Donmar productions, which are then performed on the Donmar stage; in 2010, for example, groups created their own original musicals in response to the production of PASSION.
The most recent CHANGING SCENES project took inspiration from the production of RICHARD II. Working with our practitioners and the Assistant Director of the production, students explored the themes and language of Shakespeare's play, and, after seeing the Donmar production, and created devised responses to the play which incorporated elements of Shakespeare's text with original scenes. These were performed in front of members of the RICHARD II cast on the Donmar stage.
CHANGING SCENES is generously supported by the Clore Duffield Foundation.
We are always looking to develop new projects, and to work with new schools and colleges. Please contact Sam Maynard at smaynard@donmarwarehouse.com for further details or if you are a teacher and would like to be added to the education mailing list.
