How did you get into this particular area of theatre?

"Having achieved a BA (Hons) degree in Film and Drama at Bulmershe College of Higher Education, I went on to train as a secondary-school drama teacher at the University of Reading. Following my training I became a company member and then Artistic Director of Breakout TIE Company."

What other projects have you worked on?

"I have worked in a range of different contexts both in the UK and abroad - directing and delivering projects in Community Theatre with an emphasis, for many years, in Theatre of the Oppressed. In the last five years, as well as working on the TAEDS course, I have trained at, and graduated from, the School of Playback Theatre in New York. Their improvisational form of theatre is currently one of my research areas and is also being delivered as a unique aspect of the TAEDS course. I also continue to be a practising professional performer and teacher of Playback Theatre outside of the course."

Who is the TAEDS course designed for?

"It is designed for both deaf and hearing students and approaches theatre from a deaf (i.e. visual) perspective. Most of the staff have professional experience in educational drama and Theatre-in-Education, and all production work and participatory community theatre work is accessible to both deaf and hearing.

The course is assessed 70% practically and there are no written examinations. There is a lot of unsupervised group devising and rehearsal work so prospective students need to either have (or be prepared to quickly develop) good interpersonal skills as group dynamics are at a premium."

What areas does the course cover?

"The course has a strong theatre strand in which modules in physical theatre and eastern dance drama sit alongside those in the heritage of theatre, naturalism, modernism, 20th-century theatre and improvisation, to name a few, as well as a range of productions. The modules are delivered mostly through practical work with some seminar-based sessions and only a minimal amount of lectures.

An education strand runs throughout all three years and encompasses work with primary, secondary and special needs pupils in both mainstream and specialist deaf schools. This allows the students to acquire a range of essential vocational skills including the planning, delivery and evaluation of education-based work.

The course has developed links with a range of professional theatre companies such as Forest Forge, Propellor and Company: Collisions who have provided visiting lecturers and student placements as well as performances. These are companies who specialise in a form of storytelling in which the physicalisation of character and the emphasis upon the visual and physical to communicate meaning match perfectly with the practice and intentions of the course."

Please tell us about Sign Theatre…

"The course provides study in Sign Theatre, a unique form of theatre, which combines British Sign Language (BSL) with the gestural language of theatre. This creates a highly visual theatre form which makes comprehension simultaneously accessible to both deaf and hearing spectators. This is different from interpreted theatre where trained interpreters will operate from the side of the stage. Students learn how to annotate play texts from their written English for Sign Theatre and how to work creatively with the split of voice and sign for a character. This entails more than one actor playing the character. Students also have the opportunity to explore the relationship between the vocabulary of BSL and expressive movement.

In order to achieve this, all the students need to be able to use Sign Language and classes in this are provided alongside the degree modules. A highly developed sense of deaf awareness is nurtured on the course as this is relevant to all aspects from seminar discussion to workshops with school pupils to specific procedure for technical rehearsals, to name just a few examples of working contexts encountered by students."

What areas do your students go on to after the course?

"Careerwise, the course provides a solid and practical introduction to both the theatre industry and to education, and many of our students go on either to work in community theatre in some capacity or to train as teachers."

For further information contact:

Simon Floodgate
Institute of Education, University of Reading
Tel: 0118 378 5917
E-mail: s.floodgate@reading.ac.uk