Improving confidence with creativity
Mon 16 Sep 2019It’s back to school time for our creative companies, with a new term starting this month.
Based at The Marlowe Kit, the companies provide the opportunity to attend regular sessions in acting and writing, with the aim of helping students learn theatre skills, build confidence and enjoy themselves.
Practitioner Francisca Stangel is the company director of Marlowe-supported clowning company Acá Theatre and has been involved with the creative companies since about 2015. She teaches The Marlowe Minis (ages five to seven) and The Marlowe Youth Company (ages seven to 10).
“I really enjoy engaging with those age groups. It’s been a really enriching experience for me,” she says.
“I try to be more of a guide and someone who can help structure what they come up with. Of course I want to teach them skills, but it is very much a two-way street, they teach me a lot as well.”
Francisca says she has seen many benefits for the children involved in the creative companies.
She says: “The sessions are really fun because they allow the young people to run wild with their imagination. You can see how they light up and become really proud of what they do and how they work together to achieve something. We’re not afraid to be silly and it’s organised silliness. Silliness is such a powerful tool in creating work and allowing yourself to be playful.”
Francisca, who is also studying for a PhD in early modern drama at the University of Kent, says that her sessions include games and storytelling through play. Some of the activities involve children creating performances together, sometimes in smaller groups, improvising scenes they then share in front of each other.
She adds: “My aim is to empower the children. They gain a growth in confidence, not just in standing up on a stage and delivering lines for a performance but also in talking to each other, group work and making their voices heard. They develop an awareness of their bodies and how to use them and how to really tap into the wealth of imagination that everybody has.
“A lot of families come back and say that their child’s confidence is growing in school and that their teacher has said their imagination and creativity has really developed. It’s so great to hear and reaffirms that what they do in the classes is helping them develop in all areas of life.”
You can book your place in a creative company session online or by calling 01227 787787.