Rehearsal for Reality
Project Outline by Theatr Fforwm Cymru

Theatr Fforwm Cymru

Background

Theatr Fforwm Cymru's Object is -
'To advance the education of the public in Wales in the promotion and protection of good health in particular by participation in drama and associated visual and performing arts in both the Welsh and English languages.'

Rehearsal for Reality works towards this object by:

• Increasing the number of people or 'animateurs' able to facilitate the work and therefore the number of members of the public able to participate.
• Ensuring that the animateurs have the best possible raport with the groups they are working with because they are members of that community. This will maximise the impact of their efforts and the work will genuinely reflect what the community wants.
• Addressing 'good health' in it's widest possible sense to include physical, mental, emotional, social and spiritual wellbeing.
• Disseminating discoveries and good practice by publication, training, demonstration and encouragement so that they can benefit the widest possible audience

Our track record of delivering life-enhancing, empowering and eye-opening educative experiences is seven years long. We have worked with school and community groups, groups with special interests - mental health, hearing impairment, special needs, domestic violence, young people who have been excluded from the education system, addiction, the care system, self injury and many others over the years. We have trained diverse groups of professionals including nurses, pharmacists, teachers, magistrates, youth workers, all levels of psychiatric workers from consultants to nursing auxiliaries, social workers, counsellors. Our work has received national recognition via awards from the Wales Youth Agency, the Youth Work in Wales Excellence Award, Health Promotion Wales - Good Health Wales Award, even an award for our work with young people on New Deal.

The training we have delivered has, so far, resulted in the desire of five discrete organisations, two dealing with youth issues, two mental health, and one special needs to form forum groups and has heavily influenced many others. This list does not include the peer education communities we have trained and facilitated in five secondary schools in our area over the last five years. We have encouraged and supported all these groups to the limit of our resources.

Our work is very diverse in it's client group and subject matter but is overwhelmingly endorsed by both commissioning purse holders and grassroots participants.

Policy Statement

• Honest, integrity, compassion and simplicity.
• Humility, reflection, respect and personal responsibility.
  The celebration of diversity.
• The courage to be happy and to embrace unconditionally the positive regard of others and ourselves.
• Theatr Fforwm Cymru want to embody these values in all that we do so that we co-create a lasting space in which our innate wisdom can unfold and nurture well being within ourselves, our communities and our world.
• All this with the knowledge that words are meaningless without action.

Project Background
Rehearsal for Reality is a three-year Theatr Fforwm Cymru project modelling a practical example of how theatre and related techniques can improve the health and resilience of communities throughout Wales.

Theatr Fforwm Cymru have over the last seven years developed and tested several models for training groups in the use of theatre techniques to -

facilitate a safe and open space

and

release creative thought,

in order to allow individuals and groups to

ã investigate issues which effect them and their community
â identify aspects of those issues which inhibit their growth as individuals and as a community
ä and seek and rehearse viable solutions.

Groups trained in our methods are then supported as voluntary peer educators, utilising the techniques within their wider community, extending the spirit of creative inquiry whilst gaining self-esteem and respect from the effective contribution they make to their peer group.

Rehearsal for Reality is a consolidation of the development of these techniques in a national project that will bring together different groups from different communities to exchange experiences, investigate common ground, and concentrate energies to implement the changes needed to meet their needs.

The last seven years has shown a massive increase in demand for Theatr Fforwm Cymru's work, indicating a clear need for communities to find ways of discussing issues that are more involving, inclusive and fun. What has also emerged is that the sudden feeling of empowerment which our work often engenders needs to be accommodated through promoting accessibility to communication channels with bodies which are making decisions on that group/individual's behalf.
Likewise, continual requests for us to input into conferences for statutory and voluntary organisations have shown there is a need for decision makers to be given a greater opportunity to gain empathy and deeper insight into the lives of groups over which they have power. Presentations of the pieces of theatre that emerge from our work have an impact beyond mere speech, and have been the inspiration for more honest and sympathetic dialogue between service providers and users in many areas.

Aim
The aim of Rehearsal for Reality is to

• provide evidence for the effectiveness of
• disseminate understanding about
• and offer training in

the theatre and related techniques used by Theatr Fforwm Cymru.
This through creating a network of grassroots peer groups that are a sustainable, empowered resource within their communities, and have access to persuasively communicate their needs to decision makers.

Objectives
This breaks down into the following primary objectives -

• to activate the innate potential of communities.
• to assist the development of functional peer groups within the communities.
• to facilitate a synergistic exchange of ideas between these communities.
• to bring about conduits for communication between the network of communities, local and national governments, and decision makers.
• to ensure the sustainability of the peer groups, the network and conduits for communications.
  through these
• to effect healthy change in those communities and the wider society.
  and
• to research the effectiveness of the project in meeting these aims and disseminate the findings.

Three Year Outline

Year 1

• Through partnership with voluntary and statutory organisations in Wales, identify interested groups and develop them as peer groups attached to project.
• Initiate Research process to creatively evaluate project.
• Draft an award for animateurs developed in partnership with WJEC Artisan project and pilot with artists and youth workers on Millennium Festival project.
• Hold a conference at the end of the year, which will bring together decision-makers, the peer groups and other interested parties to plan a joint strategy for the following year and help form the basis of the research criteria for the success of the project.
  

Year 2

• Provide ongoing support for the peer groups.
• Identification and training of individuals within peer groups who wish to develop further skills at Theatr Fforwm Cymru base to become animaturs within their own community.
• Consolidate the national network of solidarity between peer groups developing increasing synergy through exchanges and joint events.
• Develop direct lines of communication formed between peer groups and local and national legislative and policy-making bodies.
• 2nd conference bringing together decision-makers with peer groups to assess the project according to criteria set out the year before.
  
  Year 3
  
  
• Compilation, publication and dissemination of document report of project and research findings.
• Full implementation of curriculum and training programme for community animateurs delivered on the basis of the models, methodologies and techniques of the project.
• Development of Goodwick Theatr Fforwm Cymru base as a centre for excellence and training in reflective arts.
• Direct lines of communication formed between peer groups and European legislative and policy-making bodies.
• 3rd conference to launch Goodwick centre, disseminate research findings, and bring together decision makers, peer groups and funding bodies to provide a strategy for the next three years.
  

The Future
The purpose of this project is to spread the advantages we and the groups we have worked with over the last seven years have gained from the body of work that has been developed and to release the energy there is in bringing these group together to confer. That this is a process which sustains its momentum is implicit to the planning of the project.
The cascade in learning that the process entails will need strong injections of support throughout the three years, but by training self-selecting individuals from those peer groups as cultural animators (animateurs), that need for support will dwindle as the group becomes more autonomous. The sense of solidarity formed between the network of peer-groups through the three year process will need careful nurturing by creating solid communication systems between groups and key individuals so that dependency on Theatr Fforwm Cymru to initiate and go forward lessens. This is not to say that Th.Ff.C. has any intention of leaving the scene!
There is no end to the groups and communities that could benefit from this work, and further Peer Groups will be formed and join the network, bringing their own diverse experiences and needs to share. Once the network is established and self-sustaining, there is scope to work on an European if not Global scale, arranging exchanges to widen the cultural experiences available to peer groups and feed into European Parliamentary legislature processes.
The evaluated outcome of the project will need dissemination, and for some years after the project it will be the shared responsibility of the staff to spread the learning gained from the project through lecture tours and consultation. The transferability of what has been learnt to other settings will also need to be investigated. Both processes with the potential to bring professions and areas of the community bringing new experience, skills and perspectives to the network e.g. magistrates, the police, head teachers, business managers etc.
Of course, one of the most validating outcomes for the project and particularly for the peer groups would be to see policy changed in response to their needs being recognised and articulated through the Theatre of the Oppressed process. The dialogue between the peer group network and local and national government and decision-makers must be nurtured to ensure that a change in post, in council or party does not signify the end of a relationship. For this to happen that relationship arrangement of a 'creative dialogue' between community and representatives needs to become part of the culture of government and legislature in Wales. To promote this outcome is the long term stratergy of this project.

Innovation
Rehearsal for Reality will give further opportunity for Theatr Fforwm Cymru to develop innovation in the following areas -
Cascade Training.
Harnessing the exponential potential of a learning network that shares and exchanges skills and knowledge across cultural and social spectrums.
Non-dualistic approach.
Applying further with a wider range and mix of groups our commitment to working through authentic interaction; meeting first and foremost with the person and not the label, professional mask or circumstance.
Appreciating diversity.
Model ways of keeping clear lines of communication that transcend difference so that difference can be appreciated, respected and celebrated.
Using diversity to increase awareness of choice.
Through exchange between diverse cultural, social and personal circumstances increase awareness and appreciation of own situation, so that choice can be better informed.
Lifelong learning and emotional and spiritual intelligence
Developing methodologies that revive the natural urge to learn in all life stages, through recognising the reciprocal relationship between the capacity to learn and emotional and spiritual intelligence.
Active Citizenship.
Developing participatory methodologies for the promotion of active citizenship and accountable political processes through facilitating a safe and rewarding space for dialogue between the 'empowered' and the 'in power'.
Ethical Growth
Develop models for ethical growth that are appropriate to voluntary sector organisations as an alternative to private and public sector models.

Added Value

Rehearsal for Reality will enable Theatr Fforwm Cymru to add value to its current practice by -

• Providing a framework for a 'joined up' organisation that has a coherent and sustainable structure.
• Creating a framework to maximise the synergy released from the common ground between diverse communities brought together by the project.
• Freeing up the human resources to consolidate thinking around our practice and therefore provide a better basis for dissemination of the work.
• Allowing for the development and delivery of a tailor made qualification route through which the employability of all volunteers and apprentices can benefit.
• Increasing the amount of training we can deliver and therefore increasing access to that training.
• Enabling apprentices to train closely with workers 'in the field' so that they gain a thorough grounding in and a hand in the development of the methodologies used.
• Bringing about a dialogue with the Welsh Assembly and other decision making bodies so that communities we work with can feed into policy and planning.
• Widening the catchment area thus ensuring that a wider national and cultural representation of people can participate in Theatr Fforwm Cymru's work.
  

Sample of organisations currently engaged

Ceredigion County Council
Helping to develop social inclusion initiatives in schools under Youth Access.

Denbighshire Domestic Violence Forum
Training and supporting the development of a North Wales branch of Theatr Fforwm Cymru.

BDA Glamorgan
Developing a Forum theatre project with deaf people.

Cardiff 21 Youth Environment Forum
Looking at Agenda 21 issues with Cardiff Princes Trust/RSPB forum group.

In Sight/Mewn Golwg, Ceredigion
Ongoing project with mental health service users and staff. Lancaster Intensive Support UnitSupporting a Forum Theatre group working with people with learning difficulties (relationship initiated in Wales).

National Carers, Pembrokeshire
National Forum Theatre tour with carers. NSPCC, GwyneddTraining Youth Forum, Anglesey in creative consultancy with local Young People.

Pembrokeshire County Council
Variety of partnership projects in schools and communities. Princes Trust, NationalWorking with 'unmotivated' young people from South East Wales.

Tai Hafan, National
Working with residents of women's sheltered housing throughout Wales. Torfaen County CouncilTraining within the Youth Access programme with extremely disaffected young people.

Voices in Care, National
Developing forum groups with young people who have been in care. WJEC, CardiffPiloting an award in partnership with other Welsh arts organisations, for working through the arts with young people.

WWAMH, Carmarthenshire
Developing user involvement in the mental health services. Young Farmers, National Using Forum theatre techniques to look at crisis issues in the industry/culture.

Ynom Oll/In All of Us, Pembrokeshire
Building on the success of the Giggle Factory working with mental health service users and staff.

Lancaster Intensive Support Unit
Supporting a Forum Theatre group working with people with learning difficulties (relationship initiated in Wales).

NSPCC, Gwynedd
Training Youth Forum, Anglesey in creative consultancy with local Young People .

Princes Trust, National
Working with 'unmotivated' young people from South East Wales

Torfaen County Council
Training within the Youth Access programme with extremely disaffected young people.

WJEC, Cardiff
Piloting an award in partnership with other Welsh arts organisations, for working through the arts with young people.

Young Farmers, National
Using Forum theatre techniques to look at crisis issues in the industry/culture.

...and the list is growing

In Context

Wales has been privileged in having a network of Theatre in Education and Community Theatre groups of a high quality, although these have lived under constant threat for some time. Whilst the likes of Arad Goch, Theatr Powys, Cwmni'r Fran Wen and a host of others serve the community and have educational goals it is important to distinguish between these companies: what they represent and the nature of their work, and that of Theatr Fforwm Cymru.
That we are a charity as opposed to a limited company indicates an approach that emphasises the quality of theatre as a tool that has a positive impact on the lives of participants, over but not excluding theatre as an artistic, commercial or cultural pursuit. This puts us more into the category of organisations like Cat's Paw in Clwyd, and Small World Theatre in Ceredigion. We share a common ground with these groups. Theyl use techniques from the same 'Theatre of the Oppressed' armoury as ourselves. Cat's Paw in particular work with Forum Theatre as a tool to investigate issues and Small World Theatre have similar ambitions to ourselves in creating opportunities for Legislative Theatre to operate in the Welsh Assembly. There are, however, subtle and not so subtle differences in the vision and philosophy of these organisations that reflect the composite experience of their staff and have a significant effect on their approach to working with people.

Small World Theatre brings a wide breadth of theatre, puppetry and circus techniques to their work and experience of working with diverse cultures. Their approach is one of 'cultural development' which is difficult to reconcile but not impossibly so with our own approach which has no prior agenda, only a set of useful techniques that seem to work consistently. The key to our success is that we work with groups not as experts in any field or with any 'authoritative knowledge' to impart but simply as fellow human beings who have learnt a few good games and know a good trick to turn theatre into a powerful tool for change.

Cat's Paw being rooted like ourselves in good youth work skills, which are transferable to working with people of all ages, and with a passion for Theatre of the Oppressed that matches our own, is most like ourselves. However, it does not have the staff level, the experience of legislative theatre or the contact with communities throughout Wales to deliver a project similar to Rehearsal for Reality. An important part of the project will be to help support this group and others like it who are currently dormant or keen to incorporate Theatr of the Oppressed techniques into their work (such as Llanelli Forum and Streetwise in Clwyd). By continuing to provide them with training opportunities with ourselves and our patron Adrian Jackson, (Augusto Boal's main advocate in Britain) we will help maintain an up to date knowledge of this fast developing field of theatre in Wales and strengthening localised and national infrastructure in order to sustain activity beyond the life of the project.