School Enrichment Workshops
Calling all secondary-school Drama and Language teachers!
Are you looking for exciting enrichment activities for your students to gain international cultural capital?
Performing International Plays has partnered up with Foreign Affairs theatre company to deliver in-school enrichment drama and language workshops using international plays to learn about cultures and explore stories that concern everyone.
Your students will encounter one or more new plays by exciting contemporary dramatists from Ukraine, Palestine, Cuba, Taiwan, South Africa, Italy, Germany, France and more. There will be hands-on devising, linguistic mediation and performance.
Our workshops are facilitated by highly skilled multilingual practitioners of relevant heritage and are especially tailored to your students and your needs. Our team can travel to most places in England and Wales. Read our testimonials below!
To discuss your ideas, get in touch with the project lead, Dr Margherita Laera, at: piponlineresource@gmail.com
Drama & Languages Workshop Options
2-hour, 3-hour, 1-day, and week-long residency options available
All levels, from Y7 to Y13, and mixed-ability groups
1. International Play Workshop (Drama / English):
For Drama students keen to be inspired by stories and characters outside the English-speaking world. A hands-on combination of practical exercises, devising tasks and discussions, based on an international play of your choice. No foreign language skills required. No Drama skills required.
2. International Play Workshop (Drama & Languages):
For Mixed Drama & Languages students with different abilities. Acquire cultural competences, practice spoken registers and learn devising techniques by exploring characters living in cultural and historical contexts other than the UK. Based on an international play of your choice.
3. Theatre Translation Workshop:
For Language students of Arabic, French, Mandarin, German, Italian, Spanish, Ukrainian and Russian, or mixed-ability groups. Test your creative language skills by translating or adapting an international play into English, or an English-language play into another language.
4. Foreign Language Play Workshop:
For Language students who want to put on a play in a foreign language with some extra help from native-language theatre-makers. Some Drama and Language skills required.
Learning Outcomes. By the end of the workshops, students will have:
· acquired intercultural competence & international cultural capital;
· (for EALs) used native language skills to support English literacy;
· (for English native speakers) practised foreign language skills;
· engaged with social issues of global relevance;
· built confidence working in groups & speaking in front of a group;
· experienced working with professional theatre practitioners;
· practised their engagement and participation;
We are open for new bookings. Get in touch to discuss your ideas!
piponlineresource@gmail.com
Testimonials
“Performing International Plays has been a wonderful resource for our students to explore new diverse texts. We have found plays such as Fireworks by Dalia Taha to be great stimuli for Devised work at GCSE, enhancing our existing schemes of work. We have also used PIP to assist in delivering a weekly club for students exploring diverse new contemporary and international plays. Scripts could be useful for scripted NEAs too. Through PIP we have been able to connect with more students and offer new meaningful opportunities for script work. Students have been really inspired to watch and perform scripts from their own cultural heritage and languages. We are now hoping to connect with our MFL colleagues on an interdisciplinary project using PIP as our inspiration.
We were delighted to welcome PIP to our school recently as part of our artist-in-residence week. GCSE students had the opportunity to workshop ideas around the themes of A Fable for Now by Wei Yu-Chia and create their own self devised pieces. This opportunity was also a rich source of inspiration for their NEA Devised Pieces later in the year. A fantastic resource that supports busy teachers to experience new diverse scripts. Thank you PIP team!”
– Holly Whymark, Head of Drama, St. Albans High School for Girls
“The best thing was seeing some students coming out of their shells, gaining confidence they didn’t know they had”
– Teacher, Canterbury
“I noticed students from racially minoritised groups taking the lead in discussions”
– English teacher, London
“These workshops have made a massive contribution to the pupils’ overall engagement, confidence and attainment”
– Drama teacher, London
“I liked everything the diversity the freedom of everyone, ideas in just one small room made me feel amazing”
– Workshop participant
“I enjoyed seeing people speak their own languages and this being incorporated into drama”
– Workshop participant
“I loved the idea of learning about different cultures and languages”
– Workshop participant
“the staff made us want to learn more about our cultures and respect people for who they are”
– Workshop participant
“I got to become more confident and the helpers were very inclusive and made sure everyone was comfortable and involved, they helped us learn about the plays in a very interesting and creative way”
– Workshop participant
“my favourite thing was making me be myself and letting me speak my mind and it was very interesting”
– Workshop participant
ABOUT OUR TEAM
Foreign Affairs is a micro theatre company with an adventurous spirit, run by the creative duo Camila França and Trine Garrett. Their work focuses on theatre in translation, intercultural exchange and collaboration, and performance in unconventional spaces. Or, in other words – they bring theatre from around the world to local communities. Foreign Affairs also run workshops and training programmes for emerging theatre-makers and translators, and local young people, including the Theatre Translator Mentorship (unique in the industry) and Emerging Theatre-Makers activities.
PIP school workshop at The Archbishop’s School, Canterbury, in Summer 2024, based on the Ukrainian play, Rubbish: Straw, Balloon and Shoe by Kateryna Penkova, translated by the students.