Programmes for secondary school students: TheatreLab
The dressing-room display in Kylie - The Exhibition, February 2007.
'The workshop leader was superb; super-dynamic, knowledgeable and understanding of the needs of our students.' (Year 11 teacher)
The V&A's TheatreLab programme uses the extensive Theatre & Performance collections to immerse students in history, design and theatre practice, discover what inspired the great theatre practitioners of the past, develop analytical and creative thinking skills through studying texts, film and reviews of live performance. With everything from Gordon Craig sets models to videos of Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe to Shakespeare's First Folio, the V&A is the ideal place to immerse your students in live performing arts in the UK.
TheatreLab workshops
These workshops lead students through the devising process, introduce them to the key concepts involved in costume, set and stage make-up design, provide exciting overviews of Renaissance, 19th-century and modern performance and explore the art that inspired the ideas of Artaud, Brecht, Brook and Gordon Craig.
Suitable for Key Stages 3, 4 & AS/A2, these workshops aim to:
- support Performing arts and English learning objectives in textual analysis, practitioners' influences and performance skills
- offer students the chance to explore original objects such as Shakespeare's First Folio, examine rare set designs and try on costumes from our handling collection
- develop and extend knowledge of set texts, practitioners and processes using unique video footage of live performances
Duration: 2.5 hours, starting 10.30 & 14.00
Cost: £60
Maximum 25 students
To book call +44 (0)20 7942 2211 or email bookings.office@vam.ac.uk
Devising
Curriculum focus: Drama
From ornate silver candelabrums to extraordinary Japanese armour, use amazing objects from around the world to create an imaginative piece of theatre. Professional workshop leaders help turn first ideas into polished performances.
Theatrical make-up demonstration at the Exhibition Road Creative Quarter, 2009.
Curriculum focus: Drama
Gain a practical overview of aspects of make-up, set or costume design by working with professional artists and then make your own design work. Study set designs for 'Hamlet', costume designs for Dame Maggie Smith and make-up designs for 'Wicked' to inspire ideas.
Choose from make-up, set design or costume design — please specify at time of booking.
English Renaissance performance
Curriculum focus: English, Drama, History
Investigate Shakespeare, Marlowe, Jonson or Webster by visiting our award-winning Medieval & Renaissance galleries to gain an understanding of the political, religious artistic background to their plays. Focus on a specific text for practical work on key scenes then watch recordings of classic productions by directors such as Sir Peter Hall and Sir Richard Eyre and actors such as Sir Ian McKellen, to compare and contrast your own ideas.
Choose from Shakespeare, Marlowe, Jonson or Webster — please specify at time of booking.
19th-century performance
Curriculum focus: English, Drama, History
Imagine, appreciate and analyse the world of Wilde, Ibsen and Chekhov and consider the artistic background to their plays with a visit to our Victorian galleries. Focus on a specific text for practical work on key scenes then watch recordings of classic productions by directors such as Sir Trevor Nunn and actors such as Joely Richardson and Dame Vanessa Redgrave to compare and contrast your own ideas.
Choose from Wilde, Ibsen or Chekhov — please specify at time of booking.
Modern performance
Curriculum focus: English, Drama, History
Trace how performance in the UK has developed in style, design and subject matter over the last century by looking at a wide range of performance recordings. Explore a specific writer or genre through practical work on texts and compare and contrast excerpts from different filmed performances. Choose from Caryl Churchill, Harold Pinter, Tom Stoppard, Absurdism, Verbatim and Documentary Theatre, and Complicite — please specify at time of booking.
Practitioners
Curriculum focus: Drama, English
Discover the inspiration behind practitioners' ideas. Visit the China galleries to understand how Brecht was inspired by Chinese conventions. Examine religious icons to appreciate Craig's vision of transcendent performance. Then work practically to explore how these ideas were used by the practitioners in their plays and stagecraft.
Choose from Artaud, Brecht, Craig or Brook — please specify at time of booking.
TheatreLab gallery tour
This Page to Stage tour, led by professional museum educators, encourages students to explore the process of performance from inspiration to opening night. Identify the contexts in which performances take place in this fast-paced overview. Discover how artists have captured performance through the centuries, from painting to film and gather evidence for the 'Capture' unit of study. The Theatre & Performance galleries tell the story through objects, posters, costumes, set models, computer interactives and film from the full range of live art forms.
Duration: 1 hour, starting 10.30, 11.45 & 13.00
Cost: £40
Maximum 25 students
To book call +44 (0)20 7942 2211 or email bookings.office@vam.ac.uk