Find a Way, Make a Way.

So much has happened in the last few weeks that I have found it difficult to sit down and write a blog entry that will cover the breadth of what I've felt, thought, experienced and lived.  It is ever thus, but of late I have been in perpetual motion.  I have been suffering from blog block - unable to find a way to say what I want to say.

I realised it was probably a good idea not to even begin to try to tell the whole story.

Edited highlights?  Well, that suggests that it's all been good stuff, when frankly there has been tough stuff too.

I was personally devastated when Chris May a close ally of the youth theatre and great colleague and friend died suddenly at the end of April.  Chris, CEO of Curious Minds, was a man absolutely committed to ensuring that all young people be given the opportunity to participate in the arts and fulfil their creative potential and he will be missed.  At 51, I am certain that his work was not complete.  I know also he would have continued to support our work at the youth theatre and that the youth theatre's value was intrinsic to his core beliefs; in education and in creativity.

One of Chris' values was based on the following philosophy, 'If you can't find a way, make a way.'  I believe that this is the only way that the youth theatre will survive, and sometimes in the cut and thrust of the day to day business of ensuring that we have enough funds to survive, it is easy to lose sight of it.  I am certain, now that I have taken up the position of Artistic Director full time, that I will find a way to build on the success the youth theatre has enjoyed, and work towards extending what we do.

I think too, in thinking of Chris, of service.  I believe that we pay for our place on earth by service to others. I believe this as passionately as I believe anything - and I think Chris did too.  I am not servile (no doubt my colleagues would testify to this) and I am not perfect but I understand service to be about the difference we make to each other, about committing to changing the world for the better, about doing good, and about giving.  There are many people in the arts who share this belief and Chris exemplified it.  And had an approach to his work that many of us aspire to. 

We are lucky to have what we have at the youth theatre, and I mean to ensure that all young people have access to our core offer should they want to join with us.  And I am just as passionate about ensuring that children and young people in schools, youth clubs or wherever else they might be know that we exist and that what we do here is for them.  This is one of the reasons why we have reconfigured the space - it allows us to run three workshops simultaneously.   There have been times this week, when a fourth space would have been handy!

But it is about more than this - the youth theatre is about 'dialogue', about conversation, about what we make and create together.  The curriculum isn't set - we are engaged in the business of creating something - often new and original - together. If you're sensing that this is a familiar and not my own philosophy, you would be correct.  The notion of dialogue in this sense was a principal idea of the Brazilian educationalist Paulo Freire - for him dialogue wasn't just about greater understanding but about working together and making a difference in the world. This underpins my understanding of youth theatre too - in the long run it is about social action. About making the world more co-operative, equitable and engaged and that, as Freire argued, needs to be well-informed.  You can't change or move people if you tell them what to think any more than you can change or move people who don't know what to think... any liberation is an act of dialogue, people working with each other, with respect.  We can make a piece of theatre, but we can't tell you whether to like it or not.  But we can equip young people with the skills they need to have their say.

This week we enjoyed receiving the Faction Theatre Company and their production of 'A Midsummer Night's Dream.'  They played the show 6 times, including to some children who might never otherwise have had the opportunity to see Shakespeare.  It was a matter of wonder to me that children, some only 7 years old,  from some areas where seeing Shakespeare may not be a priority were leaving the theatre enthusiastically sharing their ideas about what they had seen, or laughing out loud or being shocked by a rude gesture 'The Wall' may (or may not) have made. It reminds me that we should never underestimate children and young people. Any children, any young people. Anywhere. Neither ourselves nor the Faction  compromised on the Shakespeare and we did not play down to the children.  I think the children knew that. And they responded.  We entered into a dialogue with them.

Chris May and I, the last time we met, spoke of Paulo Freire which is probably why the educationalist is so  in my mind at the moment.  As Freire says,

No one is born fully-formed: it is through self-experience in the world that we become what we are.

I think it is as well to remember this in good times, and in bad.  And to remember too that the journey of discovery, even if it sometimes very painful,  never really ends.  Next time I'm stuck or have blog block I'm going to say - quietly or loudly - find a way, make a way.  And see how far that gets me.