Shanghai stories

Our workshop at Shanghai Dramatic Arts Centre went extremely well. 14 people in total attended including students and three members of staff from SDAC.  We ended up with 12 very different 100 word plays whose subject matter ranged from visions of the future to relationships between families, friends and lovers. One play was set in a lift, another inside a public WC. We were joined by 11 fabulous actors who took to the process and gave them all during a fast paced day of back to back rehearsals. The plays were showcased in the evening as part of an informal performance. We collected lots of feedback from writers and actors -’every word can become the beginning of a story’ commented one of the writers.

Yesterday was a day of meetings. We went to Shanghai World Foreign Language Middle School to observe an English lesson and prepare for the weekend workshops.  It was then off to another school in the same area (Xuhui District) - No 3 Middle School, which is affiliated to Shanghai Teachers University. There, we joined a delegation of four teachers from Caister High, Middle and First schools and also met headteachers and teachers from both No 3 Middle School and Dong’er Primary School. We’re planning a collaborative project as part of a broader programme between the linked schools.

In less than an hour, we start a two day workshop at Shanghai Theatre Academy, one of China’s leading training insitutions. We’ll be working with a group of 20 writers and 15 actors.  More to follow on this soon, along with some pics.