The Under 11s scheme is a key part of Soho Theatre’s Education programme of and has been taking place in Westminster and other London boroughs over the past 12 years. The scheme works with Year Six students and gives them a practical, enjoyable and inspiring introduction to playwriting and aims to stimulate their creativity, boost their confidence, and sharpen their powers of self-expression.
The Premise
Each class takes part in two half day workshops, run by a member of the Soho Team, and supported by two professional actors. The next stage of the project is a competition. All students are invited to write a short play (roughly 5 minutes), about any subject they choose. This is deliberate as we are keen to give them freedom in not just what they choose to write about but also how. One of the delights of the scheme has been to see the range of styles, voices and subjects of the students’ plays.
This year saw the addition of an exciting international element to the scheme. Five schools in London were paired with five primary schools in Bangalore. There were two performances of work, one in London and the other in Bangalore, each featuring a selection of plays written by students from both cities.
The Workshops
February and March saw intensive half-day workshops led by Soho Theatre’s Christine Harmar-Brown.
In the first of the workshops, children learnt about constructing scenes, dialogue, stage directions, and characters. Professional actors were brought in to illustrate examples and the children’s writing.
The follow-up workshop had them script a very short play, within the construct of Beginning-Something Happens-Crucial Moment-End.
The schools then had to follow up with their children, and scripts were either submitted individually, or written in pairs.
Some excerpts:
From Gautam David’s Tomorrow:
Venky: I’d like to go to Florida because it rains acid all the time, and I can see trees burn.
Dipa: I’d like to go to Goa because then I can swim in the sooty and oily sea; I heard that there was an oil spill. I mean WHO WOULD WANT TO GO TO FLORIDA!?? We already get acid rain here.
From Nandini and Sukanya’s Is This Justice?:
Meera and Pranav: You don’t need to tell us anything! We think he has given you ‘something’. You should inquire such things. But you are doing like this. If you do like this, who will give us justice? (Pointing to the audience) Is there no solution to our problem? What should the poor do?
The Show
June 8, 2011
4 busloads arrived at Jagriti in Whitefield, regurgitating children of varying shapes and sizes. A sleepy Wednesday morning suddenly transformed into a barely-contained beehive. 200 children and their teachers packed in to the auditorium at Jagriti to watch their scripts come alive. Five actors seamlessly shifted between 10 winning scripts, improv-style, armed with basic props and letting the words do the talking.
The scripts were:
I Can’t Think of What To Do – Prithvi Chandy, Mallya Aditi International School
Ms Stephanioli – Elyse Cooke, Stonehill International
Who Should I Listen To? – Rehan Chaudhuri, Inventure Academy
Tomorrow – Gautam David, Mallya Aditi International School
Is This Justice? – Nandini and Sukanya, Drishya Kalika Kendra
Sathya Nagar – Krishna and Santosh, Drishya Kalika Kendra
I Saw the Shadow – Agnes Friend
Valentine’s Day and a Broken Heart – Noor Mohamed, Christ Church Bentinck Primary School
Back In Time – Ayub Said and Mehmet Omalar, Holmleigh Primary School
Destined to be a Jedi – Jose Garcia, Betty Layward Primary School
And the Curtain Call
