Listening and learning

What separates an amateur from a professional? Remuneration certainly. Time perhaps. Skill level potentially. But when it comes to experience, the line starts to blur. In the world of theatre-making, amateurs have a wealth of experience to bring to the stage. Which is precisely what Ian Wainwright discovered, producing the Royal Shakespeare Company’s Open Stages project. “I’ve met amateur performers who have been in more plays than I’ve seen,” he says. “They have a huge amount of experience which means when we run a workshop for them we really have to be on top of our game. Because if you show them something that doesn’t really work practically, they’ll know. That’s why it’s important to expose them to incredibly high-quality practitioners who themselves are very experienced.”

Workshops and mentoring have become an increasingly important part of Open Stages since it launched in 2011. A series of ‘skills exchange’ sessions, in everything from lighting design to vocal techniques, have given amateur companies across the UK an opportunity to learn new tricks of the trade. Skills which can then be utilised in their own Shakespeare play or indeed any theatre production. So integral has training become that for the second round of Open Stages in 2013 an amateur company’s desire to learn was almost as important as its theatrical vision. Of the 200 applications the RSC received, just 100 were chosen to take part in the project.

“We were looking for ambitious, exciting ideas for a piece of theatre,” says Wainwright. “But also, even more than last time, we were looking for companies that wanted to go on a learning journey. So one of the questions in the application was what they wanted to learn from the project.” Working with directors in particular has proved critical. For Wainwright they are “the catalysts for making things happen”, so mentoring sessions tailored specifically to their needs formed a central part of the project.

The challenges of creating a show when you only meet once a week, work with people from a wide variety of backgrounds and have little budget were something of a mystery to them

With such a prestigious heritage, it would have been easy for the RSC to approach those sessions with a sense of superiority. But nothing could be further from the truth. Wainwright is well aware that while the RSC has a vast knowledge of staging professional productions, the challenges of creating a show when you only meet once a week, work with people from a wide variety of backgrounds, and have little budget, were something of a mystery to them.

“It isn’t purely about us teaching amateurs how to make theatre,” says Wainwright. “We realised at the start of the project that we knew very little about amateur theatre-making, and we tiptoed around because we didn’t want them to think we were coming in and telling them how to suck eggs. But we found that groups really wanted to learn, which gave us the confidence for this second round to know that they do want feedback on their productions and hands-on learning – and they understand that a professional practitioner has something to offer them.”

From the start, Open Stages has been a process of listening and learning on both sides. During the early days of planning and partnering, we at Voluntary Arts (the national development agency for creative cultural activity) were one of a number of organisations on hand to signpost and advise the RSC as they journeyed into the unknown. Wainwright says: “At the beginning, when we knew nothing about amateur theatre or how to engage with the sector, Voluntary Arts was essential. They gave us a way in and introduced us to people. And because they aren’t amateur theatre makers themselves, they’ve been a neutral body with knowledge, experience and an overview of the sector. They keep us grounded, and have been a sounding board throughout.”

Another crucial relationship has been with the six other professional theatres which the 100 amateur companies have been partnered with. Working with RSC practitioners, these theatres have provided skills, mentoring and technical expertise on a range of topics. As Wainwright points out, they also have the potential to offer a more sustained level of support: “The partner theatres aren’t just hosts for the RSC. They lead a lot of the work in the mentoring and workshops. And in some ways, those theatres are much more meaningful partners to the companies than we are. Their relationship is closer in terms of geography, regular contact and scale of operation, allowing it to continue long after the project has finished.”

So successful has Open Stages been that the RSC is already looking forward to its next project with amateur theatre-makers. ‘Dream 16’ will see the RSC tour a production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream in 2016, with the Mechanicals (including Bottom) played by a different amateur company in each venue. “It’s a massive undertaking,” says Wainwright, “because we’ll work with each of the companies to make sure they’re as good as they possibly can be. The production will also be influenced by each amateur company we work with, so they will be true collaborators.”

For the moment, however, all eyes are on a wide range of productions. From Henry V in a castle to Macbeth in a shopping centre, Romeo & Juliet in a park to Hamlet in a former swimming pool – imagination and diversity are not in short supply. Like proud parents standing at the sidelines, our relationship with Open Stages works because we are a step removed. We have taken part in the superb workshops, sat in the audience and cheered – and continue to shout from the rooftops about the project’s success.

Kelly Donaldson is Communications Manager at Voluntary Arts.
www.voluntaryarts.org