In terms of kudos, glamour, influence and funding, the professional theatre scene in Britain today can be viewed like a pyramid. At the top you might have the RSC and the National Theatre. Arguably just below the tip you might have the West End Stage. Next, the most vibrant and credible of the regional theatres and well-regarded touring companies. Below that, the rest of the regional main-house scene. Next down, the arts centre circuit and London fringe- poor but credible. And propping the whole lot up? The Theatre in Education sector.
Let’s be honest here. Many people who engage with the business of creating theatre for schools as freelance, jobbing actors are not driven by a passionate belief in education, a passionate desire to help effect school improvement or to change the lives of the young people they encounter. Many of them- maybe even most of them- are driven by a passionate belief that Theatre in Education jobs are gettable, and on their radar as performers in the way that membership of the RSC or a major part in the latest TV Poliakoff are not. Many of them- maybe even most of them- view Theatre in education as a training ground for more glamorous things; a place to pay some dues and flesh out the CV while going about the vital business of chasing a decent part on The Bill.
The reasons for this are many. To summarise just a few:
• Both The Bill and the Poliakoff pay a hell of a lot better than the average TiE contract.
• A part-time job at Wilkinson’s pays better than many TiE contracts.
• You don’t get to work with anyone famous in schools theatre.
• Some TiE companies are rubbish.
• Children can be horrible.
Certainly, you could be forgiven for thinking- especially if you read certain newspapers which we’d better not name- that walking into a typical British school today will bring you into imminent danger from knife-wielding, gun-toting maniacs hell bent on rapine, ravage and murder. And that’s just in the staff room. As so often, the reality proves to be different. For the right person, the business of performing in schools offers things not to be found elsewhere.
"Most people ignore most poetry because most poetry ignores most people"- so said the late Adrian Mitchell. You could say the same of the Theatre, of course. But you can’t say the same of schools theatre. It has a purpose, or a range of purposes. To inspire, to challenge, to enthuse, to educate. They are laudable, wonderful goals. If you think the process of educating young people (any people, really) has any worth, and if you think that Theatre is a place where you might do that, and if you can get excited about Theatre made in the unlikeliest of settings, then you might just find that making Theatre for and in schools offers you something that nothing else can. At Speakeasy, when looking for people to join our team, we look for people who can understand this. They don’t have to be experienced, deep thinkers about education, trained teachers (definitely not, actually) or even aware at all of what arts in schools can do. They just need to be able to get their head around being an artist not for their own glory or fulfilment- but for the tricky, complex business of helping people learn stuff. Even, you know, stuff they don’t always want to learn....
