"A theatre is the most important sort of house in the world, because that's where people are shown what they could be if they wanted, what theyd like to be if they dared and what they really are"
Tove Jansson
You can find us making exciting things happen in a vast array of situations from the mundane to the amazing. Wherever it is, we will transform it.
We use the process of theatre to enhance creative education and life-long learning. We take a multi-disciplinary approach, working as visual, performance and digital artists, facilitating people's creative potential and developing skills. We particularly enjoy collaborating with other artists and working closely with teachers.
We have been at the forefront of generating new and innovative models of work in this field.
Please contact us if you would like full cvs for any of our designers who teach, lecture or lead workshops on various aspects of theatre design.
- Nettie Scriven
- Jane Linz Roberts
- Fiona Watt
- Anna Fleischle
- Helen Fownes-Davies
- Steve Denton
- Nick MacLiammoir
Nettie Scriven
Artist-in-education
My work seeks to enhance children's learning through working with their different languages and intelligences. I delight in crossing boundaries of academic disciplines, such as science and art. I have worked nationally in primary, secondary and higher education for the last twenty years.
Academic
As a Senior Lecturer at Nottingham Trent University, I currently co-run the SPaCES programme. SPaCES creates theatre for young people and develops programmes of participatory arts work created by professional artists and undergraduates.
Creative Development Worker
With Creative Partnerships, Nottingham since 2002. My work has been placed at the forefront of delivering the government's agenda on developing a creative curriculum in schools. My remit is to work on strategic developments with senior management and to foster partnerships between the cultural sector and education to fulfil children's and staff's creative potential.
I advocate that creativity is an essential part of life's learning, and an enriching tool for a healthy and confident society.
Current publications:
- My work at Rosehill School for Children with Autism will be shown on the Teacher's Channel in Autumn 2005.
- The year-long programme of work for Dragon Breath can be viewed on the Creative Partnerships website
- I delivered a joint paper on working with boys with EBD at the Exeter University Drama As Social Intervention Conference 2005
Jane Linz Roberts
Jane has developed a range of workshop techniques for use with many different groups and for a variety of purposes. These include enabling groups without design expertise to explore the practical experience of design and giving young people access to the source of ideas in a performance. She also uses workshops during the production process, allowing actors and directors to explore the visual world of the text.
Skills taught include:
- integration of set, costume and lighting design
- design in the devising process
- exploring the environment, imagery and characters of a play
Examples of recent work include:
- Working with young people to design a music video based on The Tempest for the RSC
- Three seasons as Designer/Tutor for the National Youth Theatre of Wales
She has also been a visiting lecturer for A Level and BTec students and visiting lecturer to the Theatre Design BA Courses at Nottingham Trent University and the Welsh College of Music and Drama.
Back to TopFiona Watt
Fiona has led workshops for young designers and non-designers alike in various elements of the design process.
She aims to:
- develop an understanding of text through storyboarding, simple model-making and character work
- encourage confidence in practical skills from budgeting and working as part of a team to more conventionally associated skills of painting, drawing and making
- create new work in collaboration with writers, directors and choreographers
She has worked for Tricycle Theatre, Kilburn, Theatre Royal, Bath, Woking Community Play and Haddo House Opera, and with young stage management teams in training at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama.
Back to TopAnna Fleischle
Anna has:
- taught theatre design as a visiting lecturer at Central St Martins College of Art & Design
- trained assistants on most aspects of theatre design
- run courses for adults and children in puppet-making
Helen Fownes-Davies
Freelance Visual Artist Work
Helen has programmed and delivered an extensive number of workshops in Theatre Arts for adults, young people, children and people with special educational needs in Schools, Colleges, Community centres, Day Centres and Sheltered Housing, including:
Nottingham Playhouse, Roundabout Theatre, The Lakeside Arts Centre Birmingham Royal Ballet, Dance 4, Creative Partnerships, MENCAP, Nottinghamshire Next Stage, Nottingham City Council, Nottinghamshire County Council.
Projects have included:
Large carnival puppet heads, shadow puppets, banners, masks, carnival arts, tree sculptures and theatre design – set and costume, many tailored specifically to support a particular theatre production or event.
Back to TopSteve Denton
Steve Denton has long been interested in educational theatre work, and has run workshops in aspects of scenic craft and mask making for all age groups, as well as specific workshops for schools and people with special needs.
He has also worked on large-scale community productions offering NVQ based qualifications for workshop participants.
He is a part-time lecturer in design at the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama, teaching on the BA and Post-Graduate Theatre Design courses.
He has particular interests in CAD, digital imaging and design for dance, as well as teaching studio-based design projects and prop making, and overseeing the design and realisation of a large number of theatre, dance and opera productions for the college each year.
Back to TopNick MacLiammoir
Nick has devised and taught:
- the lighting element of the Royal Opera House's "Write an Opera" course - a course for teachers from the UK and other European countries which contributes to a Masters Degree in Education awarded by the University of Leeds.
- courses at Croydon College School of Art and Design on lighting theory, light and colour and lighting techniques using practical demonstration and exploratory exercises. He has acted as External Examiner for the BTec HND Theatre Design Final Year projects.
He has developed a range of workshop techniques, employing painting, drawing and making to produce visual responses to both text and design ideas. He has also used design based workshops as a vehicle for technical training so that technicians approach equipment with an understanding of its purpose.
Workshop examples are:
- Lighting Black and Asian performers - with theatre practitioners and students for the Half Moon Theatre
- Exploring lighting design in studio spaces and methods of teaching design - with teachers for Buckinghamshire Education Authority.
- Exploring dramatic effects of light and colour - with children in Junior Schools