SCHOOL WORKSHOP FAQ
Gecko Associate Director Helen Baggett answers any questions you might have about Gecko’s workshops for schools.
Helen Baggett: The education work that we’ve done, the workshops that we’ve been doing for years - they’ve always been at the heart of what we do; working with groups to empower them to explore this idea of ‘physicality’, of connecting with each other, and performance.
Q. Can you tell us about Gecko workshops? Who are they for?
Helen Baggett: We offer an enormous range of workshop opportunities. Our youngest participants are high schools, so around about 14 or 15, and that goes up to professional-level masterclasses. And we offer all sorts of different short workshops, 2-hour workshops, one-day intensive projects, week-long residencies, summer schemes, all sorts.
Q. What should students expect?
Helen Baggett: So when we work with schools and with sixth form students what we offer is a Gecko process. So, it really does echo what happens in the process of making a Gecko show. So it will be an intense, physical workshop in which we will talk a lot about commitment and we’ll explore what that means for students to commit a hundred percent to every moment. We will also look at tools for devising - so how students can begin with nothing and create something wonderful.
Q. Can you talk us through a typical workshop?
Helen Baggett: So for example we might go and do a morning of two-hour workshops with Year 11 students, and in those two hours we would give them a very sweaty experience starting with a really strong preparation which is at the heart of everything that we do - how to get ready to be completely in the game, in the room, part of an ensemble, firing on all cylinders. We would then look at how to explore this idea of emotional expressiveness - how to increase their skills as emotional performers. We would also look at different ways of devising material, so physical starting points, some tasks, so that they would create something and then share it at the end.
Q. What’s your favourite thing about running workshops?
Helen Baggett: For me, I love the idea that every single person in that group has something to offer, and that actually if they make a choice to do that at a very high level they can begin to start operating at a hundred percent. Not around about thirty percent or forty percent but actually to enjoy being fully in the moment.
Q. What will students take away?
Helen Baggett: Our workshops open a door - they can unlock something in young people which is to do with confidence, it’s to do with being bold in what they bring to devising. So they will leave, we hope, with an idea that they have lots of choices to start from (in terms of what they’re devising) but also that they have an understanding that they don’t have to rely on words to tell stories, that they can use their breath, they can use their bodies, they can use contact with each other to create material that really says something but without this reliance on words and without sitting down and talking about it - the workshops are very, very active so they’re getting up and they’re doing, doing, doing. And that seems to be a really strong message that comes back; that they enjoy that they do it, and they achieve it, and it’s great. So they will leave with really key skills in how to expand their imaginations and expand their confidence and their skills as performers and as makers.
Q. Can anyone take part?
Helen Baggett: As a company we are really committed to working in an inclusive way, and as workshop leaders we are all experienced and passionate about our workshops being accessible to everyone.
Q. What’s new at Gecko HQ?
Helen Baggett: So at the moment we’re piloting a new strand of workshops which are specifically for GCSE, BTEC and A Level, which fit closely to the new curriculum. So, we are constantly evolving that. And the idea is that these workshops, this strand, will fit more closely with our work, with a particular show - The Overcoat - and that actually that will look at analysing the work, discussing the work, bringing out themes, and then creating a piece of work.
Q. Who will lead the workshop?
Helen Baggett: All of our workshop leaders have toured the world. And that brings a wealth of experience to the room - an experience of working with groups who perhaps have a different language, who have a different culture, who have a mixed culture, that we are very quick at reading that and getting in to the heart of who that group is. That’s really, really important - to be able to encourage and cajole and have a really a fun time but also work really, really hard to create something together.
Q. Can you tell us about resources?
Helen Baggett: So in the room, in a workshop, we talk a lot about being open. So, with our new website, we are putting on a lot of material of our previous shows, footage of workshops - we’re trying to open up our process. We really want to get it out there and for it to be an impetus and an inspiration for discussions and to help the brilliant drama teachers out there in what they’re doing with our young people.
Q. What about work experience placements?
Helen Baggett: There are always opportunities for work experience with us! We are quite a small team, but we’re always open for a discussion about how that could work.
Q. Do you have a message for teachers?
Helen Baggett: If there is anything that you would like to ask us about workshops, if there’s anything you think, “Ooh, budget-wise… logistics… will it be right for my group?”, or anything at all, please talk to us, please call us - call Pippa, or email Pippa (who is our brilliant Administrator) - - and she will get straight back to you, and we can talk about your project.