Theatre Company Blah Blah Blah makes inspiring work for children and young people, telling stories that are complex, morally layered and have contemporary relevance. The Blah’s work is compelling, challenging and opens up new connections to develop greater understanding between humans in the world.
In the 2017-2018 period, the Company successfully engaged 2,591 audience members and participants in a range of exciting projects, with 44% of its work taking place in Leeds most deprived neighbourhoods.
“The Blahs’ drama Continuing Professional Development has had a phenomenal impact on standards in writing by expanding children’s imagination, experiences of exciting settings, empathy with characters and self-confidence. It has extended their ability to listen attentively, speak with a far wider vocabulary and think deeper. When writing, they draw on their adventures, the characters they have met and settings they have explored. Our teachers experience massive learning gains so they continue to use the techniques year after year.” – Jane Langley, Headteacher, Alwoodley Primary School.
Touring Theatre: Each year the Company develops and tours a high-quality performance with community venues, theatres, schools and the formal education sector, bringing together participatory opportunities for a range of young audiences through exciting theatre forms. The work draws on compelling stories and historical events to pose questions, stimulate discussion and invite engagement with issues that have resonance for young people living and learning in the twenty-first century.
Made to Measure: The Blahs have a long history of creating drama and theatre projects tailored to the specific needs of schools. This includes individual support, group work with small cohorts of teachers, or whole school training in Continuing Professional Development and Learning (CPDL);practical techniques in using drama to support curriculum outcomes, especially writing and Social, Moral, Spiritual and Cultural Development;enabling teachers to embed drama pedagogies into their classroom practice; and engaging children and young people in experiential learning that develops their human aptitudes and capacities.
100% of the children who received the Blah intervention in the Summer term made at least one sub-level progress in their reading - an increase of 41% on the rest of the cohort.
Community Engagement: The Blahs also work on innovative projects in partnership with local community organisations. This has involved the development of an original radio drama inspired by the Partition of India in partnership with Chapel FM and an ongoing partnership with Dynamic, a group of young people from migrant backgrounds using performance skills as a tool to share personal stories and aid development as ambassadors and young leaders.
A new upcoming project is now being developed in partnership with The Discovery Centre - part of Leeds Galleries and Museum. This project will bring to life archival materials to explore history and heritage through new piece of site-specific theatre for children and young people.
Research: The Company is currently working with the Paul Hamlyn Foundation and primary schools across Leeds to explore and test a new model of participatory theatre and digital resources as a tool for strengthening Moral, Spiritual and Cultural Development in schools.
