Drama Now Part Of School Work

Press, Volume CV, Issue 30959, 15 January 1966, Page 2

Drama Now Part Of School Work

Drama was now being included as a subject in school curricula in Britain and the United States, and was taught by specially trained staff—not merely by actors who could not get iobs. said Mrs Neta Neale in Christchurch yesterday.

Teachers were also using drama more widely to expand other subjects, such as history, English and literature and making them come alive for the pupils, she said.

Mrs Neale, who was awarded a grant from the Queen Elizabeth II Arts Council to study drama overseas, is director of the Canterbury Children’s Theatre and taught drama at Hillmorton High School for two years. In London she attended a special course, held by Brian Way and John Allen, to show teachers how to use drama in ordinary teaching. “It is really exciting what the schools are doing,” she said. “This is a new trend in Britain, but the Americans have been including drama as a school subject for some years. The idea is extending all the time.”

In the modern way of life, Mrs Neale feels that children need to be helped to develop and enrich their personalities: to be encouraged to use their leisure time to the fullest advantage to themselves and the community.

Through drama, school children also learned about their relationship with life and other people, she said. Children’s Theatre Children’s theatre was also growing at a tremendous rate in both England and the United States.

“It has reached the stage where professional and amateur groups are realising the necessity for finding a common ground,” she added. In New York Mrs Neale saw

MRS NEALE

the Paper Bag Theatre, which produces sketches for children with the minimum amount of costuming and scenery. “Theoretically everything is made from paper bags and cartons to keep down costs. I was most impressed by what this theatre is doing,” she said. At Rehearsals Among the many professional and amateur productions of all kinds, which she watched in rehearsal overseas, was a Christmas play being done by Caryl Jenner. “Miss Jenner is outstanding in the field of children’s theatre and I would love to have worked with her on a production if there h. been time,” she said. Nevertheless, Mrs Neale has returned convince' that the Canterbury Children’s Theatre has very high stand-

ards in both presentation and production. “We have our own premises now. With financial backing we could give unlimited opportunities to young people, between 14 and 20, in all avenues of the theatre—not only in the production of plays, but by holding summer schools, classes and workshops. There must be plenty of potential talent in Christchurch,” she said. Well-known dramatists, including Robert Bolt, were now writing plays for children. One of Bolt’s works was recently done by the Royal Sh akespeare Company in London. Mrs Neale did not concentrate entirely on drama for young people. “I saw as much theatre of all kinds as I could fit in from verj T modern works to Shakespeare. And I feel that drama has reailiy grown up; it is no longer just something for the exhibitionists,” said Neta Neale.