Simplicity and Complicity Workshop

Unicorn Residency workshop with Sibylle Peters
Wed 29 & Thu 30 Apr 2015
Unicorn Theatre, 147 Tooley St, SE1 2HZ
10am – 5pm
Free 

Deadline: 5pm, Tuesday 14th April 2015

LADA are collaborating with the Unicorn Theatre and Sibylle Peters (Theatre of Research, Hamburg) on this two-day workshop exploring Live Art and theatre for children.

Research is something very simple. As children we do it all the time: We want something, we need something and therefore we try to achieve it, to feel it, to have it. And we fail. And we try again. We start a series of attempts. And then research has already begun. In getting older we are taught, what is to achieve and what is not, and how. We learn, what to wish for and what not. And then research is drying out. It becomes something for those who specialize in it, who make a profession out of it.

This workshop explores Live Art and theatre for children as a way to give research back to everyone: to the kids, who need their research acknowledged, and to the adults – to ourselves.

Please send a CV with a short statement of your aims by 5pm, Tuesday 14th April 2015 to Carolyn Forsyth: [email protected].

Successful applicants will be contacted no later than Wednesday 22nd April 2015. Once a place is offered a deposit of £10 will be required. The workshop is free, however to ensure these very limited places are filled we are asking for a deposit, which will be refunded to you on the day.

Timetable

DAY ONE

Will be an introduction to ways of transdisciplinary exploration developed by the Theatre of Research and based on live-art-interventions into the everyday: Searching the city for miracles, founding a children’s bank, that issues its own currency, inviting children to ask questions to former somalian pirates, becoming astronauts without leaving the earth; – the Theatre of Research uses the space in between reality and fiction as a laboratory, in which kids and adults become accomplices.

DAY TWO

We will develop and test new research projects: Starting from our own wishes we will try to come up with set ups for transgenerational research, that can be conducted within the realm of Live Art and theatre for kids.

The Theatre of Research (Hamburg) is a place where children, artists and scientists meet as researchers. Together they explore questions, we all have, like: How can we print our own money? How to meet a ghost? How to search for miracles? How to go to space (without leaving the earth)? How is the life of a real pirate like? Etc. Cooperating with schools and uni-versities, the Theatre of Research is dedicated to making research more inclusive and bridge the gaps between generations, cultures, social backgrounds and fields of expertise. In the Theatre of Research we all are research-ers – from kindergarden to our PHD program, Performing Citizenship. Our art-based research is informed by up-to-date discussions in cultural studies and science. It includes methods like wishproduction, show & tell, field research and performative interventions in the everyday. In all of our projects, research and cultural education go hand in hand. We often focus on giving access to children, who are socially or otherwise disadvantaged.

The Unicorn Theatre is the UK’s leading professional theatre for young audiences, dedicated to inspiring and invigorating young people of all ages, perspectives and abilities, and empowering them to explore the world – on their own terms – through theatre. Based in central London, the Unicorn has two theatres, two rehearsal rooms, and four floors of public space. Purpose-built for children, the Unicorn is one of the most prolific producing theatres in the UK, presenting over 30 productions for children of all ages every year, and touring widely across the UK and beyond. Year-round, the Unicorn works with some of the world’s most exciting theatre-makers to produce, present and tour a surprising, innovative and broad range of work that is honest, refreshing and international in outlook.