“We believe in peace, not in passivity” Augusto Boal, creator of Theatre of the Oppressed

During a Day of Dialogue on 11^th May, dramatic scenarios will kickstart a conversation with Leith residents, visitors and elected representatives.  In Forum Theatre no-one is a passive spectator.   By the  end of the day Active Inquiry artistic director Gavin Crichton hopes everyone in the hall will have helped to develop an Action Plan with practical solutions to real life issues in Leith.

This is the ambitious conclusion of a Forum Theatre project which began last year with workshops exploring that often elusive idea of empowerment (What is it? How can communities achieve it?).  Power to the People evolved into the story of Alice and her struggle to gain support from neighbours to improve life in the community.

Performances of the play  drew enthusiastic response from members of audience. Now it is their turn to take to the stage, working with actors to produce their own pieces of Forum Theatre which will be performed at the Day of Dialogue.  Don’t miss the chance to discover – and influence – what happens next. (Time and place will be announced soon, check Active Inquiry website )

IT’S NOT ALL IN THE MIND…BUT A LOT OF IT IS

Meanwhile Gavin is working on another exciting project which takes empowerment a step further.  On 14 and 15 May ACTive Inquiry is offering training workshops open to teachers, therapists, youth workers, social workers, actors and activists.

The workshops will be led by Barbara Santos, who was General Coordinator of the Centre for the Theatre of the Oppressed in Rio, Brazil between 1994-2008 –  working alongside Augusto Boal

Barbara will draw on her latest work exploring how oppressions become part of everyday life – and how we can expose and resist them.

Workshops cost £150 for two days – from 10 am to 5pm on 14^th and 15^th May at Pilmeny Youth Centre. For more information contact Gavin at gavin@activeinquiry.co.uk phone 0771 4321 629 or check out www.activeinquiry.co.uk

The Action Research on Violence Project starts on Wednesday 23rd February 4pm til 5.30pm at the Leith Community Centre Cafe; the project will run every week from then for 13 weeks. The project is open for young people aged around 13-16 years from ethnic minority communities in North Edinburgh and Leith, as this part of our local communities has so far not often been offered space to voice their ideas/opinions and perceptions about such a wide and important subject.

Run jointly by Shakti and NHS Lothian, and with support from many local BME community and youth support agencies, the sessions will include Forum Theatre sessions (run by Gavin Crichton of Active Inquiry Theatre Company) to investigate the wide topic of ‘Violence’; members will have the chance to develop a forum theatre piece around the themes that emerge from discussions and games. There will also be a chance for people to creatively contribute towards an exhibition containing our ideas, discoveries and possibly questions to other parts of our communities. A daytrip to visit another youth project is also being planned.

A meeting is being held in Norton Park on Friday 18th February 9.30-11.30am for interested parties and stakeholders to learn more about the project and how you might be able to be involved.

Please note: the project is not a support group or service, nor is it a focus on issues within particular communities – it is a research focus group for young people starting a vital conversation about an issue that affects EVERYONE.

To book a place at the stakeholders meeting or for more information, please contact Lisa Rigby on 0131 475 2399 or email lisa@shaktiedinburgh.co.uk.

If we are all to become part of The Big Society should we decide what power and responsibility we want? Should we empower ourselves to say how we want to be empowered?!

One good question always leads to another.  Power to the People? The latest theatre project from ACTive Inquiry invites you to bring your stories, thoughts and ideas to a drama workshop on Saturday 30th October at Pilmeny Youth Centre exploring the meaning of power and empowerment.

As usual, the experience of real people  will provide the essential elements for a Forum Theatre production tackling a hot topic.  Artistic director Gavin Crichton explains why:

“Active Inquiry is a Leith-based theatre company making theatre with and for the people of Leith. We would like to say that we empower people but we want to understand what that means first! We are developing a piece of Forum theatre exploring the idea of empowerment and are holding a public workshop in order to collect stories, thoughts and ideas to inform this. All are welcome – especially if you live, work or play in Leith. Performances will take place throughout Leith in the last two weeks of November.”

The drama workshop is on Saturday 30th October at Pilmeny Youth Centre from 10 am – 1pm. It’s free and no previous experience is necessary. (What is Forum Theatre? Click here for a brief answer).

Email Gavin for more information:  gavin@activeinquiry.co.uk

Every now and then a surprised face peered through the window: this was not business as usual in the Scottish Parliament, not even during the Festival of Politics.  For once the emphasis was on actions rather than words.  And actions can speak volumes.

The News Group drama workshop chose to work on a topical story very much at the heart of the Scottish Parliament – US reaction to al-Megrahi’s continuing survival a year after his release and how that is being covered by the media.

This was a special festival version of the News Group presented by ACTive Inquiry with Leith Open Space.  The event was a sell-out – at 10.30 am on a Saturday too – and perhaps half the group were regulars from the monthly workshop sessions that take place in Pilmeny Youth Centre.   New members added a fascinating range of skills and experience to the event in the Education Centre at the parliament.

Gavin leads a warm-up exercise

Without words the group arranged ourselves according to the distance we had travelled to get to the parliament (Gavin Crichton, director of  ACTive Inquiry, does a great line in warm-up exercises as you can see from the photo).  The shortest journey was just a 10 minute walk but Lorna had crossed water to get there from Argyll and Thom had driven from Carluke.

Once the workshop began we covered a lot more ground – back in time and across the world: from Lockerbie to Libya, from the Berlin nightclub to the White House, searching and sifting through the layers of a complex story rarely tackled in the media. In silence the group expressed questions leading to more questions in a chain reaction spreading across the floor.

It’s not over yet. The workshop ended – as it always does – with suggestions for the actions our Jo (or Joe) the active citizen could take.  The top vote went to an idea which could take the drama to a wider stage.  Instead of calling for a judicial inquiry, the group would like to see “ a theatre-styled  public presentation of the Megrahi case”.   It’s an ambitious idea – but it would be a very exciting development for the Festival of Politics.   We hope we will come back to it!

The Top Three Action Points

1. Create a theatre-styled inquiry
2. Research every source to find the truth
3. Make an amateur video (in Lockerbie) on the subject of innocence and victimisation

The cafe was always a place where you could go and talk about changing the world. But now a bigger change is happening; something that requires less talk and more action…

Action points: there’s lots of exciting stuff simmering below the surface which we are not quite ready to tell you about. But one festival event is ready and raring to go public.  Don’t miss The Legacy the latest Flashback Drama Group production during Leith Festival on June 17, 18 and 19 in Out of the Blue Drill Hall.

Hot on the heels of Change, the election campaign drama series, ACTive INquiry presents a new work exploring how we deal with change and how we can be actively involved in enabling positive change to happen in our lives and communities.

As always this is a collaborative production, devised and written by the cast and directed by Gavin Crichton of ACTive INquiry, a Leith based theatre company with the declared aim of  encouraging participation in the arts as a catalyst for active involvement in society.

And where better to start than the cafe, as the Legacy flyer says: “The cafe was always a place where you could go and talk about changing the world. But now a bigger change is happening; something that requires less talk and more action.”

Legacy is on show at 7.30pm on 17th and 18th June and at 2.30 and 7.30 on Saturday 19th June in Out of the Blue Drill Hall, 36 Dalmeny Street Edinburgh EH6 8RG.  Tickets £5.

This is a busy month for African communities in Edinburgh.  There’s a brave new play  exploring difference and diversity through children’s eyes, and the annual celebration of Africa Day focusing on international issues.  But first the play which is being launched at the Scottish Parliament next week…

Saltire Sky is a ghost story with a difference based on a secret friendship between 12-year-0ld Calum and Thandiwe.  It was written and directed by Maggie Aitken as part of Simpson House – Sunflower Garden’s, ‘Difference/Diversity’ project and it draws on the thoughts and experiences of young people taking part in workshops organised by Simpson House and Africa Centre Scotland.

We hope to add more background information about this remarkable and inspiring project which brings together young African Scots to explore the meaning of difference and diversity with young Scots from families affected by drug or alcohol abuse. But meanwhile we have booked our tickets for the performance hosted by our MSP Malcolm Chisholm in the Garden Lobby at the Scottish Parliament on Wednesday 20th May.

Then its back again to the Garden Lobby a week later for Africa Day.  On Tuesday 25th May the Garden Lobby is the setting for this year’s celebration of Africa Day, hosted by Sarah Boyack MSP and organised by Africa Centre Scotland in partnership with Malawi Initiative for National Development (MIND).  Africa Day is an annual commemoration of the establishment of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) on May 25, 1963. This year’s theme is Peace and Security in Africa but as Agnes Holmes of Africa Centre Scotland explains the Edinburgh emphasis is on global issues and international development.

One other event worth mentioning. Prevention of HIV Aids is the subject of a presentation in the Church of Scotland, George Street on Monday when there is a chance to meet Dr Ade Adeagbo of the African HIV Policy Network. The AHPN is an alliance of African community-based organisations and their supporters working for fair policies for people living with HIV/AIDS in the UK, providing training, support, research and information.

The event – of special interest to people working in health, local government and voluntary organisations – is from 2-4pm on Monday 17th May at 121 George Street. 

Picture taken by Yvonne Baginsky on her trip to Tanzania with the Shirati Hospital Energy Project

Politicians take note.  Sometimes the simplest ideas win the most hearts, minds and votes. Last night’s political drama in Fort Community Wing ended with a competition for a project to change life in Leith for the better.  And the clear winners of a small cash prize to make it happen were Maria and Marek for an idea that costs nothing to put into action.  Smiling Leith simply asks everyone to smile three times a day to a complete stranger. 

Try it, urged a smiling Maria and Marek, it can make you and someone else feel happier. It certainly seemed to work a treat for the crowd who had come to see the first night of Change, a political (with a small p) play exploring how we can influence positive change in our community.

The other two proposals are also good ideas: a leaflet campaign to promote the club for young mothers at the Citadel and a public event to excite support for the Greenerleith vision for pedestrianising the Shore. And of course they can still happen.  But it was the smile that won the day when Gavin Crichton, the ACTive Inquiry director, asked the audience to take part in an old fashioned democratic show of hands. Smiling Leith wins £50 for a poster campaign to get everyone smiling.

Gavin spent the earlier part of the evening in the role of The Joker (see right) coaxing members of the audience on to the stage to play their part in changing events.  With amazing success.

On the way into the hall Mridu said she definitely did not want to get involved in audience participation. Guess who was first up on stage after Gavin asked the audience to suggest how the main character Sophie might have done things differently to secure her dream of running a community course encouraging local people to take more control of their lives.

On the other side of me Al confided his fear of being dragged on stage.  Guess who was next up? Al improvised a scene skillfully persuading the community centre manager that Sophie might find an alternative source of funding for her project. (Later Al admitted it was very close to the role he played in getting Greener Leith started).

Playing their part: Mridu Thanki (left) of World Kitchen in Leith and Al Tibbitt of Greener Leith with Suzanne of ACTive Inquiry as the harassed community centre manager.

And by the end of the play even Leith Open Space was drawn into the action, persuading the bank who employ Sophie that they could help to make the community project happen and restore some of their bad name at the same time.

Try it for yourself – Change made its debut at Fort Community Wing thanks to the wonderfully enterprising Swietlica drop-in club. The play is now running in different venues throughout Leith during the election campaign. Next showing at Duncan Place Resource Centre, 4 Duncan Place, Leith on Wednesday 5 May 7pm.

And don’t forget to smile – ‘Three smiles a day keeps misery away”, is the slogan suggested by Mridu for the Smiling Leith poster campaign which will be launched with the help of the £50 prize awarded by ACTive Inquiry. Who knows who and what will win the next prize.  Could be you?

Teamwork: Mridu, Marek and Marcin demonstrate people power (thanks to Kasia Raszewska for the black and white pictures)

PERFORMANCES

all free
Wednesday 5 May 7pm – Duncan Place Resource Centre, 4 Duncan Place, Leith
[Thursday 6 May – still to be confirmed – Out of the Blue, Drill Hall, Dalmeny Street, Leith]
Saturday 8  May 4pm – The Lighthouse, 20-22 West Harbour Road, Granton, EH5
(plus a private performance  at NEECAG (North East Edinburgh Care Action Group) Older People’s Forum, at a  sheltered housing complex).

Ben Stollery, actor and drama worker with ACTive Inquiry, explains:

At each performance we would like to make information available to the audience about local and city-wide organisations who are involved in positive social change and campaigning. The actors  will talk to members of the audience afterwards and point them in the direction of organisations engaged in areas of interest to them. We are also inviting local organisations to be available for audience members to speak to if they wish.

Audience members will be invited, as part of the performance, to form groups and to think of an idea for making positive change in Leith and to present a small proposal including what the idea is, what they would do with a small contribution from ourselves (up to £50), and how Active Inquiry can help with making the idea happen. The ideas will be voted on by the audience with the winner getting the small amount of money to give them a start.

Active Inquiry would also be involved with following this up and helping in any way we can.

We would therefore like to invite your organisation:

1. to send a representative to attend one or more of the performances, detailed below
2. to send some literature on your organisation, what it does and how people can get involved, for us to make available at each performance
3. to provide a 3-line summary about yourselves with contact details that we will add to a handout to be given to all who attend (or edit your portion of the attached draft handout)

Please send to Ben Stollery at 1F2, 50 Albion Road, Edinburgh EH7 5QU

For more information email  ben@activeinquiry.co.uk or phone Gavin Crichton artistic director on 07714 321629 or visit the ACTive Inquiry website by clicking here

“I’ve never seen anything like it! It is such an interesting and dynamic way to explore issues. I really liked how the audience interacted with and influenced the play.”

While politicians debate, a Leith community theatre invites local people to explore what positive change  means and how we can make it happen.  Change is the name of a unique theatre project which opens with a first performance at Fort Community Wing on Thursday 29 April  at 7 pm.

ACT Two: the media analyses the second night of debate

With great timing, the first night of the ACTive Inquiry drama just happens to coincide with the third and final debate of the three leaders competing to win the general election. But the real life drama unfolding at Swietlica, the Polish drop-in club, could hardly be more different than the carefully controlled event taking place in front of the television cameras. [see also Be the Change]

In the Fort Community Wing the audience will be positively encouraged to take part as actors introduce the story of Sophie, a cleaner at a bank, who is inspired to use her new-found literacy skills to make her voice heard. Will her enthusiasm be enough to help her overcome the challenges she runs into…?

The story line was developed in a drama workshop, drawing on real concerns of real people from Leith. But the outcome will depend on the audience  and – unlike voters in the election –  in a Forum Theatre production no-one opts out.

Gavin Crichton, director of ACTive Inquiry, plays the role of the Joker interrupting the story and inviting the audience to take an active part in changing the course of events.   If you are the kind of person who never sits in the front row, fear not – as anyone who saw ACTive Inquiry making its debut in Leith Festival last year will know – Gavin has a wonderfully disarming way of getting people to take part.

Or as a member of the audience who saw the first production, Space, puts it: “I’ve never seen anything like it! It is such an interesting and dynamic way to explore issues. I really liked how the audience interacted with and influenced the play.”

Forum Theatre combines theatre and debate enabling the audience to have a say in how the Play develops. Active Inquiry a Leith-based theatre company  promotes increased participation in the arts as a catalyst for active involvement in society.  To quote the flyer for the series of performances deliberately coinciding with the election campaign (and a day or two after the results come in):

“How can we play an active part in positive social change, what stops change happening, and can we do more to change things than just voting every 5 years?”

PERFORMANCES
Thursday 29 April 7pm – Fort Community Wing, North Fort Street, Leith EH6
Wednesday 5 May 7pm – Duncan Place Resource Centre, 4 Duncan Place, Leith
[Thursday 6 May – still to be confirmed – Out of the Blue, Drill Hall, Dalmeny Street, Leith]
Saturday 8  May 4pm – The Lighthouse, 20-22 West Harbour Road, Granton, EH5
(plus a private performance  at NEECAG (North East Edinburgh Care Action Group) Older People’s Forum, at a  sheltered housing complex).

So what do we mean by change? Can we do more to change things than just voting every four or five years?  With questions like these, Leith-based theatre company ACTive Inquiry invites local people to help create a piece of real-life theatre exploring change for performance and debate –  deliberately timed to coincide with the General Election campaign. 

It’s another imaginative and bold project from the company run by Gavin Crichton.  Like earlier Forum Theatre productions, the play begins with a  drama workshop  gathering real-life experiences and stories  to create a piece of theatre which involves audience as much as actors.  But who knows how performances and debates will develop against the background drama of the the 2010 election campaign.

“This promises to be an exciting workshop,” says Gavin,  “As well as being a way for us to collect ideas and stories for our next Forum piece during the election period. As usual no experience is necessary for this workshop, just a willingness to get up and give it a go!”

Change begins with the free drama workshop at the Pilmeny Youth Centre, 44 Buchanan Street, EH^ 8RF (just off Leith Walk) from 10 am – 1pm.

If you would like to ask a question about the workshop or book a place then please contact Gavin at Active Inquiry on gavin@activeinquiry.co.uk or 0771 4321 629

PS Gavin adds that everyone is welcome to the fundraising Ceilidh on Saturday evening  – to raise cash for the Flashback Drama Group production in the Leith Festival.

Saturday 10th April, 7.30-11.30pm, Tollcross Community Centre, £8/£6

“This promises to be a great party with music from top Edinburgh Ceilidh band The Big Squeeze. We would love it if you could come and support us and bring your friends! A bar will be provided. ”

Click here for more information and to buy tickets!