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.

Don’t just get mad, join the Newsgroup.

Bankers narrowly lost out to Afghanistan in the first Newsgroup workshop when Gavin Crichton asked people what news stories were making them angry.  What will be the burning issue for the second Newsgroup?  Come and find out at 10 am on Saturday 30th January in Pilmeny Youth Club. Be sure to bring your cuttings with you!

This is a joint venture between Leith Open Space and ACTive Inquiry, the very active community theatre group now firmly based in Leith.  The inspiration comes from artistic director Gavin Crichton who saw the potential of combining the  Open Space format with a drama workshop to get constructive discussion going. So it’s not just about talking.  Like our Open Space discussion events, the workshop ends with a vote on what participants want to do to make a change.

As Gavin explains: “The workshop explores  how we can become active participants in current affairs rather than passive consumers.”

And what kind of action can we take? Write to your MP about Afghanistan was the gist of the winning vote at the end of the first event in December when 19 people turned up with news to discuss and plenty of views.  “It was a great session,” says Gavin who is emailing everyone on the list inviting them to a second event at:

Pilmeny Youth Centre, 44 Buchanan Street, between 10 am and 1pm on Saturday 30th January.  The fee is just £5 and after the workshops we will adjourn to the cafe at Out of the Blue in the Old Drill Hall where, no doubt, the discussion will continue.

If you want more information just get in touch with Gavin on gavin@activeinquiry.co.uk or ring Ben Stollery on 07963 782 874

ACTive INquiry promotes increased participation in the arts as a catalyst for active involvement in society. More information on  www.activeinquiry.co.uk

…the woman and man in the street do not know that they are speaking theatre. Augusto Boal April 16 1931 – May 2 2009

The pioneering Leith community theatre group, Active Inquiry is making its debut with SPACE, the story of Maggie, an ordinary woman who finds it difficult to persuade people in the local community to help her save the neighbourhood park from being turned into a car park. (Next performance Wednesday 13th May).

This could hardly be a more timely moment to perform a play based on the real words,  thoughts, and actions of real people.  After just a few weeks rehearsal, the first performance of SPACE at the Lighthouse on Saturday (2 May) coincided with the death of Augusto Boal, the revolutionary Brazilian playwright  who used theatre to inspire community and political activism – and changed a few laws in the process. (He obviously knew how to activate the community better than most of us.)

Active Inquiry is drawing on the ideas  of Boal (perhaps best remembered for creating the Theatre of the Oppressed ) as they develop a unique theatre project in Leith with the help of  local actors and people who have never worked on a stage before. You can see the results for yourself in Leith this month and during Leith Festival in June. As Gavin Crichton, artistic director, points out, performances are all free of charge.

SPACE – exploring people’s relationship to the space around them – is at Out of the Blue, Dalmeny Street, on   Wednesday 6 May, 7pm. And at Duncan Place Resource Centre, Duncan Place, EH6 8HW the following week, Wednesday 13 May, 7pm.

There is more about the life and thoughts of Augusto Boal in an online interview.

Can art change society? Here’s news of an exciting new community theatre project in Leith which aims to get people asking questions about the world around us. And maybe come up with some answers about how to change it. No theatre experience needed.  Just turn up and get involved on Saturday 14 March in St James Hall, 12 St John’s Place.

It sounds like a theatrical version of Open Space, which is why Gavin Crichton got in touch with us.  Gavin is  director of the very innovative ACTive INquiry Theatre Company, who have just secured funding to run Space workshops in Leith exploring what ‘public space’ is and what it should be.

People taking part will help shape a brand new piece of theatre for performance in April and at the Leith Festival in June.  Anyone who ‘lives, works or plays’ in Leith is welcome to join in. And it is free.

As Gavin explains: “We hope to get as many people along to the taster day  as possible from a variety of Leith-based organisations to start to explore this question. We work  in a type of theatre called Forum Theatre which actively engages the audience in a research process by enabling them to question what is happening in a play and even change its outcome!”

And we certainly would be there too if we weren’t already busy with the event for women, Who Cares for the Carers in Pilmeny Youth Centre on Saturday. But our event finishes at 3.30 and ACTive runs from 1-5pm so maybe there’s a chance to get the best of both worlds.

For more information or to book a place: email  gavin@activeinquiry.co.uk
phone 0771 4321 629 or check the website www.activeinquiry.co.uk

ACTive INquiry in action

When spectators become actors, there is a chance to explore how the play might change reality. This kind of theatre, Theatre of the Opressed, comes from the work of Brazilian theatre artist and activist, Augusto Boal, with pioneering projects influencing politics and legislation in Rio de Janeiro.  After all, Leith is twinned with Rio!