Sean Aita is a member of the Drama Panel of Examiners for Trinity College, London. Until 2015 he was a member of the advisory panel for the All Party Parliamentary Group for Education in Art and Design. He was Associate Professor - Theatre at the Arts University at Bournemouth, and a Board Member of BH Live, the largest community interest arts organisation in the UK outside London. He trained originally as a classical actor at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, and performed professionally in a wide range of genres on stage, film, television, and radio. He is an award winning theatre director and playwright, and is interested in cross disciplinary performance models. Performance highlights include appearing in Ingmar Bergmann’s Hamlet at the National Theatre; working with Anthony Mingella in originating the role of Walter in one of his first plays Two Planks and a Passion; playing the title role in Oscar Wilde’s An Ideal Husband at the Westminster Theatre opposite Jeremy Sinden, and working in the West End musical Buddy. Sean moved into directing by observing/assisting at the Royal Opera House, and English National Opera before starting his own company Animus in London. He became Associate Director at the Royal Theatre Northampton, where he won the Checkout Theatre award for his play Yallery Brown, co-produced with Forkbeard Fantasy which subsequently transferred to Greenwich Theatre. He has had a thirty year association with Vienna’s English Theatre in Austria where he has written, adapted and directed work seen by over 100,000 young people each year. As artistic director of regional touring theatre company Forest Forge, Sean's work was short-listed for the Stage Award for Achievement in Regional Theatre, for his season of productions in 2005/06. At Forest Forge Sean produced the company’s first ever international co-production with Theatre Newfoundland and Labrador commissioning award winning writers Nell Leyshon and Robert Chafe. As a writer Sean’s play Bin-it won the live event category of the 2009 International Visual Communications Association Clarion awards recognising best practice in communicating the importance of CSR, sustainable development, social inclusion and ethical debate.
This book edited by Dr Aaron Taylor combines a range of essays from celebrated film theorists and... more This book edited by Dr Aaron Taylor combines a range of essays from celebrated film theorists and critics who explore film acting from a variety of perspectives.
During the sixteenth century political expediency had forced the Lutheran Elizabethan state to ac... more During the sixteenth century political expediency had forced the Lutheran Elizabethan state to accept that, in seeking to counter Roman Catholic hegemony, they would be obliged to occupy a “similar space to Muslims in the arena of European power politics” . From a Moslem perspective both the Ottoman and Safavid dynasties recognised that Protestantism and Mahomedanism, as monotheistic, anti-idolatrous faiths, could contain “shared tenets of religious observance.”
This commonality of purpose and of religious experience produced a situation which, for the excommunicated Queen Elizabeth as a female Christian ‘Prince’, was difficult to reconcile. Whilst official statements of public opposition to Islam as a spiritual and political force remained a necessary orthodoxy recent scholarship suggests that, within the context of the playhouse, theatrical representations of some non-Christian characters during this period “confound what are often considered to be conventional expectations” . Due to its unique position the theatre became the medium through which an interrogation of the cognitive dissonance, produced by the ambiguities of sixteenth century foreign policy, could take place. Reflecting a critical perspective which has encouraged the de-emphasis of the materiality of the cultures in which Shakespeare’s plays are set, a resolutely Occidental model dominates Twelfth Night’s recent Western European performance history. In spite of numerous references within the text which appear to locate Illyria within an Islamic cultural frame professional producers, particularly in England, have maintained a performative orthodoxy which erases the East.
This paper offers some insights into the author’s experience as a theatre practitioner of restoring Twelfth Night to its Ottoman Islamic frame in his 2011 production for Shakespeare in Styria. The restoration of the East through performance offers a tantalizing glimpse into an alternative interpretation of the play’s notoriously slippery twin title. According to tradition the birth of the prophet Mohamed occurred on the twelfth night of the month of Rabî`ul-Awwal and the concept of Inshallah seems remarkably close to the expression What you will.
This paper explores the cultural implications of the use of the 'Theatre in Language Learning', o... more This paper explores the cultural implications of the use of the 'Theatre in Language Learning', or TILL, model of applied theatre in the second language (L2) classroom. Using a dramaturgical taxonomy the author explores the changes in dramaturgical focus undertaken by Vienna's English Theatre over a 25-year period, and interrogates their effect on student perceptions of 'Englishness'. The paper identifies and charts the development of three distinct play cycles which, although operating concurrently, present contrasting and in many cases conflicting visualisation of English life and culture to their L2 audience. Exploring the compositional, structural, and linguistic elements of these works the author argues that the TILL model presents a vision of England which is both performed and performative, and has been dictated by motivational, educational and social agendas.
Keywords: Theatre in Language Learning; Englishness; cultural identity
Dear friends,
We take great pleasure in presenting you with this report into a
meeting of the E... more Dear friends,
We take great pleasure in presenting you with this report into a
meeting of the European Off Network (EON) which took place
in Brunnen:passage, Vienna between October 15th and 19th
2008. The meeting was supported by Kultur Kontakt Austria,
bm:uk, city of Vienna, ÖESTIG and the British Council Austria,
and organized by IG Freie Theaterarbeit. It tooks the form
of a conference gathering more than forty artists, and theatre
experts, from different parts of Europe and the Middle East.
The conference was held in what would be termed by cultural
theorist Homi Bhaba a Third Space – our intention was to
create a safe and yet inspiring environment which would help
stimulate us all to look for new choices, and to explore new
points of view. We were certainly successful in achieving this
goal. We held open discussions, and talked intensively about
the extremely complex, and perplexing, subject of Theatre
in Times of War. We shared opinions and experiences, clarified
matters from different perspectives, and took aesthetic
choices, and approaches, into consideration. The articles,
reports, and commentaries contained within this edition represent the reflections and responses of artists, and theorists, to this meeting. Tragically the topic we chose to review, as thorough and complex as our analysis may be is far from being exhausted. It will undoubtedly continue to stimulate debate until the external realities of a world filled with hatred and conflict should change.
In her introductory article, Sabine Kock (Austria) gives us a
brief history of EON network, and reflects on its origins. She
also discuses previous meetings in St. Pölten and Brescia,
and contextualizes the thematic framework for the conference
in Vienna. This is followed by a short cultural provocation by
Sean Aita (UK) and a personal reflection by Lena Stefenson
(Sweden) on her subjective experiences at the conference.
There are also selected articles by Jeton Neziraj (Kosovo UMNIK) on the subject of an interactive theatre project dedicated to missing persons in Kosovo, and another from Lisa Jacobson (Israel) on the experiences of ARMA theatre company
in times of major social and political turbulence. Additionally there is Dorinda Hulton’s (UK) article reflecting upon her own
practice exploring performance aesthetics which interpret
and reflect the experiences of those living within “zones of
conflict”. In an analysis of the problem of critical and artistic
distance, Irena Ristic (Serbia) provides a retrospective view of
the debate concerning various aesthetic approaches to the
subject of war, and Petar Todorov (Bulgaria) reminds us about
another kind of war, the war for free creative space, fought by
independents artists for decades.
This a subject which would certainly be appreciated by our
correspondent Ali Abu Yaseen (Gaza), whose moving war diary
shows how immediate the subject of conflict and a place
to work is for some of our members. Events in Ali’s home
city of Gaza reached crisis point following our meeting in Vienna and provoked a debate relating to this conflict which
continued to dominate EON for many months. Events in the
Middle East inspired members to respond to circumstances
by beginning what was sometimes a turbulent, but without
question extremely important, e-debate. This publication also
includes a part of this precious e-mail correspondence which
resembles a performative text. In our final article, Ilkay Sevgi
(Turkey) explores the potential, and role, of artists in the times
of war, and announces another important topic for our future
consideration. The sense of empathy.
Abstract
This article presents an outline of the Theatre in Language Learning (TiLL) model for s... more Abstract
This article presents an outline of the Theatre in Language Learning (TiLL) model for second language learners, pioneered since 1966 by Vienna’s English Theatre in partnership with the Austrian Bundesministerium für Unterricht, Kunst und Kultur (BMUKK), linking text study, classroom based role play and professional performance with preshow and in-performance student interaction. It offers a reflection on the dramaturgy and practice of the Englisches Theater geht in die Schulen programme and explores how the model may impact upon student motivation in light of Ema Ushioda’s qualitative research in this field. The article is written from the perspective of a professional theatre practitioner reflecting on the context of theatre as pedagogy within an L2 environment.
The voices of theatre artists working within a rural environment have traditionally been occluded... more The voices of theatre artists working within a rural environment have traditionally been occluded by the cultural commentators and critics who define the ultimate ‘value’ of performance, in terms of its historical contextualization and record. This article, focusing upon the collaborative approaches to dramaturgical and performance practice of British companies making professional theatre for/and with rural communities over the past thirty years, challenges the metro-centric view of theatre history and proposes a definition for a new genre: Rural Theatre.
A chapter on issues facing contemporary Community Theatre practitioners as part of a series of te... more A chapter on issues facing contemporary Community Theatre practitioners as part of a series of texts created following a symposium held in Belgrade (23rd - 25th Sept 2015). The symposium was dedicated to the analysis, contextualization and critical interpretation of contemporary theories and performing practices, as well as a process for understanding principles, mechanisms and value system that are merging different forms.
This book edited by Dr Aaron Taylor combines a range of essays from celebrated film theorists and... more This book edited by Dr Aaron Taylor combines a range of essays from celebrated film theorists and critics who explore film acting from a variety of perspectives.
During the sixteenth century political expediency had forced the Lutheran Elizabethan state to ac... more During the sixteenth century political expediency had forced the Lutheran Elizabethan state to accept that, in seeking to counter Roman Catholic hegemony, they would be obliged to occupy a “similar space to Muslims in the arena of European power politics” . From a Moslem perspective both the Ottoman and Safavid dynasties recognised that Protestantism and Mahomedanism, as monotheistic, anti-idolatrous faiths, could contain “shared tenets of religious observance.”
This commonality of purpose and of religious experience produced a situation which, for the excommunicated Queen Elizabeth as a female Christian ‘Prince’, was difficult to reconcile. Whilst official statements of public opposition to Islam as a spiritual and political force remained a necessary orthodoxy recent scholarship suggests that, within the context of the playhouse, theatrical representations of some non-Christian characters during this period “confound what are often considered to be conventional expectations” . Due to its unique position the theatre became the medium through which an interrogation of the cognitive dissonance, produced by the ambiguities of sixteenth century foreign policy, could take place. Reflecting a critical perspective which has encouraged the de-emphasis of the materiality of the cultures in which Shakespeare’s plays are set, a resolutely Occidental model dominates Twelfth Night’s recent Western European performance history. In spite of numerous references within the text which appear to locate Illyria within an Islamic cultural frame professional producers, particularly in England, have maintained a performative orthodoxy which erases the East.
This paper offers some insights into the author’s experience as a theatre practitioner of restoring Twelfth Night to its Ottoman Islamic frame in his 2011 production for Shakespeare in Styria. The restoration of the East through performance offers a tantalizing glimpse into an alternative interpretation of the play’s notoriously slippery twin title. According to tradition the birth of the prophet Mohamed occurred on the twelfth night of the month of Rabî`ul-Awwal and the concept of Inshallah seems remarkably close to the expression What you will.
This paper explores the cultural implications of the use of the 'Theatre in Language Learning', o... more This paper explores the cultural implications of the use of the 'Theatre in Language Learning', or TILL, model of applied theatre in the second language (L2) classroom. Using a dramaturgical taxonomy the author explores the changes in dramaturgical focus undertaken by Vienna's English Theatre over a 25-year period, and interrogates their effect on student perceptions of 'Englishness'. The paper identifies and charts the development of three distinct play cycles which, although operating concurrently, present contrasting and in many cases conflicting visualisation of English life and culture to their L2 audience. Exploring the compositional, structural, and linguistic elements of these works the author argues that the TILL model presents a vision of England which is both performed and performative, and has been dictated by motivational, educational and social agendas.
Keywords: Theatre in Language Learning; Englishness; cultural identity
Dear friends,
We take great pleasure in presenting you with this report into a
meeting of the E... more Dear friends,
We take great pleasure in presenting you with this report into a
meeting of the European Off Network (EON) which took place
in Brunnen:passage, Vienna between October 15th and 19th
2008. The meeting was supported by Kultur Kontakt Austria,
bm:uk, city of Vienna, ÖESTIG and the British Council Austria,
and organized by IG Freie Theaterarbeit. It tooks the form
of a conference gathering more than forty artists, and theatre
experts, from different parts of Europe and the Middle East.
The conference was held in what would be termed by cultural
theorist Homi Bhaba a Third Space – our intention was to
create a safe and yet inspiring environment which would help
stimulate us all to look for new choices, and to explore new
points of view. We were certainly successful in achieving this
goal. We held open discussions, and talked intensively about
the extremely complex, and perplexing, subject of Theatre
in Times of War. We shared opinions and experiences, clarified
matters from different perspectives, and took aesthetic
choices, and approaches, into consideration. The articles,
reports, and commentaries contained within this edition represent the reflections and responses of artists, and theorists, to this meeting. Tragically the topic we chose to review, as thorough and complex as our analysis may be is far from being exhausted. It will undoubtedly continue to stimulate debate until the external realities of a world filled with hatred and conflict should change.
In her introductory article, Sabine Kock (Austria) gives us a
brief history of EON network, and reflects on its origins. She
also discuses previous meetings in St. Pölten and Brescia,
and contextualizes the thematic framework for the conference
in Vienna. This is followed by a short cultural provocation by
Sean Aita (UK) and a personal reflection by Lena Stefenson
(Sweden) on her subjective experiences at the conference.
There are also selected articles by Jeton Neziraj (Kosovo UMNIK) on the subject of an interactive theatre project dedicated to missing persons in Kosovo, and another from Lisa Jacobson (Israel) on the experiences of ARMA theatre company
in times of major social and political turbulence. Additionally there is Dorinda Hulton’s (UK) article reflecting upon her own
practice exploring performance aesthetics which interpret
and reflect the experiences of those living within “zones of
conflict”. In an analysis of the problem of critical and artistic
distance, Irena Ristic (Serbia) provides a retrospective view of
the debate concerning various aesthetic approaches to the
subject of war, and Petar Todorov (Bulgaria) reminds us about
another kind of war, the war for free creative space, fought by
independents artists for decades.
This a subject which would certainly be appreciated by our
correspondent Ali Abu Yaseen (Gaza), whose moving war diary
shows how immediate the subject of conflict and a place
to work is for some of our members. Events in Ali’s home
city of Gaza reached crisis point following our meeting in Vienna and provoked a debate relating to this conflict which
continued to dominate EON for many months. Events in the
Middle East inspired members to respond to circumstances
by beginning what was sometimes a turbulent, but without
question extremely important, e-debate. This publication also
includes a part of this precious e-mail correspondence which
resembles a performative text. In our final article, Ilkay Sevgi
(Turkey) explores the potential, and role, of artists in the times
of war, and announces another important topic for our future
consideration. The sense of empathy.
Abstract
This article presents an outline of the Theatre in Language Learning (TiLL) model for s... more Abstract
This article presents an outline of the Theatre in Language Learning (TiLL) model for second language learners, pioneered since 1966 by Vienna’s English Theatre in partnership with the Austrian Bundesministerium für Unterricht, Kunst und Kultur (BMUKK), linking text study, classroom based role play and professional performance with preshow and in-performance student interaction. It offers a reflection on the dramaturgy and practice of the Englisches Theater geht in die Schulen programme and explores how the model may impact upon student motivation in light of Ema Ushioda’s qualitative research in this field. The article is written from the perspective of a professional theatre practitioner reflecting on the context of theatre as pedagogy within an L2 environment.
The voices of theatre artists working within a rural environment have traditionally been occluded... more The voices of theatre artists working within a rural environment have traditionally been occluded by the cultural commentators and critics who define the ultimate ‘value’ of performance, in terms of its historical contextualization and record. This article, focusing upon the collaborative approaches to dramaturgical and performance practice of British companies making professional theatre for/and with rural communities over the past thirty years, challenges the metro-centric view of theatre history and proposes a definition for a new genre: Rural Theatre.
A chapter on issues facing contemporary Community Theatre practitioners as part of a series of te... more A chapter on issues facing contemporary Community Theatre practitioners as part of a series of texts created following a symposium held in Belgrade (23rd - 25th Sept 2015). The symposium was dedicated to the analysis, contextualization and critical interpretation of contemporary theories and performing practices, as well as a process for understanding principles, mechanisms and value system that are merging different forms.
Uploads
This commonality of purpose and of religious experience produced a situation which, for the excommunicated Queen Elizabeth as a female Christian ‘Prince’, was difficult to reconcile. Whilst official statements of public opposition to Islam as a spiritual and political force remained a necessary orthodoxy recent scholarship suggests that, within the context of the playhouse, theatrical representations of some non-Christian characters during this period “confound what are often considered to be conventional expectations” . Due to its unique position the theatre became the medium through which an interrogation of the cognitive dissonance, produced by the ambiguities of sixteenth century foreign policy, could take place. Reflecting a critical perspective which has encouraged the de-emphasis of the materiality of the cultures in which Shakespeare’s plays are set, a resolutely Occidental model dominates Twelfth Night’s recent Western European performance history. In spite of numerous references within the text which appear to locate Illyria within an Islamic cultural frame professional producers, particularly in England, have maintained a performative orthodoxy which erases the East.
This paper offers some insights into the author’s experience as a theatre practitioner of restoring Twelfth Night to its Ottoman Islamic frame in his 2011 production for Shakespeare in Styria. The restoration of the East through performance offers a tantalizing glimpse into an alternative interpretation of the play’s notoriously slippery twin title. According to tradition the birth of the prophet Mohamed occurred on the twelfth night of the month of Rabî`ul-Awwal and the concept of Inshallah seems remarkably close to the expression What you will.
Keywords: Theatre in Language Learning; Englishness; cultural identity
We take great pleasure in presenting you with this report into a
meeting of the European Off Network (EON) which took place
in Brunnen:passage, Vienna between October 15th and 19th
2008. The meeting was supported by Kultur Kontakt Austria,
bm:uk, city of Vienna, ÖESTIG and the British Council Austria,
and organized by IG Freie Theaterarbeit. It tooks the form
of a conference gathering more than forty artists, and theatre
experts, from different parts of Europe and the Middle East.
The conference was held in what would be termed by cultural
theorist Homi Bhaba a Third Space – our intention was to
create a safe and yet inspiring environment which would help
stimulate us all to look for new choices, and to explore new
points of view. We were certainly successful in achieving this
goal. We held open discussions, and talked intensively about
the extremely complex, and perplexing, subject of Theatre
in Times of War. We shared opinions and experiences, clarified
matters from different perspectives, and took aesthetic
choices, and approaches, into consideration. The articles,
reports, and commentaries contained within this edition represent the reflections and responses of artists, and theorists, to this meeting. Tragically the topic we chose to review, as thorough and complex as our analysis may be is far from being exhausted. It will undoubtedly continue to stimulate debate until the external realities of a world filled with hatred and conflict should change.
In her introductory article, Sabine Kock (Austria) gives us a
brief history of EON network, and reflects on its origins. She
also discuses previous meetings in St. Pölten and Brescia,
and contextualizes the thematic framework for the conference
in Vienna. This is followed by a short cultural provocation by
Sean Aita (UK) and a personal reflection by Lena Stefenson
(Sweden) on her subjective experiences at the conference.
There are also selected articles by Jeton Neziraj (Kosovo UMNIK) on the subject of an interactive theatre project dedicated to missing persons in Kosovo, and another from Lisa Jacobson (Israel) on the experiences of ARMA theatre company
in times of major social and political turbulence. Additionally there is Dorinda Hulton’s (UK) article reflecting upon her own
practice exploring performance aesthetics which interpret
and reflect the experiences of those living within “zones of
conflict”. In an analysis of the problem of critical and artistic
distance, Irena Ristic (Serbia) provides a retrospective view of
the debate concerning various aesthetic approaches to the
subject of war, and Petar Todorov (Bulgaria) reminds us about
another kind of war, the war for free creative space, fought by
independents artists for decades.
This a subject which would certainly be appreciated by our
correspondent Ali Abu Yaseen (Gaza), whose moving war diary
shows how immediate the subject of conflict and a place
to work is for some of our members. Events in Ali’s home
city of Gaza reached crisis point following our meeting in Vienna and provoked a debate relating to this conflict which
continued to dominate EON for many months. Events in the
Middle East inspired members to respond to circumstances
by beginning what was sometimes a turbulent, but without
question extremely important, e-debate. This publication also
includes a part of this precious e-mail correspondence which
resembles a performative text. In our final article, Ilkay Sevgi
(Turkey) explores the potential, and role, of artists in the times
of war, and announces another important topic for our future
consideration. The sense of empathy.
Until we meet again in Istanbul 2010.
Yours
Sabine, Irena, Sean and Dorinda (EON)
This article presents an outline of the Theatre in Language Learning (TiLL) model for second language learners, pioneered since 1966 by Vienna’s English Theatre in partnership with the Austrian Bundesministerium für Unterricht, Kunst und Kultur (BMUKK), linking text study, classroom based role play and professional performance with preshow and in-performance student interaction. It offers a reflection on the dramaturgy and practice of the Englisches Theater geht in die Schulen programme and explores how the model may impact upon student motivation in light of Ema Ushioda’s qualitative research in this field. The article is written from the perspective of a professional theatre practitioner reflecting on the context of theatre as pedagogy within an L2 environment.
This commonality of purpose and of religious experience produced a situation which, for the excommunicated Queen Elizabeth as a female Christian ‘Prince’, was difficult to reconcile. Whilst official statements of public opposition to Islam as a spiritual and political force remained a necessary orthodoxy recent scholarship suggests that, within the context of the playhouse, theatrical representations of some non-Christian characters during this period “confound what are often considered to be conventional expectations” . Due to its unique position the theatre became the medium through which an interrogation of the cognitive dissonance, produced by the ambiguities of sixteenth century foreign policy, could take place. Reflecting a critical perspective which has encouraged the de-emphasis of the materiality of the cultures in which Shakespeare’s plays are set, a resolutely Occidental model dominates Twelfth Night’s recent Western European performance history. In spite of numerous references within the text which appear to locate Illyria within an Islamic cultural frame professional producers, particularly in England, have maintained a performative orthodoxy which erases the East.
This paper offers some insights into the author’s experience as a theatre practitioner of restoring Twelfth Night to its Ottoman Islamic frame in his 2011 production for Shakespeare in Styria. The restoration of the East through performance offers a tantalizing glimpse into an alternative interpretation of the play’s notoriously slippery twin title. According to tradition the birth of the prophet Mohamed occurred on the twelfth night of the month of Rabî`ul-Awwal and the concept of Inshallah seems remarkably close to the expression What you will.
Keywords: Theatre in Language Learning; Englishness; cultural identity
We take great pleasure in presenting you with this report into a
meeting of the European Off Network (EON) which took place
in Brunnen:passage, Vienna between October 15th and 19th
2008. The meeting was supported by Kultur Kontakt Austria,
bm:uk, city of Vienna, ÖESTIG and the British Council Austria,
and organized by IG Freie Theaterarbeit. It tooks the form
of a conference gathering more than forty artists, and theatre
experts, from different parts of Europe and the Middle East.
The conference was held in what would be termed by cultural
theorist Homi Bhaba a Third Space – our intention was to
create a safe and yet inspiring environment which would help
stimulate us all to look for new choices, and to explore new
points of view. We were certainly successful in achieving this
goal. We held open discussions, and talked intensively about
the extremely complex, and perplexing, subject of Theatre
in Times of War. We shared opinions and experiences, clarified
matters from different perspectives, and took aesthetic
choices, and approaches, into consideration. The articles,
reports, and commentaries contained within this edition represent the reflections and responses of artists, and theorists, to this meeting. Tragically the topic we chose to review, as thorough and complex as our analysis may be is far from being exhausted. It will undoubtedly continue to stimulate debate until the external realities of a world filled with hatred and conflict should change.
In her introductory article, Sabine Kock (Austria) gives us a
brief history of EON network, and reflects on its origins. She
also discuses previous meetings in St. Pölten and Brescia,
and contextualizes the thematic framework for the conference
in Vienna. This is followed by a short cultural provocation by
Sean Aita (UK) and a personal reflection by Lena Stefenson
(Sweden) on her subjective experiences at the conference.
There are also selected articles by Jeton Neziraj (Kosovo UMNIK) on the subject of an interactive theatre project dedicated to missing persons in Kosovo, and another from Lisa Jacobson (Israel) on the experiences of ARMA theatre company
in times of major social and political turbulence. Additionally there is Dorinda Hulton’s (UK) article reflecting upon her own
practice exploring performance aesthetics which interpret
and reflect the experiences of those living within “zones of
conflict”. In an analysis of the problem of critical and artistic
distance, Irena Ristic (Serbia) provides a retrospective view of
the debate concerning various aesthetic approaches to the
subject of war, and Petar Todorov (Bulgaria) reminds us about
another kind of war, the war for free creative space, fought by
independents artists for decades.
This a subject which would certainly be appreciated by our
correspondent Ali Abu Yaseen (Gaza), whose moving war diary
shows how immediate the subject of conflict and a place
to work is for some of our members. Events in Ali’s home
city of Gaza reached crisis point following our meeting in Vienna and provoked a debate relating to this conflict which
continued to dominate EON for many months. Events in the
Middle East inspired members to respond to circumstances
by beginning what was sometimes a turbulent, but without
question extremely important, e-debate. This publication also
includes a part of this precious e-mail correspondence which
resembles a performative text. In our final article, Ilkay Sevgi
(Turkey) explores the potential, and role, of artists in the times
of war, and announces another important topic for our future
consideration. The sense of empathy.
Until we meet again in Istanbul 2010.
Yours
Sabine, Irena, Sean and Dorinda (EON)
This article presents an outline of the Theatre in Language Learning (TiLL) model for second language learners, pioneered since 1966 by Vienna’s English Theatre in partnership with the Austrian Bundesministerium für Unterricht, Kunst und Kultur (BMUKK), linking text study, classroom based role play and professional performance with preshow and in-performance student interaction. It offers a reflection on the dramaturgy and practice of the Englisches Theater geht in die Schulen programme and explores how the model may impact upon student motivation in light of Ema Ushioda’s qualitative research in this field. The article is written from the perspective of a professional theatre practitioner reflecting on the context of theatre as pedagogy within an L2 environment.