TYPE OF WORK
Theatre, drama and active groupwork methods

TARGET GROUPS
Offenders in secure and community settings, those at risk of offending, and other volatile, vulnerable and marginalised groups (parents attending family centres; young people in local authority care; individuals undergoing treatment for substance misuse etc.)

GEOGRAPHICAL CONTEXT
UK, Central and Eastern Europe, Western and Southern Europe

COMPANY POLICY
Geese uses theatre and drama to encourage self-awareness and to assist individuals in exploring the idea of change and the impact that change may have on their lives. Within this framework the company invites groups to consider the complex web of connections between personal behaviour, choice and responsibility and broader social, economic and political factors. Geese regularly provides training (mostly to non-arts professionals) in the use of theatre, drama and active methods with at-risk groups. Geese has also published the Geese Theatre Handbook to enable artists and non-artists to safely incorporate active methods into their practice.

SCALE OF PROJECTS
Number of practitioners: 2–9
Number of participants: 5–20
Preparation time: 2 days – 4 weeks
Contact time: Half-day – 2 years

PERMANENT STAFF: 10
Andy Watson, Artistic Director
Irene Brown, Administrator

Leaving Care Project (UK, 2001)
Geese spent several weeks working with a group of 10 young people who had recently left public care in Warwickshire, England. The aim was for the young people to be able to present their experiences of being looked after by the local authority to policy makers. The young people worked with the company exploring their experiences in an active and dynamic manner, eventually devising a performance reflecting on their time in care and their ambitions for future provision for looked after young people. This final piece was performed to key policy makers and the full council and as a result of the project, the council instituted a telephone helpline specifically for young people being looked after in Warwickshire.

Hollybush Family Centre (UK, 2002)
Geese visited a family centre in Hereford, England, working with parents who attend the centre for support. Using active exercise and a theatrical devising process the participants created scenarios which reflected their experiences of relationships. These scenarios were filmed by a professional documentary maker and a video package has been created as a stimulus piece for use in other family centres around the UK.

Gutted (UK, 2000–ongoing)
Since 2000 Geese has delivered this three-day project in prisons around the UK. Using a performance at the beginning of the project as a stimulus, the company invites a group of 12 men to explore their behaviours as partners and fathers. Through a process of structured group-work, drama exercises and skills practice role-play, men explore alternative behaviours and practise new roles.

Lifting the Weight
Performance/workshop with adult prisoners nearing the ends of their sentences. Using theatre and drama to explore potential high-risk situations on release, resettlement issues and skills for reintegration into the community. (throughout UK, spring–summer 2003)

Bulgaria Trafficking Project
Working in partnership with the British Council, the IOM and Theatre Svete on a preventative project for teenage girls exploring the dangers of trafficking and enforced prostitution. (Bulgaria, summer 2003)

Andy Watson
Geese Theatre Company
MAC, Cannon Hill Park
Edgbaston
Birmingham B12 9QH

T +44 (0)121 4464370
F +44 (0)121 4465806

E mailbox@geese.co.uk
W www.geese.co.uk

“The impact of the work you do and the profound effect it has on people cannot be overstated.”
Mike Conway, Governor, Maidstone Prison

“Professional, respectful, talented, skilled workers. Very inspiring.”
Wendy Tomlinson, Senior Practitioner, Westminster Youth Offending Team

“What the company do is great for prisoners. I even saw a couple of ‘hard men’ letting their masks down.”
Prisoner, Leeds Prison

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