TYPE OF WORK
Educational drama and theatre

TARGET GROUPS
Urban regeneration and urban culture with young people in UK; rural regeneration and rural culture with young people in Macedonia; refugees, asylum seekers and host communities in UK and Macedonia; young people excluded and at risk of exclusion from education and society in UK and Macedonia

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

COMPANY POLICY
To place the young person at the centre of the creative process as s/he explores what it means to be a young human alive in the world today. This is achieved by creating a safe environment to develop the basic tools of human consciousness through play: communication, trust, objectivity and identity as individuals within a community. It involves rigorous and enjoyable investigations into concepts such as justice, refuge, identity, independence and citizenship. This practice creates the opportunity for change within the young person.

Project staff are trained as drama workers, including specific training for teachers from different ethnic backgrounds.

SCALE OF PROJECTS
Number of practitioners: 2–8
Number of participants: 15–20
Preparation time: 1–2 months
Contact time: 2–3 hours/week over 3 months or longer

PERMANENT STAFF
Benjamin May, Artistic Director

Brokenville (UK, 1998–99)
Voluntary work for Kosovo Aid UK. Work commenced with young refugees from Kosovo living in Barking and Dagenham, east London. The aim of the project was to provide a platform for them to express their experiences both at home and during their time as refugees in Britain in a fictional context.

The secondary aim of the project was to break down some of the preconceptions the host community had about refugees. The play, written by Philip Ridley, was performed in a local community space to audiences from both communities.

CARE International – Young people’s Drama and Theatre (Macedonia, 1999–2000)
Benjamin May worked with young people between the ages of seven and 25 years from Cegrane Refugee camp and rural host communities, using drama as a tool to express the experiences they had been through in fictional settings. They focused on fairy stories and fables resulting in public performances at the end of each month. The project provided recreation, learning opportunities and supported the community living in the camp as well as communities who had hosted refugees during the war.

Hamlyn Heights
Updated version of The Pied Piper of Hamlyn, examining relationships between parents and children. With London school children. (UK, 2003)

Our Childhood
Exploring differences between childhood in Romania and Britain and how both cultures produce children who become homeless. (Romania/UK)

Macedonia
Work in Macedonia as educational drama and theatre advisor for Future Trust.

Benjamin May
MAYHEM
12 Silvester Road
East Dulwich
London SE22 9PD

T +44 (0)20 8693 7956
Mobile +44 (0)7974 349 756

E mayhemint@aol.com

“The play, a moving and very highly refined piece of theatre, focused on the healing possibilities of stories and the power of memory. It did what all good theatre should – touched us, entertained us and challenged our thoughts and emotions.”
Philip Parr, letter to The Guardian, 1999, on Brokenville (UK, 1999)

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