Tools of involvement in drama activities

Athens, 24/11/2018, Workshop, Zoltán Meszlényi-Bodnár, Zsófia Jozifek

Tools of involvement in drama activities

Athens, 24/11/2018

Zoltán Meszlényi-Bodnár, theatre director, actor, theatre/ drama pedagogue, president of Nyitott Kör (Open Circle) Theatre in Education (TiE) Company, Hungary
Zsófia Jozifek, drama teacher, intercultural expert,Nyitott Kör Egyesület (Open Circle) Hungary

Workshop 5 hours
The workshop hours are 9:30am-12:00pm and 3:00pm-5:30pm, according to the timetable.
Part of the 2018 ATHENS GREECE INTERNATIONAL THEATRE/DRAMA & EDUCATION CONFERENCE
organised by the Hellenic Theatre/Drama & Education Network (TENet-Gr) 

Language: English

Interestingly Hungary is the world leading country in terms of the number of established TiE companies and ongoing activities, as well as in terms of the innovation of the method. Many professionals work on this field in our country and there is a wide range of events and forums to develop further our methods. We aim to carry out a training session about the process of Nyitott Kör’s work, which we describe as Game-Theatre-Education. We consider the beginning of the program a key stage for the further work and we have been experimenting with the tools of involvement for an interactive activity in many different ways. By now we have gathered a toolbox that we can share and we have constructed the theoretical base for it, which we have already presented several times. We consider our work a process of Game-Theater-Education, which guides the participants through an experiential activity, focusing on a particular social problem, in a safe zone. We enter together into a game that emerges to be a performative act, through which contextual learning happens. After the experience, we reflect on our behaviors and feelings, and analyze those in a global context. The participants of the workshop will participate in an experiential TiE activity about a burning social and human problem, analyze the techniques of the activity, and go through the key stones of another TiE program together. We provide a theoretical part about the method presenting the technique of engagement of the TiE they experience in the first part of the workshop. We open a discussion about the different tools of different age groups: we work with little children mainly through clown techniques, use a lot of drama game elements with primary school pupils and implement more abstract theatre styles with secondary school students as well as digital gadgets and mobile apps. We will show innovative ways of TiE strategies/conventions we effectively used in different performances and programs throughout recent years. The workshop is addressed to theatre practitioners, teachers, facilitators, social workers and educators.

Zoltán Meszlényi-Bodnár is one of the main founders and president of Nyitott Kör (Open Circle) Theatre in Education (TiE) Company. The association was founded in 2007, though the founders started to work with Theatre in Education methodology together in 2005. He works as a theatre director and actor-teacher in the professional field. He graduated in 2000 at the University of Theatre and Film Arts, Budapest as a theatre director. He completed a drama pedagogy course in 2004/2005. He also works at Red Nose Clown doctors Foundation as a clowndoctor from 2004. He carries out trainings for clowns and actors, lectures of Theatre-in-Education, Drama-in-Education. As a trainer he led trainings in international clown camps (Red Noses International) from 2011, in Romania, Sfantu Gheorghe, 2014 and in Witten in 2012. In recent years he led several trainings for theatre practitioners and social workers about the Tools of Involvement in TiE: Nicosia, 2016, Belgrade, 2017 and 2018, Budapest 2018. He participated in the Hungarian discussion of terms and strategies of TiE in 2017, and has been facilitating a new studio program to train young professionals to become actor-teachers. 

Zsófia Jozifek works at Nyitott Kör (Open Circle) Theatre in Education (TiE) company. She has experience on Drama and Theatre in Education from various viewpoints: she met the methodology as a participant in her childhood, and while growing up, it played an important role in her life; as well as the academic approach toward the method. She completed a drama pedagogy course in 2016. She graduated as an MA of Intercultural Psychology and Education in Eötvös Loránd University in 2015. She has a BA of Liberal Arts of the same university. She lived and worked in Spain between 2013 and 2015, organizing and facilitating street theatre and educational theatre activities for young people with fewer opportunities. She is a volunteer of HUDEA, reporting on international projects. She is a practicing actor-teacher in TiE programs and has been collaborating with Zoltán in the delivery of trainings about TiE.