Integrating devising theatre with social work——a devising

workshop in school

In today's society, everyone is under great pressure, especially in a metropolis like Hong
Kong where competition is fierce and the pace of life is very fast. Social work is particularly
important and the Hong Kong Government has attached great importance to it. In the 1970s,
social work started to be professionalised and the Government set up the Social Work Training
Institute and the Hong Kong Social Welfare Professionals Registration Board one after another.
Over the past decade, we have witnessed rapid changes in the global environment that
have brought about challenges on many fronts, and Hong Kong is not alone. Like other world
cities, Hong Kong has faced many social and economic shocks as a result of globalisation.
The economy is very volatile, the gap between the rich and the poor, the number of new
immigrants, the increase in the number of ethnic minority families, and the increasing
complexity of various family issues. The approach to social work in the new era also needs to
be optimised. The work of social workers is now more like that of a psychiatrist. People are
more or less resistant to strangers, and to reveal their feelings requires not only the
cooperation of the patient but also the strong communication skills of the social worker. This
is why it is very difficult to carry out social work.
Combining devising theatre with social work would be a very good experiment. First of
all, because the content of devising theatre comes from what the actors themselves have, not
from any text alone, the process of devising is a very good and deep communication every
time. We can even bring together people with the same problems, such as widows and
orphans, troubled teenagers, families of the mentally ill, people who have lost their way in life,
and so on. This is much easier to do than the conventional social worker's high-handed
approach to communication. Secondly, the process of making up a play is also a process of
entering into the existing text, committing to it and internalising it, and this process will give
the actors (people with problems) a deeper reflection. In the rehearsal process, one sees that
other people with the same problems have a different understanding of their own problems.
Finally, the theatre approach is one that retains a sense of fun and in a relaxed and enjoyable
process, people will be more likely to let their defences down and get involved.
The first goal of combining theatre with social work is to change people's perceptions of
social work, which most people are resistant to, and to do so in a way that is not too offensive
to them. Secondly, I hope to raise the artistic literacy of the whole population, as at present
theatre is still far away from the lives of ordinary people. Thirdly, theatre is a performing art
and has a relatively high degree of exposure by nature. Through excellent performances or
the addition of stars, more people will be able to pay attention to and think about social issues.
By combining devising theatre with social work, I believe it will be much less difficult to
promote social work. At the same time, it will attract widespread attention from society as a
whole, and there will be a higher level of interest in devising theatre as well as social issues.
I am going to conduct a devising theatre activity in a secondary school in Hong Kong,
based on the theme of conflict between rebellious teenagers and their families, in a play that
will eventually last for about 10 minutes. First I will invite a devising artist and 15 teenagers,
divide the teenagers into 3 groups and start by taking the teenagers through a game where
they will begin to understand what devising theatre is and some of the methods commonly
used in devising theatre, for example, by dancing to the rhythm to understand the use of
music and rhythm in devising theatre. This game will focus on one method of making theatre.
Group points will be added to the process to make it more interesting. This session will take
approximately 1 hour.
After the game session, the group members get to know each other, what they are good
at or what they like, and how to write theatre. Then I will give them a topic, e.g. growing up,
and ask them to rehearse a play of about 5 minutes, using the devising method that I have
just mainly explained. I will give the group 40 minutes to talk about their own stories about
the topic and rehearse at the same time. During the rehearsal, the devising artists will give
individual coaching or guidance to the groups. At the end of the rehearsal, the groups take
turns to perform. At the end of the performance, members of the groups share their creative
process. I believe that after this process, the participants will have a deeper understanding of
the problems they encountered.
The whole project takes a month to prepare, with the first two weeks spent contacting
interested schools and artists, preferably art-related institutions. Match up with the school
administrators to determine the venue, collaboration programme, theme, etc. Identify suitable
artists and discuss the process and programme of the event. After confirming the schools and
artists for the event, start the promotion of the event. The third and fourth weeks can be spent
contacting charities or sponsors and at the same time doing some promotion within the
school, such as going to the school and giving talks and performances about the
choreography theatre.
For the project budget, with the permission of the school, the venue fee is not required.
The main cost is to hire an artist, to promote the project on campus and for some materials.
I was inspired by Mr Lee Chun Leung, the INDY of the Hong Kong Folklore Festival, who
applied devising theatre to the work of the church. Through six hours of learning and sharing
throughout the day, he used devising theatre to recreate the hope that Jesus was born to
mankind, demonstrating the power of devising theatre. Many of the participants expressed
their wish to continue to participate in the activities of the Blessed Theatre Network, and one
participant even took the initiative to join the group's church meetings to rebuild his faith life.
Another artist I was inspired by was Mr. Lai Shengchuan, who I shared in my last class,
whose classic production, Secretly in Love with Peach Blossom Source, was a collaboration
between many Taiwanese expatriates who had the same experience, all of whom were
experiencing the same problems of homesickness or difficulty integrating into Taiwanese
society. Without these empathetic actors working together, the production would never have
been as successful and influential as it was. So I am sure that if it was based on the real stories
of the actors like this it would have touched everyone.