Community Drama Workshop

We welcomed 50 young people to Pipers Corner last week to participate in a half-term Community Drama Workshop. Taking place in our Arts Centre Theatre the five day workshop included dance, drama and singing, and culminated in a fantastic performance on the final day for friends and family. 

The holiday workshops at Pipers are open to both boys and girls aged 8-15 years and aim to enable participants to build their self-confidence, learn new skills, make new friends and most of all have fun! For this workshop we were delighted to be joined by students from 12 other local schools including Naphill and Walters Ash School, The Misbourne School, Sir Henry Floyd Grammar School, Halton Community Combined School, Gateway School, Wycombe High School and The Royal Grammar School.

Throughout the week the group were challenged to move out of their comfort zone and develop their performance skills as they took part in a variety of improvisation exercises and drama games as well as rehearsing a feature piece. 

The impressive end performance was a true testament to all the hard work the students had put in. Beginning with a dance to “Bad” by Michael Jackson, they then moved on to presenting some of the improvisations they had devised. Split into smaller groups the students had to pick one of three idioms - “Actions speak louder than words”, “Pull the wool over people’s eyes” or “Steal someone’s thunder” - and develop a short dramatic piece that included a scream, laughter, silence and crying. They finished the afternoon with their performance of “Scheherazade and Tales of the Arabian Nights” – a colourful show featuring four classic stories “The Tale of The Beggar”, “The Tale of Ali Baba”, “The Fisherman’s Tale” and “The Tale of The Prince and the Stone”.

Sue Bevan, Course Leader and Drama Outreach Coordinator at Pipers Corner said, “I absolutely love running the Community Drama Workshops. The energy and enthusiasm shown by the young people and the joy that performing brings makes for a hugely enjoyable week. It is wonderful to see the students develop their skills over the course of the week and see just how much they each grow in confidence.” 

Comments from some of the young people who took part:

“I love the Drama Workshop so much. This has been my first week here and I’ve really enjoyed it.” (Beatrice, aged 7)

“It has been amazing. I have loved spending time with my friends over the holiday and it has helped me with my dancing and acting skills.” (Isabelle, aged 9)

“I’ve had so much fun at this workshop. I would recommend it to anyone interested in drama.” (Sam, aged 10)

“The Drama Workshop was so fun. We worked together as a team to do our best and had fun. We were motivated throughout the week and I was so excited to perform the show.” (Thea, aged 10) 

“The Drama Workshop has been amazing. They teach you more than singing and acting, for instance how to learn your lines and words to songs in just two days. We also played lots of great games.” (Amber, aged 11)

“The skills you learn at the workshop are great. I have really improved my confidence and social skills. The opportunities have been amazing and I can only thank Sue and her team for the experience.” (Alp, aged 13)