Jaqueline's last video to Reggie

This is the final video to Reggie Tetteh from Jacqueline Rice at Company of Angels.

Jacqueline writes:

Vanessa and myself made our final video postcard today. We loved Reggie taking us to the beach so we thought we take him/you all to the River Thames. I felt less nervous this time (and tried not to nervously fidget as much as I did in the last one!). I've made two short films but it was making the video postcard that made me appreciate how difficult it is for actors having a camera in their face. However, being outside in the crisp fresh blue air with a wash of soft sunshine overhead instantly relaxed me. Also I felt a stronger connection to Reggie this time and it was like chatting to a friend.

We hope Reggie/you all like the view of the river with St Paul's Cathedral in the background and that we gave you a tiny glimpse of London, on a sunny day! People were quite curious while we were filming and out of the corner of my eye I could see one couple listening, a dog running around and there was another moment when a man walked over having a blazing row on his mobile phone. But I did my best to remain professional and focussed!

This project has been such fun to be involved with. I have always had a huge thirst and need to communicate with people from all over the globe so when John Retallack offered me the chance to represent Company of Angels I was jumping with joy. I'm endlessly curious and have been reading up about Ghana and now harbour a great desire to come and meet, and hopefully work with you all. We have loved watching all the video postcards. What really hits you, and is an absolute joy to see and hear, is the passion and commitment everyone has for the work they are doing. The warmth each TfaC participant communicates is utterly palpable and is a real warm breeze floating into my sometimes quite chilly house.

I've shown many friends your video postcards and all agree that you are all quite special and doing amazing work and there is a great deal of support here for you all. There was something Nii said about how he came to realise that there are people all over the world doing the same work as him and he took comfort from that. Seeing Reggie's second video and his workshop with the Group of Hope, made me feel that too. And I was really excited that we do have this universal language through our work and there is something that connects us to each other.

I will learn Reggie's dance and song warm-up and will start to use it in future rehearsals as Ned has very kindly written the words out for me. I love the moment in warm-up when each person can do a different action/movement. It was really great to see the interviews with the Group of Hope. They each had a real inner strength (and seemed so relaxed in front of the camera!) and that's great credit to the work you've all been doing with them, empowering and inspiring them.

I felt a little sad that it was the last video because in a sense it feels like it's only just begun. I've been thinking a great deal about TfaC over the last few weeks and want to make sure that we keep in touch and that we can continue to share ideas and experiences. Seeing all the good work you are all doing for your young ones in your community, I have begun to ask myself, Jacqui, how can you help and do more? Your work has inspired me and I am hoping that I can start the new year on a new footing, with some new goals, some new ways of working. And of course a plan of how to get to Ghana to meet you all! Until then, I am very much available on email and adore writing, so please let's stay in touch.

Global connection

This is Nii's final video to Gabby Vautier at the Young Vic Theatre in London. After watching Gabby's original video postcard, Nii was inspired by the idea that the work he does has a real global connection, with lots of similarities between his practice and that of Gabby and the Young Vic.

In this video, Nii explores a past project which engaged a specific group of people from the James Town community: the fisherfolk who live in small shanty houses close to the sea. He also talks about his current work leading a Community Theatre for Theatre for a Change in Amasaman and discusses to his hopes for his and TfaC's futures.

The video was made on the edge of the eastern side of James Town, the border between 'Ministries' where many Government departments are situated and what was once the Dutch area of James Town, or Ussher Town.

Gabby's reply to Nii's video will appear here soon.

Collins' postcard for Pilot

This is TfaC Monitoring Officer Collins' Smith's second video to Pilot Theatre in York - filmed at the Theatre for a Change office in Labadi, Accra.

Collins was lucky enough to have four different correspondents in Pilot's last video and he was eager to ask them all questions while filming his reply at the fortnightly meeting of Monitoring Offices.

Theatre for a Change Monitoring Officers maintain, evaluate and record the progress of the company's 'In-School' work, which has trained hundreds of trainee teachers to use Interactive Theatre with focus groups in the schools they practice in and the schools in which they eventually end up teaching permanently. Each Monitoring Officer is based at a Teacher Training College, each situated in a different region around Accra.

The fortnightly meeting is a chance for all of them to come together, discuss issues that have come up in recent workshops, develop strategies for future workshops and training sessions and report back on the numbers of people taking part across their regions.

In the video, Collins also talks about how he got involved with Theatre for a Change and his hopes for the future - including his ambition to lead a similar project in Liberia.

Pilot Theatre's reply to Collins' postcard will appear here in the next week or so.

Hope at the beach: from Reggie to Jacqueline

Theatre for a Change Facilitator Reggie Tetteh takes Jacqueline Rice from Company of Angels to the beach for his latest video postcard. With a significant proportion of James Town's population made up of fishermen and their families, it's an appropriate place to start before heading up the Community Theatre Centre.

In Jacqui's last video she spoke about her work developing theatre for a ten-year old audience and Reggie thought it would be interesting to visit the workshop of the 7-12 year olds at CTC. The fact that they have their entire adolescence ahead of them and are unlikely yet to be in danger of contracting HIV/AIDS means they are known as the 'Group of Hope'.

The video also includes a look at some of Reggie's favourite warm ups and interviews with three of the Group of Hope participants.

This is Reggie's last video to Jacqueline, who will be sending one more back before the end of this stage of the InterACT! project.

Read more about the making of this video.

Forster and Amanda at CTC

In Debra Glazer's video to Forster Gomashie and Amanda Enusah last week, she asked them both where they got the ideas for the Interactive Theatre pieces they made and what their workshops looked like. In this reply, Forster and Amanda invite Debra to join them at the James Town Community Theatre Centre for their workshop.



Theatre for a Change's philosophy means that all the pieces that the company produces are rooted firmly in the experiences of the participants and their local communities. In the video, Forster explains how CTC members are encouraged to talk to local people, find stories connected with the theme of the work they are exploring - say HIV/AIDS or teenage pregnancy - and then report back to the group. The group then work together to develop a performance which is then taken back to be performed in schools, community centres, hospitals and sometimes just a roadside space.

In Amanda and Forster's workshop the pair also show some of the games and exercises they use with their group: including 'Fish Bowl', a discussion exercise where the group are invited to step up from the wider circle to discuss issues sat on chairs in the middle of the space.

This video is the last one that Forster and Amanda will make for Debra, who will send her reply over the next week.

Videos from Reggie, Collins and Nii to their respective UK practitioners will follow over the next couple of days.

From Debra to Forster and Amanda

Debra Glazer, Creative Learning Practitioner at Hampstead Theatre, has sent her video postcard to Forster and Amanda in two parts.





Hampstead Theatre was founded to nurture and present contemporary writing talent for its local community. The theatre now produces 11 new plays to over 70,000 people each year at their North London base and often tours these productions to other regional venues.

A key component in Hampstead's commitment to new writing is their Creative Learning Programme, which provides opportunities for people to express themselves through drama and scriptwriting. The programme aims to help participants develop creative potential and personal, social and communication skills.

Debra’s role involves delivering, project managing, and co-ordinating many of these projects, half of which take place in house and half which take place out at schools and community settings.

The Creative Learning Department works in schools throughout the day (lunchtime writing clubs) or after school hours (scriptwriting club), to improve literacy and make new writing meaningful and relevant to as many young people as possible. The stories and plays produced are performed by professional actors in Hampstead's dedicated Creative Learning studio theatre, ‘The Michael Frayn Space’. They also deliver projects in a variety of settings, including hospitals and community centres. Debra is currently running a project with young people at The Royal Free Hospital School, which is just down the road from the theatre.

Hampstead aims to make the work available to people of all ages and from all aspects of the community. Debra has run adult devising and performance projects for anyone over 18 and worked with ESOL students from a local college, using drama games and improvisation to support literacy.

The heat&light company (Hampstead Theatre’s youth theatre), consists of budding writers, performers, directors, stage managers and technicians. The company produces twelve performances a year which are produced in ‘The Michael Frayn Space’. heat&light is broken into four age groups: 11- 14, 14 – 16, 16 – 18 and 18 – 25 year olds (not in full time education).

This term Debra is working with the 14 – 16 year olds, who have written short plays with playwright Richard Cameron, in conjunction with Graeae Theatre Company. She is also working with Gabriel Bissett Smith, who is currently under commission to write a 50 minute play for the company to begin rehearsing in the New Year.

Jacqueline's message to Reggie

The third video postcard to arrive from the UK is from Company of Angels' Jacqueline Rice, who has sent this message to Reggie Tetteh.

Company of Angels fosters and produces new and experimental theatre for young audiences both by producing shows and by initiating innovative projects that directly involve young people.

Jacqueline recently directed My Days as part of their ‘Young Angels: Directors, Writers and Designers programme in collaboration with Drama Centre and the Soho Theatre, which brought together young creative professionals to collaborate on new work for a young audience. Jacqueline has also directed work for Shared Experience's Youth Theatre who with Company of Angels shares the aesthetic of communicating through ensemble work using movement, song and dance to create distinctive and daring work that gives theatre for young people a new dimension.

One of the beliefs that Company of Angels was founded upon is that the political and emotional centre of social change frequently revolves around children and young people.

Jacqueline sets out to inspire and empower the young people she works. The work can be demanding and often about the serious and sometimes very adult challenges they face in their young lives, but that together, we can work through these issues, find answers as a team and do our utmost to enter into a world of beauty. And of course, have a great deal of fun at the same time too!