33 Years in the making. C&T’s Journey into applied theatre. The who’s, what’s and why’s.
An interview with the founder
Paul started C&T 33 Years Ago!
What was once a small touring theatre company is not so little anymore.
Currently with a reach of over 2.500 schools and more than 150, 000 people using the new software: Prospero. It’s now one of the largest specialist theatrical platforms in the country.
As we head towards a new era for Theatre and Technology it’s important to remember our roots and what brought the company to this point of fruition. It’s getting harder and harder for Theatre companies to stay alive when placed within a more traditional structure. That said, humble beginnings stand the test of time if you wear social change like a loose garment. Following and adapting to the world around us has always been a strong ethos to C&T.
Here’s how it all began.
Index
How was C&T first established?
What is one of C&Ts key areas of interest?
What inspired your personal Journey?
What inspired the name?
What was one of your earlier projects?
Can you give another example?
Do you use a specific methodology?
Were you a touring theatre company?
How did C&T become international?
C&T was established as a Theatre in Education (TIE) Company back in 1988.
In C&Ts work we’ve been very interested in using media forms like comic books, like mobile phones - which teacher’s are always trying to get kids to hide rather than to get out and use. We thought that actually the reason why young people are engaged and motivated those devices is because they find them engaging and fun. So why not use them to make learning productive exciting and engaging.
My London school took advantage of a scheme that the greater London council ran to provide free tickets for young people to visit the National Theatre, so i was very lucky. I spent far to much time going up to the West end of London completely independently, having an afternoon off schools to watch a whole range of plays. Sometimes i was going to the National 2-3 times a week. Which probably didn’t do my broader education a lot of good, but it meant i saw a lot of theatre at a very young age.
What’s great about the name is that C&T can stand for a variety of different things because we have a variety of different interests. It can stand for Computers and Theatre, it can stand for Creativity and Technology, it can stand for Community and Training. The most interesting part of the name is the and, rather than the things that go either side of it because the running theme in everything C&T does is about how we can bring contrasting things together.
One of our first projects was called the Dark Theatre, which was an interactive comic book written by myself and in collaboration with young people and a comic book artist. That was a murder mystery that consisted of 8 comics being released over two years. We had a whole set of different challenges written into the narrative, so when student’s read the comic they would have to think and behave and undertake drama as if they were detectives investigating the murder. They would then send their theory’s into us, and then their writing would form the next issue of the comic.
The second one was the Living News Paper which was not a C&T invention but was a former theatre invented back in the 20s & 30s during the great depression. Where they brought unemployed actors and unemployed journalists together to research the big topical new stories of the days to create theatrical styled documentary’s.
Im alway’s fascinated with trying new ideas and to see what potential synergies are available. I don’t really want be to pigeon hold in saying that thats what this company does and it only does that, as your work can become work becomes fossilised if you’re not thinking fresh and thinking new.
So there were four members of the company all kind of working as Actor/Teachers and having other roles within the company as well. We had a van, we had sets, we had costumes. We employed directors and designers, stage managers and we booked tours and had get in’s and get outs. That ritual, routine, rhythm - doing 60 performances of a show over a 4/5 week, It’s really powerful to be so saturated in making the work happen for such a protracted period of time and really (hopefully) shapes you as a better practitioner.
A young people’s theatre director and writer and consultant called Paddy Masefield when we first started the company he gave us lots of advice but one of the pieces of advice was, go to conferences, go to events, be part of this wider community, the only way you’re going to grow is by learning from other people. So it always and important part of what we did to kind of make sure we were connected and apart of wider movements.
