A TEAM effort

For over 32 years, the TEAM Educational Company has been travelling around primary and post-primary schools in Ireland delivering high-quality educational performances through the medium of drama. Originally formed as an offshoot of the Abbey Theatre, this influential company has been quietly collaborating with many influential Irish writers including Bernard Farrell, Maeve Ingoldsby, Kevin Lavin, Frank McGuinness, John McArdle, Martin Murphy and Michael West in creating dramatic contexts that reflect the contemporary concerns of Irish students.

One recent performance saw the company spending a day with 5th and 6th class pupils from St. Philip’s Senior NS in Mountview.

The morning began with a performance of “Jumping on My Shadow,” by Peter Rumney with a multicultural cast, a play that explores the experiences of the exile and refugee and deals with family ties, personal growth and finding a place in the world. A mother and daughter bake “story-bread” in a baker’s shop in a kingdom that does not encourage outsiders to gain entry, giving rise to examinations of culture, heritage and multi-culturalism.

“Differences and similarities are both crucial,” says Peter Rumney. “It is important that this basic truth is recognised.”

Following the performance, the pupils took part in a workshop designed to use the context of the play to further explore the themes of the programme, to examine various questions arising from the play and encourage the active engagement of pupils in the play. This provided a stimulus whereby the pupils could respond to the themes and concerns of the Jumping on My Shadow programme and make connections between the world of the play and their own lives.

“We have a high proportion of non-national children in the school,” said St. Philip’s drama teacher Helen Brosnan. “The play very much relates to a number of topics that the children experience in their everyday lives and presents them in an entertaining and informative way. Recognising the cultural differences of others while acknowledging their underlying similarity is very much a core value of the school and it is great to have the theme presented in such a thought-provoking manner.

“I am sure the children will gain greatly from this experience.”

St. Philip’s were benefitting from the largesse of Fingal CC, who have been sponsoring performances by TEAM for the past seven years. “We have a great relationship with Fingal,” explains TEAM General Manager Orla Dunne. “Every year they select five schools in their area through a lottery system and provide these performances and workshops free of charge to the schools.

“There are a number of counties who can’t be bothered, despite the fact that drama is now on the primary school curriculum, but I cannot praise Fingal highly enough for their enlightened attitude.”

Every year, TEAM produces a show for primary schools for the first half of the year and one for post-primary schools after the summer. They travel to a different school every day and their runs invariably book out months in advance. In fact, such is the waiting list for “Jumping on my shadow” that the company are thinking of reprising it next year.

“We are Ireland’s longest established Theatre-in-Education Company,” says Orla Dunne, “but we often feel we get little recognition for the amount of work that is involved. Some companies have started running productions for schools through the theatres, which is the more glamorous, high-profile end of the market but we will continue to go into schools and share our experiences with the whole school community.”

As the enraptured pupils of St. Philip’s Mountview will agree, long may they continue to do so.

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