About the course

This whole-day session will explore and deepen personal stories using contemporary scriptwriting techniques and formats for film, theatre and prose. We will examine a more ancient tradition of working with stories as a shared process to reach a deeper level of communication.

We will examine the construction of narratives from a variety of perspectives from individual, relationship and collective levels. Through a series of exercises, we will explore the generation of ideas, narrative structure and tools, drawn from various systems of actor training and documentary filmmaking.

Our objective is to explore the process not to produce a final product. The process will show different methodologies and approaches to writing and provide valuable tools towards unravelling the complexities of constructing a narrative towards a final draft.

Participants will need to be willing to help read, improvise and engage with each other’s stories in the process. No previous experience is necessary.

Who is it for?

This course is for all underrepresented writers – creatives who face barriers to opportunities due to mental health issues, physical health/disability, sensory impairment, learning disabilities, neurodivergence, substance misuse, survivors, working class backgrounds, and those from the LGBTQIA+, and Black, Asian and ethnically diverse communities or traveller communities.

It is particularly aimed at those who have multiple narratives, including those of dual heritage, adoption and interracial adoption, and who want to explore narratives around this subject.

Travel costs of up to £2/session are available to ensure access. Please contact us if you’d like more information, or simply bring your ticket/receipt to the session to be reimbursed.

Date

Saturday, 18 June
NB there are two one-off sessions being run; please do not register for both sessions to allow everyone an equal opportunity to access.

Time

10 am-5 pm with a one-hour lunch break

Cost

£5 per session. As we have limited spaces available we are charging a small fee to ensure commitment to the course.

About the course leaders

IMPART has been generously supported by the Baring Foundation to provide a year-long training and development programme under its Creatively Minded and Ethnically Diverse strand. Emerging writers are being mentored by more experienced ones in how to run creative writing workshops. In this instance, Tamara is being mentored by Rikki and they, in turn, are both co-leading the course.

About Tamara Gordon

Tamara Gordon has been making documentaries and films for over twenty years for the BBC and Channel 4. Her focus has been on getting under and misrepresented voices into the mainstream media on their own terms, focusing on issues of race, belonging, mental health and identity. Most of her films been of her own volition and reflect her personal journey as a transracial adoptee. Throughout she has focused on models for therapeutic storytelling, inspired by South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission. She has taken this into working with actors using a mixture of fiction and documentary. Her films have won eight international awards.

About Rikki Tarascas

Rikki Tarascas has over 40 years experience of performing, producing, and directing for performance, theatre and film; specialising in large-scale site-specific work. The Guardian praised his early work for its vision and physical flair which led to engagements to direct various genres and styles of work and more excellent press. With an open approach to media and narrative and the boundaries of performance, his work in both creative and corporate sectors includes directing over fifty productions in venues ranging from theatres, galleries, cellars, shops, gardens, churches, fields, and office blocks. He is an award-winning director, and commissioned writer. He was Resident Director for Welfare State International where he was responsible for the development of new writers and Director of Performance at the Eden Project – Cornwall where he produced wrote and directed site-specific shows . Teaching includes Manchester Met Theatre School, Salford University, Italia Conti Theatre BA Hons, Brunel University BA Hons, and E15 Theatre School . Professional development includes Augusto Boal’s techniques of Conflict resolution, Jacques Lecoq, Phillippe Gaulier, Grotowski, London School of Puppetry & The National Film School.