For the holiday season, the Drama Unit presented a play, with the name of Il-Ħmar li Ried Isir Iljun (the donkey who wanted to become king), an adaptation of Aesop's Fables written by John Suda. The play is prepared and presented to school children aged between 3 and 11 but with added focus on the students’ participation.
The Drama Unit is a branch within the current educational system offers a different kind of learning experience, one of which is that of Theatre in Education (TIE).
“Our main aim is education, but we also present the students with a theatre experience because these children will be the viewers of tomorrow” commented Marcelle Theuma, a drama teacher and also one of the actors within the Unit.
Today was the Drama Unit’s last performance for the Christmas season, and students from the Kalkara school were fully engaged with Il-Ħmar li Ried Isir Iljun. All of them were encouraged to take part in the play which started with a little information session preparing the students for what they are about to experience.
The Drama Unit reached more than 1500 students with Il-Ħmar li Ried Isir Iljun this season.
“Learning doesn’t just happen on a desk in a classroom” explained Giovann Attard, Drama Education Officer, who is in charge of the Drama Unit. “With TIEs we get such great feedback, not just from the children but also from the schools themselves. Our resources are limited as we only have 18 teachers for all the schools in Malta but we are now trying a different approach were children are brought here to the Drama Unit and we not only give them a theatre experience but also offer workshops on the play itself, lessons on how to improvise and so much more.”
During 2015, the Drama Unit will be continuing their efforts to promote more TIEs. With such impressive feedback received from the Kalkara school there is no doubt that Theatre in Education is the perfect way to unlock students’ creativity and encourage them to participate in the arts.
For more information about TIEs you can watch the video above.