Systems and Valued | The Playground Theatre

GRENFELL

THE PLAYGROUND THEATRE with NICK OF TIME PRODUCTIONS Presents

VALUE ENGINEERING & SYSTEM FAILURE - Scenes from the Inquiry

with VALUED & SYSTEMS EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMME

Following on from the success of VALUED ENGINEERING and the accompanying education project ‘VALUED’, The Playground Theatre is delighted to once again offer local schools and organisations the chance to be a part of an important cultural event - Nicholas Kent and Richard Norton-Taylor’s follow up play ‘SYSTEM FAILURE’ and its accompanying education project ‘SYSTEMS’.

The programme included a matinee performance of the play on the 14th October or the 4th November, two in-school pre- and post-performance workshops that discussed its themes and theatrical devices, curriculum-aligned resources to continue classroom learning, and the opportunity for students to participate in a week-long creative verbatim retreat at The Playground Theatre.

The programme was devised with the highest levels of care and sensitivity, with advice from community representatives and an NHS specialist, and students came away integrating the insights they gained from the play and workshops into their wider life experiences.

We have also created a free, downloadable resource pack.

Designed to support continued learning in the classroom, it provides more information and images about the play, the company, our workshops, the fire, the Grenfell Tower Inquiry and the history of Verbatim Theatre.

DOWNLOAD FULL RESOURCE PACK HERE

Workshop 1 Plan: Themes and Devices

Workshop 2 Plan: Reflection and Response

VALUED Voices

On Sunday 28th November 2021, The Playground Theatre hosted a powerful verbatim response performance, made up of speeches made by community members and by the VALUED Company, made up of students from our schools.

Feedback from VALUED:

‘This has been a performance experience that will have a lasting impact on our school community’.

“My students were totally inspired by your production… voicing their outrage at the cost-cutting involved. It is so fantastic to see our young people engaged and passionate about the world around them.”

‘For some of our students this would be their first experience of seeing a play. They introduced to theatre as a force for social change, which all of them recognised, but the question asked at the end of our follow-up classroom session was: which play are we going to next, Miss?’

Alongside the production The Playground Theatre is providing an education programme. The programme, SYSTEMS, will provide local schools with information about the production alongside the contemporary issues of importance that it addresses and wider understanding of communities, social justice and human rights.

We are offering groups the chance to have one 90-minute workshop, attend one performance of ‘Grenfell: Systems Failure’ and post-show talk with creatives, plus receive curriculum aligned resources for continued learning in the classroom.

We know flexibility is key so we’ll arrange dates for workshops that work for you. You may attend the workshop before or after the performance and choose which performance works for you. This opportunity is available for up to 30 students at a total cost of £500.00 (including workshop, theatre tickets, post-show discussion and further learning resources).

If you’re interested or would like any further information please contact Paul on wellread@theplaygroundtheatre.org.uk

SYSTEMS In-school Workshop
Exploring themes of human rights, social conditions and the theatrical device of verbatim theatre. How can we use verbatim to tell stories, how might we stage them? Using multi-disciplinary skills, students will devise a piece of verbatim theatre. Please let us know which date can work for you.

SYSTEMS Schools Post-show Discussions
After matinee performances. Experienced facilitators interview key creatives, giving students the opportunity to ask questions and reflect upon what they have seen.

SYSTEMS Resource Pack
inclusive of Introduction to Verbatim Theatre; Introduction to tribunal plays about Public Inquiries; Themes and Device Workshop Plan; Reflection and Response Workshop Plan; Interviews with participating students of VALUED; The production script.

DOWNLOAD FULL RESOURCE PACK HERE

Major supporters of the Educational Programme for Grenfell: SYSTEMS are the John Lyon's Charity and The Mercers' Company

Presented by Nick Of Time Productions in association with The Playground Theatre.

Edited by Richard Norton-Taylor & Co-Edited and Directed by Nicolas Kent

ASKING FURTHER VITAL QUESTIONS…

Grenfell: System Failure asks those further vital questions raised at the Grenfell Tower Inquiry in the last eighteen months since the critically acclaimed 2021 play Grenfell: Value Engineering.

Based entirely on the words of those involved in the final phase of the Inquiry (December 2020 – July 2022), Grenfell: System Failure interrogates why the testing regime failed to warn of the danger of installing inflammable materials, why manufacturers promoted such products with no regard to safety, why government regulations ignored the dangers and were not updated, and why politicians failed to ensure proper oversight. Through the testimonies of bereaved residents, it explores how they were failed by the London Fire Brigade on the night and abandoned by the local authority in the chaos of the fire’s aftermath.

This limited season is brought to the stage by the creative team responsible for Grenfell: Value Engineering at The Tabernacle and Birmingham Rep in 2021 and on Channel 4 in 2022, The Stephen Lawrence Inquiry – The Colour of Justice at the Tricycle Theatre, the National Theatre, in the West End and on BBC TV, and the Olivier Award-winning Saville Inquiry play, Bloody Sunday.

A series of panel discussions will take place alongside the production hosted by guest organisations including Grenfell United, Justice4Grenfell, Next of Kin and Lancaster West.

Presented by Nick Of Time Productions in association with The Playground Theatre.

Edited by Richard Norton-Taylor & Directed by Nicolas Kent

For four years, award-winning verbatim playwright Nicolas Kent, has been working with journalist Richard Norton-Taylor, to compose a play using the spoken testimony given to the Grenfell Tower Inquiry.

Opening on the night of the fire, with witness statements of the firemen at the scene, we hear the accounts of those responsible for the disastrous refurbishment of the Tower. A not-for-profit venture, Grenfell: Value Engineering – Scenes From The Inquiry Premiere at The Tabernacle from the 13th October - 13th November.

It is produced by the same creative team behind The Colour Of Justice at the Tricycle Theatre about the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry.

VALUED:Voices

WHAT'S ON

DONATE

ACCESS FOR ALL