southwark theatres' education partnership

Helen Maynard, a student from Central School of Speech and Drama, on placement with STEP during this year's Festival gives us an insight into working with STEP during the busiest time of the year.

‘Bus to Brentford, train to Clapham Junction, train to Battersea, train to Denmark Hill,’: these were the only words that were running through my head in the early hours of my first day on placement. As a nervous student who lives in West London and studies in the North West of London the idea of heading down South to participate in a two month project was an exciting yet daunting prospect.

I was here to work with for STEP, ‘Southwark Theatres' Education Partnership’. My initial thoughts were how am I going to be able to work for various theatre companies in the borough of Southwark? This is because I knew very little about Southwark. As a Drama student I obviously had a little knowledge of a few of the theatres that reside in the borough, however mainly what I knew about Southwark was what I had learnt from what I had read or seen in the news which therefore left me with a fairly pessimistic depiction. I heard things such as tough schools and young people being mugged or attacked. I can gladly say that I feel as though my initial depiction of Southwark has drastically changed. Despite the fact that these things may happen, all I have seen since being here is the tremendous community spirit. The STEP Festival is evidence of this. STEP connects theatre companies and educational systems with one another allowing all types of people to show how creative, innovative and talented they are.

So far I have met some fantastic individuals; recently I was lucky enough to meet a playwright, who spoke to me a lot about being from Peckham and how proud she is of this. Furthermore she spoke a lot about wanting to see less of people - in particular the young people from Peckham - feeling that it is necessary to forget their roots and deny where they were brought up in order to get far and have a successful career as a lawyer or doctor. After considering her concerns for some of the young people and their need to feel like the only way of survival is to escape I considered the importance of the STEP Festival. The ‘STEP Out Loud’ Festival is the perfect opportunity for young people to feel empowered by being creative and expressive through the mediums of Theatre, Performing Arts and Media.

In my first couple of weeks I was learning more and more about Southwark and the many theatre companies, youth groups and schools that live in the borough. I was lucky enough to be a part of the project which was taking place at The Globe. Again, a perfect example of how STEP brings people together. In a feedback sessions during the rehearsals one of the group members remarked upon how as a competitive person they feel completely relaxed in this environment and are thoroughly enjoying, watching and learning from one another. Feedback like this is partly one of the reasons I decided to study and work in Applied Theatre and Education. I think it is of vital importance that young people feel as though they can have a voice and express themselves creatively. In just a few weeks I’ve met young people with ambition and drive who are also keen to share their own opinions on what it is like to study and socialise in Southwark.

As I am currently just approaching the halfway mark of STEP Festival I am beginning to have feelings of excitement, stress and anxiousness, however I have met so many different types of people from practitioners, puppeteers, aspiring actors, young pioneers and many more and they have made this by far the most inspiring and educational process I have ever taken part in, so with that in mind I am looking forward to what is in store for me next!