FRBV25 PSLL- Identity – Drama workshop

This year, the students were not really discovering the practice of drama, because they had already held a workshop last year with the same actress. They were asked to reinvest their acquired skills in a new workshop based on Joël Pommerat’s play «Pinocchio» (2008). The playwright revisits the traditional tale by situating it in the contemporary era, and Pinocchio is first of all a provocative teenager, victim of the consumer society, very hard with his creator grandfather. He has to  build his identity. He must grow up and find his place in a cruel society,, while perceiving deceptive illusions. These themes, much more present in this text than in the story, have led students to reflect on the issues around individual freedoms in the light of social networks, influencers

 The students acquired new knowledge about literary characters who span the ages and about the art of adapting a heritage text into a contemporary register.  The students were pleasantly surprised to have to work with replicas in a very modern and familiar language. The first reading sessions and role distribution were dense and this year students had a much more ambitious text to memorize. They then performed several group exercises to propose their own ideas for staging and argued to explain their choices .  They noted the progress they were making thans to their previous experience. Marjorie then introduced working with white masks for certain scenes, allowing students to approach a new theatrical technique.

The students improved their critical mind and capacity to memorize. They learnt more about the theatrical techniques. The workshop also raised awareness of the issues of individual freedoms and social networks. They were also led to reflect what it is to be a teenager and what is at stake for their future. A live performance will be done at the end of the schoolyear in Dunkerque National Scene theatre .