dab Arts is always looking towards the future with new initiatives for community projects both at home and further afield. There are always new projects on the horizon, so keep looking at our news page to find out what's happening.
dab Arts is offering a series of performance and theatre skills workshops at the Beacon on four Saturdays this autumn. Run by writer/director Christine Harmar-Brown and Rebecca Ellis they are aimed specifically at young people 16-25 years. With a maximum of 12 in the group the aim is to have a stimulating informative day in relaxed surroundings.

Saturday October 6th 10am-4pm : ACTING and IMPROVISATION SKILLS.
Release your spontaneity in this fun, skills based workshop to develop understanding and techniques of improvisation.

Saturday November 10th 10am-4pm : DEVISING and PERFORMANCE PRACTICE.
Create a drama by responding to a variety of stimuli to devise and refine short pieces for performance.

Saturday November 24th 10am-4pm : TEXT ANALYSIS IN REHEARSAL.
For budding directors and actors - working on text to explore practically a director's approach to looking at character, analysis of sub text, actioning, gesture and staging.

Saturday December 8th 10am-4pm : SCRIPT WRITING.
Speak out - a chance to have your say and write the script yourself. Discover how to create a character, plot and dialogue.

Booking essential. Fee £15 per workshop. Book all four for £40.
Wear old loose-fitting clothes and trainers, and bring a packed lunch. Soft drinks provided.
Venue: The Beacon, St Mary's Terrace (down rough track at sea end of Terrace), Hastings.
Downloadable map on www.beaconhastings.com
To book: email , or phone 05602 748073 or 01424 431305
Young Minds
Young Minds, the adolescent arm of the mental health charity Mind, invited dab Arts Youth Theatre to work on two short staged interpretations of books to be performed at their Book Awards Ceremony at the Unicorn Theatre, London.

Julian, Judy and Grant worked with Liz, Amy, Christian, Craig and Flossie in rehearsal sessions at the Beacon to produce visual performance pieces of about 10 minutes each for the books 'Herman' by Lars Saabye Christensen and 'Just Like Tomorrow' by Faiza Guene. The aim of the award was to choose books that give insight into the experience of being a child under stress of one kind or another. The other theatre groups on stage were Immediate Theatre and Kids Company, both large nationally known organisations.

The experience of performing on a professional London stage, in front of a large audience, was brilliant for the young people and we felt very proud of them. Both dab Arts' pieces were mini plays with speakiing parts; Kids Company did a dance while Immediate Theatre gave some readings from the texts of their chosen books.

We hope to do further work with Young Minds.




Domestic Vioence Performance
Nunah Physical Theatre Company, formed in Brighton, has recently been working with 4 dab artists to produce a site specific piece to be performed at the opening and closing of the current SOCO exhibition on the subject of Domestic Violence.

There were devising sessions and rehearsals at the Beacon over 5 weeks during which Julian Humphries, Laura Dunton Clarke, Nikki Joy and Judy Dewsbery stepped completely outside their usual spheres of activity and responded to the choreographic instructions of Vicky Heath. The experience will influence future activities with the youth theatre, in the form of professional development.

The first performances, on 15th February, had positive reviews 'very moving', 'expressed the fear and emotions behind the sometimes closed doors' on a very difficult subject (but one that needs to come out into the open; training is currently being offered by Pulse, which is being taken up by dab). The final performance - afternoon 10th March.

Four members of the Youth Theatre attended the performance.


    The Incident      
    dab Arts has been invited to perform The Incident at the de La Warr Pavilion, Bexhill as part of the East Sussex Youth Arts Festival on 26th October 2006. This will be preceded by a workshop run by Peter Lloyd, now a workshop leader but formerly a participant at dab Arts.

The Incident, a script by Christine Harmar-Brown from devising sessions with the young people of the youth theatre. Dealing with issues of community bullying and exclusion, it tracks the fallout from 'the incident' on a group of young people in an urban environment.

We are trying 'theatre in the round', literally, with a roundabout at the centre of the arena. The time is now......with a few surprises. It is part musical with live and recorded accompaniment.

Directed by Laura Dunton Clarke

  
           
    Performances of SHED      
    Performed at the Young Minds Conference, See Beyond the Label, London, July 2006 with Julian Clary, and at venues in East and West Sussex. The drama has evolved with new members of the cast. We have found it particularly effective when shown alongside the DVD of Sh!!, conceived and directed by Jan Maloney (available via Pulse)