The actor as rehabilitator: an examination of the Geese Theatre Company practitioner training to work with people in prison and those at risk of committing offences

The Arts have always played an important role in rehabilitation and this thesis continues to explore that. The main focus however is the role of the practitioner who carries out this work. The thesis examines the six-month training period which new practitioners must complete when arriving at Geese Theatre Company. Geese is an international theatre company founded in 1987 (UK) with National Portfolio status with Arts Council, England since 2003. They use Drama as a tool for rehabilitation with people who have committed offences and those who are at risk of offending. A third of new actor/ practitioner recruits to Geese are not taken on permanently after the six-month training period. There is published research and evaluation on the projects that Geese deliver but there is no research available on how a performer is trained to work with the company. Geese need to intensively train someone to have a combination of strong performance skill as well as an understanding of the psychological demands of this area of work. They are unique in having a substantial period of training following which the recruit is not necessarily taken on by the company. The thesis focuses particularly upon the training methods used by the company and on the journey of a new recruit. It explores the research questions through semi-structured interviews with Geese practitioners as well as conducting structured observations of workshops, facilitation and performance work by the company. The findings allow for: an exploration of the skills and experience a new recruit to Geese starts at the company with, a definition of the elements of the six-month training, an investigation into the skills and attributes needed to be successful at Geese and an analysis of which elements are missing when practitioners are not taken on after the training. This thesis is a contribution to knowledge as it examines the intensive training period for a Geese practitioner. The exploration of this as well as the conclusions about why around a third of trainees do not pass the training is not something which exists currently in literature. In addition, this contributes to the wider research area of actor/ facilitator training.

Name dc:type.qualificationname

PhD

Level dc:type.qualificationlevel

Doctoral

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

University of Wolverhampton

Year dc:date.issued

2023

Author dc:creator

• Rudge, Helen Carmen

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Caulfield, Laura

• Geese Theatre Company
• actor training
• applied theatre practitioner training
• theatre in criminal justice settings
• drama
• rehabilitation
• change

Statement dc:rights

• Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International

Licence

• https://wlv.dspace7.openrepository.com/bitstreams/7b00c038-cbaf-48e3-8f8b-1f7245f67375/download