Bronze Arts Award Log Book This Brave New World Arts Award Log Book has been created by Grand Theatre and Touring Consortium Theatre Company THE GRAND THEATRE BLACKPOO L 1
What is Arts Award? Arts Award inspires and supports young people to enjoy the arts, develop their creative and leadership skills, and achieve a national qualification. Arts Award can broaden an understanding of what the arts are all about; it can provide an introduction to possible careers in the arts; it awards achievements in the arts with an accreditation, managed by Trinity College London in association with Arts Council England, Arts Award is a personal learning programme which develops and assesses both arts-related and transferable skills, such as creativity, communication, planning and teamwork. Arts Awards can be achieved at five levels, starting with the Discover and Explore levels, and working through to Bronze, Silver and Gold levels. Your Arts Award Adviser is there to support you through your Arts Awards, providing guidance and assessing your work. This log book has been created to help you work through the Bronze Arts Award criteria for assessment when specifically using Brave New World related activities as starting points. Bronze Arts Award is a Level 1 qualification (on the Qualifications and Credit Framework [QCF]) that encourages young people to develop their enjoyment of the arts as a participant and an audience member. They also research an artist who appeals to them, and share their arts skills with others. It is recommended that in order to achieve this qualification, young people take part in 40 hours of guided learning (or contact time with adviser/arts professional) plus an additional 20 hours of independent learning, alone or with their peers. The book, play and production offer a good opportunity for young people to complete their Arts Award Bronze level within a concentrated timescale. This log book contains a framework for you to write down your observations, but, the Arts Award also encourages young people to gather a variety of evidence photos, video, sound recordings, drawings, tickets, fliers. These can be attached to the log book or details and links written in it to make it easier for the assessor to find what they need. 2
Contents 2 What is Arts Award? 4 Brave New World 5 Adapting for the stage 7 What is involved in a stage production? 8 Part A: Taking part in the arts 11 Part B: Reviewing the arts 13 Part C: Arts inspiration 15 Part D: Sharing your arts skills 17 Advisers Assessment report 3
Brave New World The novel, written in 1931, is set in London 600 years into the future. It centres around Lenina and Bernard who both live and work in the World State, where psychological manipulation and thought conditioning are as normal as genetic engineering and artificial reproductive technologies. They visit a savage reservation and meet Linda, a woman originally from the World State who lives with her now adult son, John. Ostracised by the villagers, John can only articulate his feelings though Shakespearean language. Linda and John are taken back to the World State where he becomes a celebrity. Lenina and John are attracted to each other, but Lenina's liberated and conditioned attitude to sex repels John. Linda, meanwhile, becomes extremely ill and John causes a scandal through his unconditioned attitude to death. Mond, the "World Controller for Western Europe", explains the events that led to the present society and the arguments for a caste system and social control. John rejects the morals and mores of the World State and wants truth and danger instead of comfort and pleasure. As Mond states John claims the right to be unhappy. John wants to purify himself of civilization and escapes to a lighthouse, but on seeing Lenina again, the woman he loves yet loathes, he attacks her with his whip. Lenina tries to soothe him and he finally accepts a tab of Soma from her. They make love and Lenina falls asleep. John, however, stricken with remorse and conflict about his feelings for Lenina, leaves her sleeping, and sets about taking his own life. For more information about workshops or other ways to creatively explore Brave New World, contact The Grand theatre or visit theatrecloud.com 4 4
Adapting for the stage Adapting Brave New World, the novel, for the stage was a huge challenge for adaptor Dawn King in that so much of the story involves things that are very difficult to recreate on stage. However, Dawn feels that this has offered her a chance to be theatrical rather than having to be too literal. In deciding on a single protagonist, Dawn has created a strong through-line for Lenina Crowne, and uses her as a backbone structurally to the story. Unlike a novel, a play must have a clear plot and a narrative, things need to happen, and in Brave New World there is lots of action. This is great, but the challenge then comes in deciding which events to include and which to leave out. Dawn has felt an obligation to Huxley, and has tried to bring his work to the audience without letting her voice be too prominent, and still make the piece work as a play. She had to decide if she was creating a version of the future imagined from the past - perhaps a rather quaint and a vaguely wrong future - or a version that is imagined through the prism of now added to elements of Huxley s imagined world. Theatre is a collaborative medium and Dawn realises that a script is not a finished product, lots of other people will engage with the creative process and make a contribution. Dawn s adaptation will require a strong audio-visual element, for example, and there might be tweaks to the script right up to the end of rehearsals. Everyone s work is focused on the production of the play and Dawn is particularly looking forward to sitting in the auditorium and taking the opportunity to gauge the response of the audience at a performance. 5
What is involved in a stage production? A novel is very different to a stage play. In novels, we are given so much information about the characters and the situations from the narrator. There can be a great deal of detail about characters, how they look, what their personalities are like and exactly what they are doing, and the same with locations. The author works entirely alone, and communicates to us using prose. Plays, or Drama, are exclusively written using dialogue. The information that we can get from plays is communicated through the use of sets, lighting and other visual effects, sound, costume and through the portrayal of character by the actor. A play tells a story through character and the interaction of characters, and is a collaborative process, involving the playwright and the creative team. You might look at the stage production of Brave New World and consider the creative choices that have been made by the Director and the Designers, and how well Dawn King has adapted the novel for the stage. Consider how well the story comes across and how the characters are depicted. A novel can take a long time to read, how well does the story come across in the space of two and a half hours? Consider the differences between these two art forms and the very different experience you have between reading the novel, probably on your own over a long period, and attending a performance of a stage adaptation, in a concentrated period of time and shared with many hundreds of people. Think about what it is that each art form offers you. 7
Part A: Taking part in the arts What are you doing? You should show how you are developing your interest, knowledge and skills in a creative arts activity. Take part in any art form, perhaps inspired by Brave New World, and then participate in a discussion with a group or with your advisor about how to develop your skills further. Describe the arts activity you are taking part in here: 8
Part A: Taking part in the arts Showing what you did Record the arts activity you did. How did it make you feel? You can add photos or include a link to film footage showing you taking part. Describe what activities you took part in. You could write a diary log of your arts activity: You can add a photograph or evidence here 9
Part A: Taking part in the arts Reflecting What did you discover from taking part? Did you experience any difficulties? How have you improved your skills in your art from? List three things you enjoyed and why: 1. 2. 3. 10
Part B: Reviewing the arts Being the audience Attend an arts event. Write or show evidence of the event you attended and then write your response to what you saw. How was it different from your expectations? How did it make you feel? What would you do differently? You can include tickets, photos, or programmes from the event. (This could be a performance of Brave New World) I attended: Which parts did you enjoy the most and why?: You can add a photograph or evidence here 11
Part B: Reviewing the arts Sharing your experience Share your interpretation with others through a blog, website, discussion, presentation or any other way you think will help others understand your ideas. Write about what you did or show evidence of what happened. Write about what you did to share your review or show evidence of what happened, e.g. print outs of online discussions, photos or recordings. You can add a photograph or evidence here 12
Part C: Arts inspiration Researching my inspiration Choose an artist or craftsperson who inspires you or whose work you really like. This could be an actor, director, writer, musician or a designer connected to Brave New World. It cannot be a fictional character such as John or Lenina. Find out about their work and life. You could include an example of their work. My arts inspiration is: Why I've chosen this person: What they make or do and how: Why they inspire me: How I'll research my chosen person: 13
Part C: Arts inspiration Summarising my research Summarise what you found out in your research. You could create a collage, poster, presentation or written report. Remember to say what you have learnt. 14
Part D: Sharing your arts skills Preparing What arts skill are you really good at? Pick something creative which you're passionate about and pass it on to others. You may want to do a workshop, tutorial or 'how to' guide or a presentation followed by questions and answers. Describing my skill: What resources and preparation I need: How I plan to share my skill: I will be sharing my skills with: Why I chose to pass on this skill: How I'll get feedback about my skills share: 15
Part D: Sharing your arts skills Delivering Write or show how you shared your skills. You could include photos, video, audio or materials that you used to support your activity. You can add a photograph or evidence here 16
Part D: Sharing your arts skills Reviewing Did your activity go as planned? What would you do again and what would you do differently? What did your partcipants learn? Include feedback from participants. 17
Bronze advisers assessment report form young person adviser I (young person) confirm that the material assessed is all my own work signed Unit 1 Refer to the relevant pages in the adviser toolkit to check what should be demonstrated and evidenced for each section. Circle yes if all evidence is present and meets the standard of the assessment criteria for Bronze level. Circle no if there is no evidence and attempted if part of the evidence is present. Show where the evidence can be found in the evidence box. Did the young person effectively complete the following sections? Part A? yes / no / attempted evidence Part B? yes / no / attempted Part C? yes / no / attempted Part D? yes / no / attempted Referring to the assessment criteria on page 27, please give one notable example of how the young person has met each of the following: art form knowledge and understanding creativity communication overall result All sections must be attempted and 3 of A D must be yes for a pass pass/below pass adviser signature date