About the Theatresports Youth Programme
The Theatresports Youth Programme is an Auckland wide programme that creates opportunities for students to participate in performance theatre.
Theatresports is a style of improvisation where teams of actors improvise scenes, songs and poems competing for points. In the Theatresports Youth Programme the emphasis is expanded from straight competition to highlight the importance of story-telling, characterisation and teamwork.
The relationship between the programme and schools has been developed over many years as the most efficient way of providing access to the program for the greatest number of students. Throughout the yearlong programme a variety of events take place aimed at different participants. Teacher Workshops – bring teachers from all over Auckland together to learn new skills and the focus disciplines that will be used by the students during the year. These activities are not part of the curriculum and fall into the category of extra-curricular activities. As such the teachers who become involved act more as coaches and team members than school teachers when interacting with the students in the programme.
Student Leader Workshops
Students who have been with the programme for several years are eligible to attend a student leader workshop and develop skills in teaching Theatresports. The aims of this part of the programme are to encourage groups within schools to be self co-ordinating and improving. Often senior student leaders will lead junior groups of students and coach them through competitions. These trainees must complete reports on how their tutoring sessions went and what they had planned, and actually got to teach.
Professional Tutoring
The most experienced Theatresports professionals in New Zealand are assigned to schools and assist them throughout the year. These tutors are actors, directors, and active participants in that Auckland Theatre community. Their involvement with the programme insures a high standard of performance and also ignites interest in theatre careers for the students involved.
Public Performance
Throughout the year there are many opportunities for teams of students to perform at Theatresports evenings where between 4 and 6 schools will work together to entertain the audience. Part of this entertainment is provided by celebrity or community leaders “judging” scenes with score cards, though the most important performance outcomes are team work (both within the school team and between schools) and story-telling. These evenings are grouped by skill level: Junior Players, New Senior Players and Experienced Players. The premier performances are the Area festivals which act as semi-finals before an Auckland final. The performances are all host by schools in their theatres or auditoriums while the Auckland Final is played at a central city venue.