Two Days in York

Stuart Mullins

Stuart Mullins is a freelance director, and the Director of Tiny Treasures, Theatre Hullabaloo’s collection of three short plays based on the lives of young carers. Here he talks about two days that the Creative Team spent in York with the young people from the Young Carers Revolution (YCR) learning about their stories and developing ideas for the plays:

Reflecting on our two days in York with the Young Carers Revolution (YCR) it occurs to me that they are our (the ‘our’ being the creative team) commissioners. It is the YCR who have asked us to create this new piece of theatre. It’s therefore a priority for me, that as experienced theatre practitioners we must discuss, explore and articulate what a creative process is and we must enable them, as commissioners, to give us useful and relevant critical feedback. Most importantly having done this, we must listen.

Day one was spent meeting the YCR and getting to know them. I felt they had to learn to trust us all, but most importantly they had to trust Kevin Dyer, the playwright. The afternoon was spent facilitating just this:
• It was about getting used to Kevin asking them questions
• It was about understanding that ideas grow, morph, take on new forms
• It was about the fact that drama is a wonderful mix of truth and fiction, and that metaphor and themes communicate far more than issues.

In between day one and day two on the Sunday, Kevin and I spent time eating and exploring what the narrative and form could be. We found ourselves in a café called the Bike Shed near the old city gates - a place which served good coffee a fine breakfast, but most importantly gave us the space to think and talk. From this time Kevin embraced the original idea of a three part structure and created the skeleton outline for Tiny Treasures.

On day two, the actors and I spent time exploring and improvising the first two parts. The actors, Lasana and Amy, worked well as a partnership, pushing and provoking each other. We achieved a great deal in a short time, presenting our young commissioners with enough material to generate their feedback. I was delighted to see that they not only felt it represented their lives accurately (much credit to Kevin for this), but that it also inspired them with its form.

Ultimately, following our two days together:
• Kevin left with a clear idea of what he wanted to write
• Inspired Youth were excited by the process and the potential outcome
• The young carers felt that they had been listened to
• And I felt excited by the show I’m going to direct!

What next? Miranda, Kitty Winter (the Movement Director) and myself will audition for the two actors, one to play a 35 year old mum and the other to play Jamie the main character aged 13 to 18. This is due to happen on April 1st, not a bad omen I hope 
Also, Kevin’s first draft has just landed in my inbox, so I’m looking forward to getting my teeth into that.

Stuart Mullins
Freelance Director, Tiny Treasures