
Chicken Shed was begun in 1974 in London by Jo Collins and Mary
Ward. They wanted to produce a fun theatre group for any children
who wanted to get involved. Chicken Shed believe that performing
arts are for everybody who want to take part, and so welcome anyone,
regardless of disability, social background, religion or culture.
They don't expect perfect results, they just ask for children to
give the best they can. Over 1,000 children pass through Chicken
Shed's doors at Cockfosters, every week. In London, the group is
so popular that they have a waiting list of over 300.
Last year, Shed MK was launched. Shed MK, set up by Interaction,
is an out reach project based in Milton Keynes, which gives children
the opportunity to learn the performing arts. I was lucky enough
to get a place in this project. This page will tell you about some
of the sessions.
28th January 2003
Before the session, I was excited but also very nervous and apprehensive,
because I had no idea of what to expect. I needn't have worried.
Everyone involved was very friendly and made us all feel very welcome.
We had all been put into groups by the organisers. I was in group
three. We had two group leaders, who explained what we had to do.
They were great fun to work with. They were constantly giving ideas
throughout the session of how we could improve.
To begin with we had to walk around the room and introduce ourselves
to each other in the room, which gave me an opportunity to meet
some of the other people there.
Then we had to imagine we were all stretching up to the ceiling
for a 50 pound note. We all had to be connected so we leaned on
each others shoulders to support one another.
Next, we all had to walk around like somebody from the media, such
as a character from a soap, someone off of the radio, etc. I did
a pretty good impression of Toby Friedner, who presents "Milton
Keynes Breakfast" on BBC Three Counties Radio!
Each group was given a sheet of paper with a list of lines. We
had to design a scene where a mother grabs her two children at a
party and then the scene freezes and the audience have to guess
from the list given, what the mother is going to say.
Now, group two was divided down the centre and half went to group
one and the other half to group three. Each group was supposed to
be a rival gang, and each one did a dance consisting of punches,
jumps and kicks, to intimidate the other.
Last of all, the two groups were taught a song. The lyrics went
like this:
1 2 3 4 5 6 1 2 3 4 5 6 1 2
Very simple. Group one and half of group two were supposed to be
auditioning and group three and the rest of group two were the judges.
Group one sang the song, and we politely applauded to the beat
of the words as we sung. Group one becoming more confidant sang
with more gestures. We yawned in time to our singing, obviously
unimpressed.
Group one, annoyed, sang the words again, gesturing like they were
complaining to us. We threw imaginary fruit at them in time to our
singing and they walked away, crying and singing. On their last
"1 2" they snapped round and pointed at us and we looked
shocked as if to say "What have we done?"!
It was fantastic. I really enjoyed myself and by the end of the
session, I felt really at home. I was amazed how everyone came together
and worked as a group so quickly. There are children who have severe
disabilities but they joined in everything. They were brilliant.
There was a volunteer, who just happened to be in a wheel chair,
who was one of the writers. She had written a list of sayings for
the group. One I remember was this:
"Look after everyone, not just number one."
I think we could all learn something from this, don't you?
4th February 2003
This week the whole group was ready and raring to go. Before the
lesson, I was no longer nervous, now I was really excited. The week
had passed so slowly for me, I couldn't wait for this session. When
I finally got into the "Theatre" I could have cheered,
it seemed to have taken so long! People were a lot more relaxed
this week, because they knew some other people.
To start off, we did some voice exercises. This meant we had to
make the same sounds as the instructor to warm our voices up for
any singing we might be doing later on.
Next, one of the volunteers from Chicken Shed came forward and
asked us "Has anyone here done any Yoga before?" Nobody
answered. If you had asked five minutes later we would have said,
yes, because we did. We started by raising our hands above our heads
and bringing them down to our chests, pushing our hands together
as hard as we could. We raised them back up and put them down on
the floor. Then we jumped our legs out into a push up position,
lowering ourselves onto the floor and then pushing back up and jumping
into a V position
Then we straightened up, back into our starting position. We did
this three times. They warned us we would be very hot at the end.
I certainly was! To think I did yoga!
The Chicken Shed Volunteers then did a dance to "When Doves
Cry" from the film Romeo and Juliet. They taught us the first
part of it in groups of three. It was very complicated but I got
the hang of it and it was actually quite fun!
To finish the session off, we focussed on someone in the room and
acted like we were that person. We were then asked to make the character
more unrealistic and mad. We had to act really excited, and then
really angry. Suddenly we felt sad and alone. Next, we were asked
to act slightly nervous, like someone was following us. Then we
just couldn't be alone any more and scrunched up into a group, then
with another group and that group would mix with another group,
and so on until there were only two groups left. Then we were sure
that the other group was the one following us and they were sure
that we were following them. Finally we acted like the whole group
was one person and had to go to the other group and say in a really
scared voice, "Hi!" This exercise was something right
up my street.
Shed MK is not just teaching me acting, dance and singing, but
also socialising and how to treat others with respect, and that
is giving me so much.
I am proud to be part of Shed MK and I am really looking forward
to next week.
11th February 2003
This evening, everyone sat down and the whole group started to
talk and mention their names (it's so hard to remember all of them!)
and everyone seemed friendly and relaxed.
To start off, we did some Yoga from last week. Again, it got very
hot. I enjoy doing Yoga, It's fun and rather relaxing too.
We continued our "When Doves Cry" dance to the finish
this evening. The dance, I feel, focuses on loneliness and sadness.
We begin in groups of three or four, facing down and covering our
faces with our hands so that we are hiding them from the audience.
On the third line of the song, the group moulds together, like when
you twist three pieces of clay together. We put our hand to our
faces again, hiding our faces from the audience, with our other
hand supporting our elbows. We raised the hand covering our faces
and dropped our wrists like we were catching a tear, then brought
the hand into ourselves, like we were cradling a baby. We moved
our arms out to the left, in 8 counts. Then we scooped our heads
round to the right, turning our bodies in a full circle, until we
were facing the doors again. I can't remember much of the rest,
but at the end we come back into our groups and merge into one again.
In the first week we had to do a scene and then freeze the action
and let the audience guess what the mother was going to say. This
week we showed our pieces. Group three was a party and I was the
mothers son. My "mother" came in gasped and then the scene
froze and someone asked the audience to guess which three choices
my mother would say:
A) Oh my god, you eat like a pig!
B) Oh my god, you're late home again, you dirty stop out!
C) Oh my god, you remind me of your father!
Then the scene continued and the mother cried, "Oh my god,
you remind me of your father!" The rest of the group laughed
at them while I just stood there looking rather shocked.
On the first week, we did our 12345612345612 song. This week we
did the same thing, and we also did a scene of a group of teenagers
listening to music and some Old age pensioners who didn't like it.
The teenagers turned up the volume and moved closer to these old
age pensioners. The pensioners told us off, and we, angry about
being told what to do, encircled them rather menacingly. Then the
pensioners started to dance and after the shock of seeing some pensioners
dancing, we joined in. Then, one by one, the pensioners fainted
and we looked shocked and pointed down at them.
One of the Chicken Shed volunteers commented at the end of the
session that the children should come every week. He said that if
everyone came every week, they would be able do the things that
the group had learnt the week before without having to learn it
all in the minimum of time.
As it is half term next week, there's no Shed MK. I don't think
I'll be able to wait two weeks!
25th February 2003
Back this week! The last two weeks have dragged on! Finally back
and ready to start fresh after the half term break.
To start off, we did an exercise where one person described an
event, such as being shut in a room and suddenly the walls start
closing in. The group acted then out how they would act if that
situation was happening, such as pushing out their arms and legs
to stop the walls.
We began to learn a song called Life is good, written by one of
the Chicken Shed volunteers who is in a wheelchair. She wrote it
about her own life and experiences. The lyrics we learnt go like
this:
Life is good when you are in it
Life is bad when you are not
Life is better for you
Life would not be if not
Life is good with you
Life is good when you are in it
Life is bad when you are not
Life is better for you
Life would not be if not
Life is good with you
Life would be good if you let yourself into it
Life would be good if you let yourself free in it
Life would be better if better was not so sad
Life would be good if you let yourself into it
Life would be good if you let yourself free in it
Life would be better if better was not so sad
It makes me feel sad when I'm singing it. It reminds me a bit of
my own experiences at school.
At the end of the second session we did a scene where there were
two groups and they were really scared of one another. This week
we were given scripts which we had to say together, as if it were
a conversation between two people instead of two groups.
I've found Shed MK is teaching me so much, not just performing
arts, but respecting others, co-operation, team work, all things
that we all need in life and in a few years, I will benefit from
that, and so will others around me.
4th March 2003
This week, we had some new things to learn. To start off, we did
some voice exercises. We breathed in through our noses and breathed
out with a note.
Next, we learned a new song. It's all about football! The lyrics
went like this:
A slice of life! A sea of green!
The biggest show you've ever seen!
All life is here! All life is there!
There's too much life!
And it's everywhere!
And when it goes alright for me!
It means the bl**dy world to me!
And when it's bad it's all the same!
The whole damn thing, it's just a game,
It's just a game, it's just a game,
It's just a game, it's just a gaaaaaaame!
While we were singing the first 5 lines, we had to act like we
were coming into the stadium and sitting down, but in different
ways, for example, my friend was someone who came every week and
I'd been dragged along and I kept looking at my watch and looking
intensely bored! During the next two lines, the team we were supporting
was running towards the other goal to score and on "bl**dy
world" the supporters would gesture, such as jumping up into
the air or punching the air. In my case, I just shrugged and carried
on reading the newspaper.
The next two lines were the other team going to score and on "Damn
thing" they scored and my friend got me in a headlock and I
struggled with him. On the last "it's just a gaaaaaaame!",
the groups moved into semi circles of 3.
The lady who wrote the song "Life is good" was there
because she wanted to help direct some scenes about her life. When
she was younger, she saw psychologists who said that she shouldn't
be allowed to mix with society. We did some "trailer scenes"
being sarcastic about the psychologists.
I've done a rough script showing what we did. There were two psychologists
and the rest of us were "patients". Here's the "script":
Announcer: Paula's Story. It's a story of psychologists finding
brand new shiny ways to be stupid.
(enter psychologists)
Psychologist 1: Lie down
(everyone lies down)
Psychologist 1: Close your eyes and clear your mind of any thoughts.
That shouldn't be difficult for any of you.
(everyone close's their eyes)
Psychologist 1: Breath
(everyone breaths)
Psychologist 1: Breath
(everyone breaths)
Psychologist 1: Breath
(everyone breaths)
Psychologist 1: Now open your eyes and sit up
(everyone sits up)
Psychologist 2: Now, look at the person next to you and say "I
am a failure, but I don't care who knows it!"
Everyone: I am a failure, but I don't care who knows it!
Psychologist 2: Say it again!
Everyone: I am a failure, but I don't care who knows it!
Psychologist 1: Say it in a high voice
Everyone: (high voice) I am a failure, but I don't care who knows
it!
Psychologist 1: And in a low voice
Everyone: (low voice) I am a failure, but I don't care who knows
it!
Psychologist 1: There, we've solved you're problem now!
Psychologist 2: That's £375 and 50 pence please!
(everyone starts pulling money out of their pockets)
I can't wait until next week!
11th March 2003
To start us off this week, we were each named a different fruit
(Apples, strawberries, oranges, bananas) and when someone shouted
out our fruit name, we had to change places with someone of the
same fruit. Then things got a little harder. 4 adults took up places
a corner and yelled out one of the fruit names as loud as they could.
If you were a strawberry, for example, you would go to the person
yelling strawberry. Then that person would give you a fruit and
you'd go to the person yelling your new fruit name. I went from
being strawberry, to apple and then back to strawberry again!
This week, we finished off our football song. The whole song went
like this:
A slice of life! A sea of green!
The biggest show you've ever seen!
All life is here! All life is there!
There's too much life!
And it's everywhere!
And when it goes alright for me!
It means the bl**dy world to me!
And when it's bad it's all the same!
The whole damn thing, it's just a game,
It's just a game, it's just a game,
It's just a game, it's just a gaaaaaaame!
Get a life son, sort it out!
One with Ketchup, one without!
Stick it in son, stick it in!
Stick it in the bl**dy bin!
God I love you, yes you are!
The biggest miss I've ever seen!
Where's the ball mate? Where's the ball mate?
Where's the ball mate? Where's the ball maaaaaaaaate?
A slice of life! A sea of green!
The biggest show you've ever seen!
All life is here! All life is there!
There's too much life!
And it's everywhere!
And when it goes alright for me!
It means the bl**dy world to me!
And when it's bad it's all the same!
The whole damn thing, it's just a game,
It's just a game, it's just a game,
It's just a game, it's just a gaaaaaaame!
Down the line, mate, down the line!
Down the pub and I'll be fine!
Look the ref has got the hump!
Go and take a running jump!
Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, NO!
Go and tell him where to go!
On the head mate, on the head!
On my life, he dropped down deeeeeeeeeead!
A slice of life! A sea of green!
The biggest show you've ever seen!
All life is here! All life is there!
There's too much life!
And it's everywhere!
And when it goes alright for me!
It means the bl**dy world to me!
And when it's bad it's all the same!
The whole damn thing, it's just a game,
It's just a game, it's just a game,
It's just a game, it's just a gaaaaaaame!
Today we finished off our clown scene, where two groups were acting
like two people having a conversation. At the end of the conversation,
some loud music was played and we had to erupt into really mad crazy
dancing! When the music finished we fell on the floor like we were
puppets and the puppeteer had just cut our strings!
To finish off the session we did a recap of "When Doves Cry".
Everyone remembered the moves once we got going.
At Shed MK, I feel welcome, and part of the group. It's feels homely
to me. I just love it!
18th March 2003
Two weeks until the presentation. We're working harder than ever
to get things ready for it!
To warm up, some music was put on and we all had to mime playing
different instruments, such as the trumpet, the triangle, the drum,
etc.
This evening we learned a new song called "The Change".
When I sing it, I find it hard to tell whether the song is supposed
to be happy or sad. This is how it goes:
We can look through the past
Pick out the times to last
I might lose you, losing me too
But we'll find a way
Just push for the way ahead
For nothing in time stays dead
Don't drag me down, turn life around
It won't run away, it won't run away
Whenever the change in you
Brings out the change in me
Something must give, something must live
So something can die
But whenever the change in you
Keeps trying to pull you through
You may look sad, you might feel bad
But you'll never cry
You stand on the edge of fear
You don't know why you are here
Nothing to prove, which world will move
And which world will stay
Wrap up hope in memory
Let go, let your future free
Don't wait too long, you can go on,
Let time slip away, let time slip away
Whenever the change in you
Brings out the change in me
Something must give, something must live
So something can die
But whenever the change in you
Keeps trying to pull you through
You may look sad, you might feel bad
But you'll never cry
After we rehearsed our football song, we did some more Paula's
story trailer scenes. This is the one our group was working on:
Announcer (me): Paula's Story. It's a story of big people and little
people.
Big People: Hello! We're big! You're small!
We are important! You are irrelevant!
We are talented! You have no talents!
We are professionals! You do what we say!
We are the strongest link! You are the weakest link! Goodbye!
(Throughout each line, the small people become more and more hurt
and upset by the comments, like bullets are hitting them one by
one. At the end of the last line, they collapse onto the floor.)
Next week, the final preparations for the parents performance.
25th March 2003
This week was the final rehearsal before the big performance. We
were all in a big hurry to try and perfect our presentation. We
started by playing a game which you had to lean on someone in twos
and threes. When someone shouted "Falling!" we all had
to run over to that group of people and stop them from touching
the ground.
We all had a good rehearsal and are all ready for the performance
next week!
1st April 2003
Tonight was the big night! We all got there for 7 o clock and had
a final rehearsal. I felt a bit nervous but excited as well!
When the audience had taken their seats, we started doing a quick
warm up telling everyone to "break a leg".
Going on with the show, we did our, "What is this person about
to say?" scenes. We did one with David Beckman (me!) in the
final 2 seconds of the world cup final against Brazil (Ok, it's
not going to happen, but in the mad, crazy world of theatre, it's
a remote possibility!).
So David goes for the ball, slips on the grass and crashes to the
ground. The action is frozen and a narrator asks "What is David
Beckham about to say?", giving the audience a list of possible
lines. Then the action continues and I yell "Oh, for god's
sake! I haven't broken anything, now I'll have to play for England!"
We did everything we'd learnt over the past few weeks tonight,
finishing off with "The Change", which I think describes
the group perfectly!
I had a really fantastic evening and from what I saw, so did everybody
else, audience and performers alike! I felt that there wasn't any
"I am the best!" attitudes but we were all working together,
helping each other out and looking at each other to check we were
doing things right.
There's no more Shed MK for 3 weeks! I don't think I can wait that
long!
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