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Annual
Report 2003-2004
Introduction:
At the end of last year's report I set out four goals for
the year ahead:
•
to continue with our Trade Justice work
•
to continue to be used in churches and the local community
•
to develop new material for a variety of audiences
•
to continue to enjoy the satisfaction and challenges of working together
and it is now interesting to reflect on the work of the
past twelve months to see whether we achieved these goals.
As ever, our work has been exciting and varied with a
mixture of on-going work and entirely new projects. We have continued to work
extremely hard and have seen various changes in both the nature of the projects
and the personnel within the group.
Much of what we have achieved in the last twelve months
has been supported and enabled by our GAP year workers, Sarah Mills and Jemima
Jones in the spring and summer, and Matt Varty since September. I believe that
Credo gains great benefit from the different skills and personalities that our
GAP workers have brought to the group, and it is an encouragement that through
prayer and careful consideration, we have had the right people for the work
that has faced us. We are currently in the process of advertising for next year.
Performances:
Whilst indicating in last year's report that we must not
feel pressured into maintaining the unusually high number of performances of
2002-2003 (56 in total) we have had another very busy year.
In brief, the last twelve months has seen Credo involved
in:
•
17 Intermission Performances
•
15 Trade Justice/Fair Trade events and performances
• 13 Commissions for churches and groups
(including - Easter Praise & The Great Invitation at Hull City Hall,
Concerts with The Reign, St Martin's 75th Anniversary Service,
George Lings Conference, Drypool Marriage Prep. Hornsea Festival & CRC
Conference
• 4 workshops - for O.G youth group, St John's
Bransholme, MAD youth group Bransburton & CPAS Advent Day
• 2 Special Commissions - Hull & E.Yorks
Oncology Centre Bidders' Meeting & Hull Youth for Christ "Mums'
Night"
• 4 Credo productions -
Literally Speaking x 2, Time of Your Life, Up Front Launch Night
This gives a grand total of 55 performances - maintaining
the number from last year. This was not necessarily our intention but does
reflect the reputation that Credo has locally, and its growing reputation
nationally. It is worth noting that this significant work load does not include
our work with Creative Partnerships at 5th Avenue Primary School,
Hull, as detailed later.
Different members of Credo will have different highlights
of the past twelve months, but those worth detailing further to my mind, include:
Intermission/Easter
Praise/The Great Banquet - All these events have come from our involvement
with There is Hope, a Christian organisation based in Hull. The monthly Intermissions at The Mission Pub in Hull city centre are an ongoing focus for us, and it is always an enjoyable challenge to be involved in the planning, preparation and performance of these as we try and illustrate a variety of contemporary issues. We took Intermission "on the road" again this year, working with churches around Hull, and it was a real privilege to see the work going on and to support them in their outreach and mission. It was also very exciting to take part in Easter Praise and in the large outreach event "The Great Invitation" at the City Hall. It was exciting to perform in front of large audiences (approx 1000 people for each) and satisfying to think that our material suited the two very different audiences.
Literally Speaking {4,2,4} - was our
contribution to this year's Humber Mouth Literature Festival, and due to its
success, we have since performed it again. Although we have previously done
other modular
based
productions (Self Assembly & Urban Eyes), Literally Speaking was again a challenging
and
•*" exciting
project, and represented a significant development in our ideas and production,
particularly in the
areas of technical integration and design, as well as in
the theme covered. It proved hugely popular with our audiences and it was
satisfying to see a mixed audience of Christians and non-christians and have
new audience members attend and praise the work.
Commissions and Publications -
Although we have always accepted commissions, in that we
write and perform dramas to fit into a particular event or theme, this year has
seen a significant development for Credo in that we have been offered two
"professional" commissions, being paid for their writing and
performance.
The first of these was from the Hull and East Yorkshire
Health Trust, to research and represent a patient centred ethos to architects
and bidders for a new oncology unit, based in the Hull area. The performance
was fairly nerve-wracking, as we faced a besuited audience, many of whom
started making notes as we performed. The feedback we had was excellent with
someone asking us if we specialised in medical drama! (The answer from the
rather squeamish writer is a resounding NO!!)
The second commission we had was
from CAFOD who asked us to develop a sketch for the latest phase in their
Trade Justice campaign, centring around employment conditions in electronics
factories who source the large computer companies. This was a challenging task
as it involved wading through a great amount of evidence, and a feeling of
responsibility towards those whom we represented. After performing the material
in London, Birmingham and Leeds, the feedback again was very positive, particularly
from a CAFOD partner, Pedro, who had come across from Mexico. The sketches are
now being used by campaigners around the country.
We have also added to our
publications, with the launch of "Up Front" - a booklet of sketched
to be used in church and outreach. We produce so many sketches every year that
it's been good to get them into a format so they can be more widely used, and
we have heard of several sketches already having be used by
churches in the area.
Schools Work:
Our school's work has continued to be a major focus for
the "full time" members of Credo in both academic years that this
report covers, as we have continued to build on our relationship with 5l
Avenue Primary School, through the Creative Partnership scheme.
In the summer term of 2003,
Sarah and Cathy ran a two week project with Year 6 pupils, considering
Global Citizenship. We worked with Hull Development Education Centre on this
project, which involved "Day Trips" to India and Kenya, dancing,
dressing up, crafts, cookery, drama, singing, drumming and lots of discussion
and group exercises as pupils explored rights and responsibilities. It was great
to see the pupils engaging in issues of justice and peace, and one of the
pieces we did with them was later performed as part of their Leavers' Assembly,
to which Cathy was invited- a real testament to the relationship
that had built up.
Credo were back in school for
the Spring term 2004, as Cathy and Matt lead our most ambitious and intense
project to date. It was called "Our Place" and was a whole school
project tackling the problem of vandalism that the school has been experiencing
and highlighted to us. Over the space of one term, about 15 weeks, we worked
with 6 year groups, 18 different classes, over 500 pupils, engaging them in
drama, music, video, creative writing, crafts, as well as group work
and decision making. We had a tiring, but wonderful time with the children and
staff and have nothing but admiration for the school and its ethos. The whole
project reached its climax with three "premieres" of the "Our
Place" video, made by Year 3 pupils, and featuring the work of all year
groups, for pupils, teachers, parents and invited guests, including the Lord
Mayor and Lady Mayoress and the Chair of Governors. It was a huge success, with
the pupils and staff extremely proud to see what had been achieved, and the
Lord Mayor declaring it to be "the best video he had seen in the last ten
years."
We have also worked successfully at Beverley Grammar
School, performing for Years 9 and 11, as part of their Christian Ethics
course, and we've been to several youth groups, leading drama workshops and workshops
on Trade Justice.
Community News:
It feels as though, after several years of stability,
there's been a lot of changes within the community this year. We said
goodbye to Sarah Mills and Jemima Jones as their year finished with us, and
then Olivia Murray moved to Bristol with work. Julie Robinson has also had to pull
back a bit recently due to family and work commitments. We also lost Wiggy for
much of the year due to illness, and it's now great to have her back with us.
We have also had several members come and join us so we have been able to keep
up with commitments. In fact, as our workload has continued to be so heavy,
including work during the day, we have managed to spread the workload so that
no one or two people have had to do everything. Having said that, there are
several members of Credo who currently have to juggle Credo with increasing
family and work commitments, and I would say that we are in the
"weakest" situation we've been in for some time, in terms
of people's availability, and this has meant difficulties, particularly in
preparing for larger productions. We must bear this in mind as we decide on
which projects we want to take on in the coming year.
We have again enjoyed working
with other people this year. Our association with There is Hope has continued
to be fruitful, and lead to some interesting projects. We have joined forces
with The Reign on several occasions to do evenings of music and drama, and we
must again (as last year) thank Simon Reeves for his input into Literally
Speaking, both in performance and as part of the technical crew. One of the
founder members of Credo, Geoff Waring, edited our schools video this year,
having recently set up in ministry in this area. It was great to connect with
him again and share his skills. We were all delighted with the end
product, and the fun we had doing it was an added bonus!
Looking Ahead:
The last twelve months have been or busiest yet, and,
whilst being great fun and fulfilling most of the time, have occasionally
become quite difficult to manage. We need to consider carefully the projects we
take
on, the difficulty with this being that each project in itself is always
worthwhile, it's just when you start adding them together that time begins to run
out!
We had a good balance last year of ongoing work and new
projects, and I think that this is important for our own growth and development
as practitioners, and it may be that we have to be more proactive in the areas we wish
to develop this year.
At this point, I would say that our priorities for the
coming year include:
• Trade Justice campaigning - particularly in the
local area. This could be linked with the Fair Trade City/Town
projects currently taking place in Hull, Beverley and Hornsea
• Workshops - helping others explore their
creativity and also within the group to develop our thinking and
performance
•
Work with youth and children - in schools, churches and groups
• A project that we develop from within the group,
spending time on the development as well as the performance with a view to
taking it further afield
• A cabaret night
I know this sounds a lot
already! However, if we were able to concentrate on these areas, then we would
be providing something for all areas of our audience (both Christian and
non-Christian) and we would be building on our strengths and interests.
Credo has expanded considerably in the last eighteen
months, in the number and scale of productions as well as in reputation. With
this in mind, the addition of "external" trustees is going to be a
key factor in helping us manage our time and resources more effectively, and
will be a useful reference point for us as a group.
It amazes me each year to look back and see where we
have been lead in the year just gone, and this year has been no exception. I
can only end by looking forward to the year ahead and all that that may bring! Thanks to
everyone who has made this past year so exciting and successful.
Cathy Westby
May 2004