Case Studies
Elton Silent Movies
In April 2010 Square Peg were invited to work with a group of young people in Bury who attended the Elton Youth Centre. The group were of mixed ability, including both disabled and non disabled young people. Our brief was to create a film exploring the ideas of communication.
The work began with the young people taking part in a variety of comedy and laughter games and exercises designed to build their confidence and allow them to become comfortable with speaking and performing in front of their peers, and thinking in a creative and comic way. The exercises all explored the theme of communication and the challenges that surround positive interaction with others and the young people explored clowning, mime and body language in their sessions.
Within a couple of days the young people were all fully engaged with the work, attending all the sessions and bursting with ideas, and this commitment led to the organic development of ideas for the films. Eventually the young people devised the idea of creating silent comedy movies, exploring communication across barriers. The work evolved by improvising comedy ideas that were worked into full sketches and the ideas that followed were both imaginative and intelligent and formed the basis of the film scripts.
The young people made two films, one a comedy of errors including misdirection, elements of classic farce and a hilarious toilet scene! The second film explored how we would cope if aliens landed on Earth and some very funny consequences of what this might entail.
All of the work, from the original ideas, to the editing of the film, was completely the work of the young people. The sketches were all written, performed, directed, filmed and edited by the participants and the finished films are a wonderful testament to their enthusiasm and commitment to the project. A premiere was held in Bury, attended by the young people, their family and friends and representatives from Bury Youth Services, as well as Bury Councillors.
Christies
In April 2010 we were invited onto the Youth Oncology Ward at Christies Hospital, to work with the young people who were inpatients during treatment. The hospital had never experienced any Laughter or Comedy sessions before and so we began with a taster session which included Laughter Yoga, comedy improvisation and joke building. The session was a success and we were asked to return on a monthly basis to deliver similar sessions to the patients, who are all aged 16 - 25.
This group pf young people and their families are experiencing and working through a very difficult and traumatic situation. Our workshops offer a distraction and positive experience for everyone. They encourage the young people to laugh, have fun, communicate and enjoy an activity during a tough time. Our approach is to always include the parents, relatives and friends of the patients. By doing this the benefits of our Laughter sessions are felt and appreciated by not only the patients but others in their lives as well. This ensures that there is a positive shared experience for the patients and their families at a time when both can experience feelings of isolatio
