Brook Hopper is working on a number of creative projects as a writer, director and actor and is now teaching across all three age groups at Lighthouse Youth Theatre.
What are you teaching at the moment?
We teach a lot of different things. At the moment there’s a bit of focus on improv, especially with our older groups. Our oldest group especially, they’ve really taken off with it.
In terms of their improv, a lot of the time I can go, here is the start of what you are doing, and then they just run with it. And in that moment, I become more of a director than a teacher, because they don’t need a lot of advice at that point.
Our youngest group, because improv is a little bit much for them, a lot of it is an introduction to theatre, getting to know each other, getting used to working as a group – it’s a lot of fun.
And then our middle group, we’re starting to get there with improv, and it’s also introducing those theatre basics – key rules.
How did you get into teaching?
At uni, we did a bit of working with the groups who were the year below us, but that was more being a director. While I was doing that, I did a bit of work doing workshops in schools, mostly SEN schools, with Dave Young, The Shouting Mute, doing a lot of poetry and things like that, and then after I finished uni, I kept doing some of those workshops. I also spent last year working as a teaching assistant at Cornerstone Academy in Hamworthy. I ran a drama club and also directed the school’s first musical in 20 years, Matilda Junior.
With your writing, acting and directing – and now teaching – you are building a career in the place that you’re from. Is that important to you?
The best part is I get to be part of a community, and I’ve stuck around Lighthouse this entire time in all of these different aspects – I did a show here when I was at uni, and now I’m teaching here. I did the community play SALT here, I’ve done all sorts.
I was sort of one of the lead actors for the Newfoundland characters, but then also on occasion because I’m quite loud, I was in charge of singing for a day when the singing director wasn’t there. I gained a lot of experience – that’s really what kicked me off in a lot of ways. I also made a lot of friends during that have remained friends.
There was a show called Unearthed a few weeks ago, and so many of the people in it were in SALT and I knew them, but also the audience, so many other people from SALT who I also knew, came to see it. It was a great time.
How have the young people responded to the classes?
They’re loving it. The youngest group, while they’re not so much gaining a great deal of understanding about theatre, they’re having a lot of fun and they’re working well together, which I think was one of the big aims going into it. Here is a group of kids, most of them have never met each other, most of them have never done theatre – it’s a bit scary thing, especially at the start. Some of them in their first session, they were very much like: ‘I’m here, but I don’t really want to be here.’
Already though, there is such a change. One boy who, in our taster session, was standing in a corner – he was here, but he didn’t really want to join in anything. And now, when we show up, he’s immediately like: ‘Right, what are we doing today?’ He’s involved in every activity.
It’s been great; you can already tell the boost in confidence. In all of the groups, everyone’s talking a bit more, getting a bit more involved.
That’s my favourite thing to see. I’m very proud already and we’re basically just at the start.
Did you have an expectation coming into this?
Not really, because I couldn’t really compare it other workshops that I’ve run. It’s why my opening questions for all of them were: have you seen theatre? Have you done theatre? Where is your interest in this? There were all different answers so my big goal is that although everyone was starting at different points, we’re going to all move on together and I’m happy to say that that’s already starting to happen.
And how about you, are you learning as well?
Oh, absolutely, yes. Especially with the younger groups, where I’ve not really worked with children that young before. So, I have to be work out how I work with them.
Then I ask what can I learn from the other teachers in the room and how do I do the best work for them? Because I think I can be a bit of a fast person, a bit of an extreme person, just in terms of here’s the thing, we’re going to jump into it, and see where go. That can work, and I think some people take that really well, but other times it’s better to slow it down bit by bit, take it easy, low energy, and we’ll go from there.
So, yes, I am learning as we go.
(NC)
