Students from DRAMA 204 have been working with Dr Jonathan Heron on this year's undergraduate production Weird Sisters (after Shakespeare).
Jonathan is a theatre practitioner and performance scholar, based at the Institute for Advanced Teaching and Learning at the University of Warwick as a Principal Teaching Fellow.
He was previously Research Associate for the CAPITAL Centre (with the Royal Shakespeare Company) and Youth Arts Leader at Pegasus Theatre in Oxford, during their 50th anniversary. He has been Artistic Director of Fail Better Productions, an independent theatre company, since 2001.
The course coordinator, Dr Rina Kim, says that her students have benefited immensely from working with Jonathan.
"Over the last three weeks, Jonathan has been directing Weird Sisters, his own adaptation of Shakespeare’s Macbeth, for the DRAMA 204 production."
"I am so impressed by the way he engages with the students, putting their learning experience first while retaining his directorial vision. His passion, dedication, never-dwindling energy, work ethic, discipline and artistic talents have been truly inspiring."
Isabelle Cohen, who is studying for a Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Commerce conjoint, learned a lot from working in a professional atmosphere: "Jonathan treated us like professionals and respected the fact that we had other commitments outside of drama. He expected us to fully commit to the production during rehearsals and trusted us to do so."
Rebecca Smith, who is studying for a Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Science conjoint, says that Jonathan has "a wealth of knowledge and experience with Shakespearean text, which was hugely helpful both for making sure the overall vision of the piece is clear, and also personally as an actor, as I was able to ask his guidance or gain reassurance with specific lines or phrases."
"I would love to be able to create a career in the performing arts, and being part of such a fast turnaround production has shown me just how much can be achieved in a short amount of time."
Jonathan said that "working with these students was a genuine pleasure, and our intensive rehearsal period has involved movement work — based on Laban’s efforts — alongside vocal and textual work focusing on rhythm, ritual and repetition."
"Central to the process was a devised theatre approach that develops the experimental potential of the performing ensemble, which in turn accelerates the collaborative learning and collective discoveries of drama education."
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