MDEE 2024: Meet head of content Wendy Frost

I have been immersed in theatre for my entire life. In primary school, I would annoy my teachers until they let us put on a play, and in secondary school I found my place in the studio with my incredible drama teacher. In the East End of London where I grew up, there were very few creative opportunities for young people and nowhere to go to perform or participate in dramatic activities unless your family had disposable income. I held on tight to my Drama lessons as I enjoyed little else about school. As I moved through my teens and into my 20s, I branched out to act and direct with Shared Experience Theatre, performing in large scale pieces and participating in a tour to Russia with the youth theatre as part of an international festival. During this time, I realised I had found my community. I had a voice – and I had a place I could use it. I felt powerful here.

Next steps

I then went to university to study drama and theatre at undergraduate level, mixing with likeminded souls, finding my love of movement and physical theatre practices. It was also during this time that I realised I loved directing and leading workshops. Teaching came not long after, and I flourished in my first role at The BRIT School for Performing Arts. I had the opportunity to work with theatre companies including Frantic Assembly, Improbable Theatre and Forced Entertainment. I formed my first theatre company Living Incident which performed a double bill at The Croydon Clocktower. I loved the young people who were eager, edgy, excited and incredibly skillful.

I was desperate for more training and education and embarked on my MA in Physical Theatre, where I was able to work with David Bradby exploring Lecoq and French mime traditions. There were also intensive training sessions with Ali Hodge focusing on Grotowski and Gardzienice, which pushed me into extreme realms of impulse practices. All this knowledge has melted into my teaching and directing in some way shape or form.

Recent years

Over the years I have been a director with the Shakespeare Schools Festival and National Youth Arts Trust, where I have continued to make productions with young people for various stages and spaces. In recent years I have become more interested in Holocaust education and theatre using a scheme of work framed by process drama. For four years I used this work with my company OPUS Theatre to develop performances for International Holocaust Memorial Day while working with Holocaust survivors using their testimonies. This work has also taken me to many countries on residential education trips with the Holocaust Educational Trust, the most memorable being at Yad Vashem in Israel. I taught this every year with my GCSE students, and now use this in my current role as PGCE Drama Subject Leader at Wolverhampton University.

I have been training drama teachers at universities since 2016, where I am fortunate enough to be able to work with a range of drama departments across the Midlands, visiting many incredible drama teachers and their inspiring classes. I see young people being creative, playing, achieving and performing. I see teachers working extremely hard for their students to give them an artistic experience, despite the current challenges and restrictions in schools. These communities of educational practice are surviving and enriching the lives of countless young people.

Expo entrance

Now here I am, introducing myself to you as the Head of Content (Drama) for the Music and Drama Expo 2024. When I saw this role appear I knew it would stimulate me, and I'm thrilled to be able to bring together so much of my experience and knowledge to produce an exciting event for all attendees. I have been reinvigorated by reaching out to so many incredible practitioners, educators and artists. The sense of community in the drama world has become a little fractured in recent years, fuelled by underfunding and the reduction in opportunity and employment.

However, I have seen a renewed shift in the arts emerging from a frustration that is morphing into a more collective gathering of like minds. Togetherness is rumbling, and my aim is that the expo will be a place to platform so much of that, where old connections can be renewed and new connections can begin. I am also crossing some boundaries with the programme, bringing together primary, secondary and post-16, and also merging professionals, educators and academics. There will be something there to inspire everyone, igniting our community of drama specialists and strengthening future opportunities for us and our young people!

musicanddramaeducationexpo.co.uk