Located in Birmingham's Jewellery Quarter (‘because it seemed an energetic place to be’) Stan's Cafe (SC) is a creative company with theatre at its heart. A quick perusal of their website shows that they are keeping busy. The company is currently gearing up for a new touring production of The Capital, a wordless play about life in the big city inspired by conversations with the Economics department at Warwick University. Additionally, they run a wide range of youth projects and facilitate countless other artistic enterprises, incorporating graphic design, poetry, and more.
I spoke to Craig Stephens, associate director, to find out more about their education programme. According to Stephens, the guiding principle beneath all of their work is of a complete merging of education with everything else they do. It's not regarded as a separate by-product but as something at the very heart of all their creative work. Nor is it restricted to drama-based projects: much of what they offer to schools and other audiences is more bespoke than the conventional schools tour. Rather, SC think of themselves as assisting teachers (‘who are themselves being creative every hour of the day’, Stephens is quick to point out) in coming up with creative solutions to gaps in the school curriculum. These don't have to be big solutions, and drama is definitely not always the right answer – some recent projects have been more focussed on language or visual art. An exciting new collaboration with Billesley Primary School is one example, which will see the production of a book entitled ‘What is a school?’ Different year groups will come up with a chapter each, while an editorial team of pupils have been involved in the process from the start and recruiting the graphic designer.
Billesley is just one of several long-term partner schools, for SC rightly feel that this is a more effective way to educate than through one-off visits. While a successful idea might be rolled out more than once, most projects are unique, involving energetic teachers who want to challenge their pupils and find creative ways to facilitate learning. Indeed, the continuing vibrancy of their programme is partly dependent on local headteachers understanding the value of the arts within and beyond the curriculum. The longest-standing collaboration with SC results from being approached by a head who vividly recalled the experience of being involved (initially unwillingly!) in a Shakespeare workshop at school. He was adamant that his own pupils should benefit from the same experience, resulting in a whole year group production of The Tempest in which every one of the 240 pupils had lines.
However broad SC's approach, theatre remains at the heart of their work. Stephens and James Yarker, artistic director and one of SC's two founders, like to stay as involved as possible with the projects they're facilitating. The company has a large pool of associate artists: talented practitioners who can fill in where necessary (such as dance), but whoever leads the project, their output fits within the broad SC aesthetic. They have also invested in a pop-up stage which has facilitated roaming performances, and run regular Drama clubs at two secondary schools. A recent workshop-based production involved transforming a school hall into a glamourous restaurant, with actors playing the eccentric staff and leading the audience through an exploration of the five senses, with a giant illuminated jelly providing the centrepiece. Similarly immersive, the extensive Steps Series can be tailored to any venue and invites the audience to become actors through the placement of icons and speech bubbles, encouraging those involved to see (and enact) life in relation to art.
Due to the formidable range of projects they undertake, it is difficult to define the work of SC but it all exudes fun, challenge, collaboration and creativity. They mainly work in Birmingham, and I asked Stephens how their education work might be used as an example for schools further afield. ‘It's important to think small as well as big,’ he tells me. It's all about developing the confidence in schools to try things out. There's no reason why schools outside SC's reach couldn't take inspiration from the projects on their website. Perhaps more schools could liven up INSET days by learning from the SC City Adventure day, where randomly allocated pairs of teachers were given secret instructions and starting locations around Birmingham with the aim of exploring the city as a potential resource. After looking into all this frenetic activity, a cup of tea and a bacon sandwich feels in order – which is how it all began, over a chat in the original Stan's Cafe, off London's Brick Lane. And it's definitely pronounced Caff, by the way.