Northern Ireland

Playhouse Derry | Lilliput Theatre | Ireland

Multiplier Event at the The Playhouse Theatre in Derry on 20th May 2019

It welcomed 55 people from 5 different bodies/organizations. Among these partners:

• Members & Staff of Lilliput Theatre Company
• Students & Teachers from St. Patricks Pennyburn Primary School
• Local Musicians & Facilitators
• Family & Friends of the PWD’s
• Staff & Representatives of The Playhouse Theatre
• Staff from Western health & Social Care Trust
• University Students

The event took place in several stages:

• Hello & Welcome! Sign-In. (Plaza) The two songs recorded by Lilliput playing on the large screen
• Taster Workshop – Interactive Group Drumming
• Taster Workshop - Vocal Exercises/Activities
• Lunch - Thanks & Good-bye! Feedback & Group Photo. (Plaza)

The Multiplier event was to showcase the previous work of Lilliput as well as display the skills gained through the project.

To begin the event we presented the work completed and showed the two recorded songs using audio visual equipment. Those in attendance then took part in two different taster workshops based upon the theme of music - a drumming workshop and a singing workshop. This gave the participants an opportunity to expand upon their skills and knowledge as they all have a huge interest in music and felt it was important to use the multiplier event as an opportunity to express their energy and passion.

Having school children at the event allowed the Lilliput members to showcase their skills and teach the students what they had learnt through the project, this was a wonderful dynamic and had positive benefits for both parties.

The event ended sharing lunch together in the plaza which was a lovely end to a very empowering day for the Lilliput members.

The equipment used at the event was audio visual equipment, a PA and microphone, samba drums, a baby grand piano and other smaller hand held instruments. The members of Lilliput also used cameras and Samsung tablets to capture interviews after the event to enable us to document feedback.

Feedback

The feedback from the event was overwhelmingly positive, everyone who attended enjoyed the experience.

The school children wrote their feedback on coloured stars with some saying:

“I loved today! I really liked the drums and the singing.”

“I loved the drumming; the best part was when we just slammed the drums and screamed.”

“I enjoyed everything today!”

The members of Lilliput interviewed each other after the event and they all felt it was a wonderful experience and they learnt some new skills.

“I thought the event today was super and I really enjoyed both the singing and the drumming. I learnt some drumming techniques which I found very helpful. I would give it 10 out of 10.”

“It was great to see students from the primary school who all participated really well and brought great energy”.

“I learnt drumming is so inclusive to all and it is music we are making, not just noise”.

Conclusion

We felt that bringing different groups together to showcase work and share knowledge and skills was a very effective and empowering method which had benefits for all. It offered the PWD’s a platform to display the confidence they had gained through the process of the project.

Having professional musicians facilitating the workshops allowed everyone to learn new skills as well as be inspired musically. It was also a great way to connect a local school with the community and offer a safe space where diversity is accepted and celebrated.