Dr Kempe takes travelling tales to Israel

Tuesday, 25 May 2010

Dr Kempe recreates both the Star of David and the English Folk Song and Dance Society's logo, using kebab skewers!

While on a recent visit to Israel, Dr Andy Kempe of the Institute of Education had the opportunity to work with undergraduates at the University of Haifa who were taking a module in Community Theatre.

The subject of Dr Kempe's workshop was the English Mummers Play. This example of traditional English community theatre isn't such a strange choice for the Israeli students as it may first appear, given that the main characters of such plays typically include people such as the Turkish Knight, the King of Egypt and Saint George who came from the town of Lod (near what is now Tel Aviv).

The roots of the mummers play date back to the crusades, and they were performed mainly around Christmas time as a form of entertainment. Dr Kempe's workshop explored how tales are changed over time and their symbolic value similarly mutates in order to serve the communities that tell them.

Though there may well be historical links between mummers plays and Palestine, it is a matter of pure coincidence that the insignia of the English Folk Song and Dance Society correlates with the Star of David. In England, the hexagonal ‘knot' is made up of the sticks used by Morris dancers. Unable to find suitable pieces of wood in Israel, Dr Kempe demonstrated how to make the knot using kebab skewers!

However, the main purpose of Dr Kempe's visit was to establish a Memorandum of Understanding between the Universities of Reading and Haifa. He explained: "This move towards greater co-operation and collaboration in research into arts education follows on from a visit made to Reading by Professor Shifra Schonmann, from Haifa, in the autumn of 2008. It is a very interesting and exciting opportunity for both parties, and we look forward to working with them in the future."

Dr Kempe's and Professor Schonmann's have written a paper together, entitled ‘An Anthology of Voices: An Analysis of Trainee Drama Teachers' Monologues', which has recently been published in the British Journal of Educational Studies.