Guest Blog: Jules Tipton - Associate Director, Present Moment Theatre. On the death of our friend and colleague Joss Bennathan

I am very pleased to welcome Jules Tipton as my guest blogger today. She writes below of her long and fulfilling working partnership with Joss Bennathan. Over to you Jules:

In August 2009 I received a phone call from Joss Bennathan – would I consider becoming his Associate Director for Present Moment’s forthcoming production of ‘Doctor Faustus’?

I’d known Joss socially since 1999 & had seen many of his edgy productions of classic texts, making them accessible & contemporary for new audiences. I’d worked for him on Newham’s Gifted & Talented devised theatre projects where we took groups of year 9 students from across the borough and devised a piece of theatre in 3 days, which they performed on the 4^th – in the main space at Stratford Circus.

We had bonded on our commitment to working with young people, and stretching them – demanding their focus, assuming their commitment to a shared goal, working with other young people who shared that commitment, from outside their geographical area – often beyond their comfort zones, & ultimately raising their aspirations & achievement.

I didn’t have to think twice, and in October 2009 we began auditions for the professional company of 7 actors, and – which has most bearing on Theatre Lab – an ensemble of 10 acting interns who would work alongside the professionals. I had the responsibility of working independently to support these young men through their own creative journeys, as part of the larger process: working on text, character and delivering the professionalism that working with Joss Bennathan demanded.

Yes, they found the process challenging. Yes, there were some issues around punctuality & rehearsal room discipline in the early stages – but nobody buckled. But yes, they achieved – on comparative levels to the actors who had spent 3 years in training.There was no dumbing down of expectation

The point of this story? The success of this model is what Present Moment Theatre Lab was based upon. Taking young people from outer London boroughs and giving them an experience which was professionally supported, and professionally demanding, using the same professional approach that Joss took when rehearsing any of the Present Moment Productions, or those he was engaged in for Birmingham School of Acting, or for Greenwich Playhouse, or Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts; at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe or numerous London fringe theatres.

The young people who have participated directly in Present Moment Theatre Lab 2013 & 2014, and those who have seen the productions in the participating schools have engaged in something which will leave a lasting impression. The English teachers who have participated in “Shakespeare & Beyond”: introducing rehearsal room techniques into the English teaching classroom, or those who have  accessed the educational resource packs for both Midsummer Night’s Dream & The Tempest, will have benefitted – and so will those young people whom they teach.It’s like ripples in a pool – far reaching & on-going, developing.

In 2014 Present Moment Theatre Lab expanded – more young people were offered the opportunity to participate, across more London boroughs. With 2 casts rehearsing simultaneously there was the potential to tour more widely.But also we offered “added value”: as a way of documenting & reflecting on their arts journey the cast were all offered the opportunity to engage in Trinity Laban’s Arts Award programme, at Bronze level, or to add to their portfolio for their Silver Arts Award which they were doing at school.

'Arts Award is a range of unique qualifications that support anyone up to 25 grow as artists and arts leaders, inspiring them to connect with and take part in the wider arts world through taking challenges in an art form - from fashion to film making, pottery to poetry.Through Arts Award young people gain a nationally recognised qualification enabling them to progress into further education and employment.' taken from the Arts Awards website http://www.artsaward.org.uk/site/?id=1346

We are proud that, alongside the rigours of rehearsal, learning lines in a complex language that was new to many of them, discovering ways of tackling the verse, and dealing with life that goes on around this process – including getting GCSE & A/S level results in the middle of it – young people engaged with this Arts Award – through which I am proud to have supported them & assessed their portfolios. 

The project received a resounding endorsement from the external Arts Award assessor:

“A fantastic project rich in opportunities for the young people’s individual development”

And it with great sadness that I find myself writing this for my dear friend and so very talented Colleague. I am proud to be part of the transition team working to ensure the continuation of Joss' legacy.


Jules Tipton - Associate Director - Present Moment Theatre. December 2014.