Off the Map _ Creative Development


			"Only those who go too far can possibly find out how far one can go."
			- T.S. Eliot


	Project Folio
				Current Projects 2004 Plan B
				'Plan B' is a Post-Release Prisoner Theatre Project for Men that aims to help offenders manage their transition from custody to community by creating a theatre piece that explores the link between their personal experiences and the broader social issues. Click here to see the the complete project outline and details Click here to see show times and info

				Bendigo Prison Performance After being invited by Kerry Lawson, manager of Bendigo Prison's Regional Institute of TAFE's Education Centre to run a performance project, Plan B director, Sharon Jacobson came in with an offer of two program choices to participants: to write and perform their own scenes, or to create a play from Hans Christian Anderson’s fairy tale, The Emperor’s New Clothes. After some discussion, participants chose to create a modern day fairy tale. The show was the product of five one-day workshops. During the first two weeks participants examined the themes and characters in the story, chose the six most important scenes necessary to telling the story, and created a series of still photographs – a storyboard - to work from in creating a script. Over the next two weeks, Sharon wrote a six-scene script. Participants lerned the elements of staging a show: learning lines, thinking through how to stage the play, developing character, improvising, rehearsing, trouble shooting, remembering cues and scene changes, and choosing music, props and costumes. Costumes were lent by the Bendigo Theatre Company, members of whom attended the show and gave positive feedback to the actors. Participants reported experiencing the best high ever, and all commented on the importance of team work and cooperation in getting the show together.

				Court Readiness Program The Court Readiness Program is a community development elective which forms part of Monash University's final year law degree. Senior law lecturer, Bronwyn Naylor, is working with small groups of 6-7 law students to provide information to prisoners on remand which helps them prepare for court. Information is disseminated to groups of prisoners at Port Philip Prison and Dame Phyllis Frost Centre via a 2-hour workshop delivered by the law students, including a booklet containing the presented information. In conjunction with Bronwyn Naylor and Monash University, Off the Map made a successful proposal to develop a component of the Court Readiness Program for funding from the Victoria Law Foundation. The component aimed to help prisoners explore issues relating to court presentation skills through a series of drama-oriented applications. The component also assisted law students in delivering their own presentations during the Court Readiness Program. This component ran as a pilot, assessed for the effectiveness of its methodology in delivering content, and modified accordingly.