Supporting student success in the workshop: Pia Mitchell’s tree

“Sam from the workshop massively helped with this project; without him it simply would not have been possible.”

From a seedling to a tree…

Pia Mitchell is a third year BA Drama and Theatre student, working on the Community and Participatory Theatre module. Together with workshop manager Sam Westbury, Pia has created this magnificent tree prop.

The tree has been used for an installation project for school children at the The Gulbenkian. “Our performance is made for a group of young children from a local school that we have spent the last six weeks running workshops for. The final performance is to celebrate the work that we have done with the children.” It was then featured in Things I Know To Be True, play Pia produced with the T24 drama society.

“Imaginative designs are the bedrock of what we do and we are always looking to push the student’s creativity.”

After working out the project’s requirements, Pia was able to utilize Sam’s experience in prop design and prop making to create the supersized tree. Sam said: “She came to me with a concept and we worked together on coming up with a design that would fit into the small budget but that would look really impressive on stage. Imaginative designs are the bedrock of what we do and we are always looking to push the student’s creativity.” “Sam from the workshop massively helped with this project,” says Pia reflecting on the construction process. “Without him it simply would not have been possible.”

Sam is proud of the support which the School of Arts can give to its students: “We really encourage the students to get hands on experience making for their projects and the best part of my job is to see how thrilled the students are with their finished work.”

The School of Arts is home to a number of specialised technicians in all disciplines to help Kent students realise their creative projects.