The Robben Island Bible Ethical
Leadership Workshop
Playwright and drama facilitator
Matthew Hahn was invited by the Shakespeare in Schools Festival South Africa
and supported by the British Council to facilitate a five day interactive
theatre workshop for young people that examines current leadership on a
personal, community, national and international level.
A group of 11 Grade 11 students
were selected for their potential for creative and principled leadership. The
students came from a variety of backgrounds, with the Chris Hani Arts and
Culture School in Khayelitsha township, Islamia College and Wynberg Boys High
being among the schools represented.
This new generation of young
leaders spent a week of their school holidays learning lessons from the
experiences of political prisoners on Robben Island and a variety of
Shakespeare’s characters.
The workshop culminated in a
performance of selected Shakespearean quotes, extracts from the play, The
Robben Island Bible including monologues based on interviews with
former political prisoners on Robben Island and new pieces of writing created
by the young people.
I am currently compiling feedback as well as creating a booklet of the newly created pieces of creative writing to be published on this blog in the near future.
