Dramart Productions Ltd :: Professional Performing Arts Courses for Schools and Colleges

Dramart Productions Ltd - Working in partnership with YHA:

About Dramart Productions Ltd

DramArt Productions Ltd. is an established, independent travel company, with long-standing experience in developing and marketing educational packages. Over the years we have extended our programme of travel to become Britain's only specialist supplier of professional drama/art tours and courses to schools. Our aim is to offer students a programme of visits and professional tuition which combines "Fun with Learning" and which is designed to enhance and complement the work of drama/art departments within schools. Each tour or course is individually structured in discussion with our drama specialists and the overall programme is tailor-made to each group's specific requirements. All our course tutors are professional actors, directors, choreographers, musicians and artists who are currently active in TV and Theatre and are also experienced in working with young people. We rigorously monitor the programmes which we run and are constantly adapting the tour content to meet the changing needs of teachers and students.

TOUR OPTIONS Once you have studied our details please contact our office to discuss your required itinerary, workshop/course content and other options and visits available. Once you are able to confirm dates and group numbers with us we will take out a provisional hold on accommodation, tickets etc whilst you launch the trip.

LAUNCHING THE TRIP What you need to do:-

Obtain permission for the visit from your School Authorities
Put up posters to advertise the trip to students
Finalise dates and itinerary
Phone us to check availability of accommodation and theatre tickets
Circulate an information letter to parents
Organise a parents' or pupils' presentation evening

YOUR FIRST TOUR If this is the first time you have organised a tour with us, we suggest that you ask for a short meeting with one of our tutors who will be happy to pop into school to talk to you about the various options available, and what would best suit your particular group.

You will probably find that there are other school visits against which you have to compete (e.g. skiing, summer sports) and which are very appealing to students, though they may not have the educational value of the programmes we run. You will need to consider any other school visits which may have been planned when you are choosing the dates for your trip. We advise that the further ahead you can make your booking the better response you will have from students and the easier it will be to organise your visit.

PARENTS' PRESENTATION In our experience, the best way to ensure the interest of the students in a drama trip is for you to hold a Parents' Presentation hosted by one of our tutors in school. This gives the students a clear illustration of the course structure and content, as well as providing reassurance to parents with regard to the educational worth and the safety of our tours. A Presentation lasts about one to one and a half hours including an informal introduction, a description of the itinerary for your proposed visit and a general question and answer session. We will sometimes require a projector for a 'PowerPoint' presentation and also a video player. It is quite nice if refreshments are available at the end as many parents enjoy chatting informally about individual children's requirements. PLEASE CONFIRM THE DATE AND TIME WITH OUR OFFICE

WORRIED ABOUT LOW NUMBERS? If you feel the response is not going to be sufficient for the minimum numbers why not open the trip to other years and other subjects, for instance Drama and English or Art? You can of course, aim for a lower number, but the price per person will be higher. Ask us for detailed quotes.

REBOOKING? If you have already travelled with us then you will know that it is always easier to launch the next trip immediately on return from the current one, while it is still fresh in the students' minds. We would still suggest that we host a Presentation Evening, however, as there will be new parents to reassure and new destinations and courses to talk about.

OVERSEAS DRAMA COURSES Throughout the school year we run courses for drama and art students to Northern Spain, Greece, Italy, USA, South Africa and from 2007 Bangkok. These can be for single groups, or students from several schools may be included on one tour and work together on drama and/or art projects. These very popular courses include tuition on general theatrical skills, or specific text work determined in consultation with the group leaders.

THE COURSE Our courses can be designed to fit with your group either travelling as a single group (minimum 35 paying passengers) or travelling with other school groups on a combined course. We do have a standard course itinerary but are quite willing to cater for party leaders' specific needs should this be required. Many of our party leaders contact colleagues who also teach drama and organise joint trips.

TUITION All our course tutors are professional actors, directors, musicians, choreographers and artists who must still be actively working within their profession. Many of our pool of tutors have had previous working experience, not only on our courses both in the UK and overseas, but also with community and young people's theatre groups. We feel that this provides the students with an opportunity to work in a style which is not necessarily always available to them within a school environment. All staff are CRB (Police Checked).

ACCOMMODATION Our hotel accommodation for the overseas courses to Spain is provided on a full board basis, with courses to Greece, Italy, Bangkok and South Africa being on a half board basis. In the UK, London is on a half board basis. Stratford is full board.

PASSPORTS It is in the best interests of all party members, including accompanying teachers to travel with their own individual FULL BRITISH PASSPORT. Should there be any of your party who are non-British nationals and who will be travelling on a passport from another country, you must notify our office of this and confirm with the relevant Embassy/High Commission in London as to any specific visa requirements for that party member.

HEALTH All party members travelling to a country within the EEC should carry with them an EHIC Card. These can be obtained prior to departure from your local post office or by applying online to www.ehic.org.uk. Presentation of this card if and when seeking medical assistance will enable initial treatment to be provided free of charge by a local doctor or hospital.

INSURANCE All members of an Overseas DramArt tour are covered by holiday insurance, underwritten at Lloyds of London. Please see the section marked 'Legal' on this website for specific details. The Insurance section also gives more information on health care and repatriation in relation to 'Health' above.

Why book with Dramart Productions Ltd?

We appreciate that there are other companies in the market place for products which appear, on the surface, to be similar to ours. We also fully appreciate that some companies may offer you a slightly cheaper price than those offered by Dramart Productions........

BUT before you book elsewhere we would ask you to take a little time to consider if price is everything and to ask yourself if you are providing your students and their parents with not only the best value for money product, but also and perhaps more importantly, the most professional, challenging, stimulating and rewarding course that will last for years in the memories of those students lucky enough to participate in a DRAMART PRODUCTIONS trip.

Please consider the following questions very carefully.

Q - DramArt Productions Ltd is owned and run by a professional actor

A - William Ilkley owns and runs Dramart Productions Ltd. He trained at the Rose Bruford College of Speech and Drama on the inaugural B.A. (Hons) Theatre Arts Course and has subsequently had a career as a professional actor for 26 years. His work has included approximately 100 professional theatre productions, over 60 TV programmes, 9 Feature Films and numerous Commercials, Training Films and Corporate Videos. William has been the leading actor with John Godbers' Hull Truck Theatre Company for the past 13 years and has now had five plays written for him by John - 'Salt of the Earth', 'The New Office Party', 'Gym and Tonic', 'Unleashed and most recently 'Seasons in the Sun', a most demanding production where William played 4 parts of a significantly diverse nature. This vast experience, which is now available to you and your students, amounts to over 25 years to date and continues to go from strength to strength. Lately he has featured in the BBC's 'Judge John Deed' opposite Martin Shaw and 'Casualty'. Like all our tutors, William continues to work at the highest level in the media and theatre. In 2002 he toured in Bouncers playing opposite Gareth Hale, Tim Vincent and Zach Lee and in 2003 he was seen as the lead - Malc Spencer - in the BBC Film 'Thunder Road'.

Q - Who teaches on DramArt Productions courses?

A - Since 1992 William has been able to put together a team of over 30 professional tutors for our courses. It is our policy that all tutors must be professionals within their specific skill area and........still be actively working within the business. Our tutors must also be able to demonstrate past experience of working with young people in an educational environment. Unlike some of other companies, we do not supply Teachers or Students to work with our groups. We feel that the students can have this type of experience within their own schools/colleges. We feel that it is of fundamental importance to them that they have the experience of working with recognisable professionals. Consequently, in order to supply professionals we have to pay professional rates. Indeed our fees to our tutors are above the Equity Minimum rates for Theatre work and this is reflected within the prices that we charge to our clients.

We are able to supply tutors in ALL the following areas:-

Acting Techniques - Physical Theatre - Classical Text Work - Commedia de L'Arte - Improvised Performance Pieces Mask Design and Character in Performance - Music Directing - Singing - Solo Speech Work Dance - Movement within Performance - Greek Mask/Chorus Spanish Text Work incorporating Spanish Language within Performance - Art - Photography - TV & Film

Q - Who structures DramArt Productions courses?

A - William is personally responsible for the liaison and structure of every course booked with Dramart Productions. He carefully listens to the requirements of yourself and the students, and then compiles your individual itinerary details incorporating the workshops and social activities.

Q - Why, for example, did DramArt Productions initially choose Tossa de Mar?

A - William first discovered Tossa de Mar in 1993 when out with a group of students from Forfar Academy in Scotland - at that time staying in Blanes. He forged the initial links with the old town of Tossa as a performance venue and also the use of the purpose built indoor proscenium arch theatre in Lloret. William created the structure of these courses, specifically designed to fit in with the facilities on offer in Tossa and Lloret - a format which, because of its success, has now been copied by our competitors.

Q - Where will you rehearse and perform on DramArt Productions courses?

A - On all our courses in Tossa de Mar we negotiate and pre-book with the Governing Authorities all the workshop, rehearsal, performance venues and times required by our groups. William finalises these details personally and consequently any other companies out in Tossa at the same time as us will not be able to get access to the Old Town and Church areas except when not required by us or the Town Council.

Q - What relationship does DramArt Productions have with Tossa de Mar, its Cultural Department, Tourist Department and the Local Police?

A - Since William first discovered Tossa de Mar as our primary resort in 1993, he and our regular tutorial and representative staff have forged a very close working relationship with the Cultural Department of Tossa de Mar, the Tourist Department and the Local Police. Indeed we also have a link with the Mayor, a friendship and professional relationship that we have developed and strengthened over the years. All the details of our groups, their respective timetables and activities are notified in advance to local departments and they work closely with us to ensure the smooth running of our courses. We know for a fact that this relationship does not exist with any other company taking students to Tossa de Mar.

Q - What can DramArt Productions provide in relation to links with the local media and promotion of your students work to the local community?

A - Several years ago we started to build a relationship with the local media - newspapers, radio and television which culminated in a large amount of coverage for our first 'Millennium Festival' event over the October half-term holiday period. We were delighted to be able to welcome the local press for photo-call sessions at some of the workshops, performances and also the wonderful 'Millennium' masked party night, after which the local newspaper headlines read - ' The Millennium was celebrated for the first time in the world here in Tossa de Mar!' All our group performance dates and times are now published and distributed by the local Tourist Department in their monthly advertising of cultural events in the area.

Q - What social activities are provided by DramArt Productions? How are these monitored?

A - We have a variety of social activities available to each group. These include: karaoke night, cabaret night, disco, flamenco night, treasure hunt, quiz night, pizza/pasta and last night party. These are all options from which you can select according to the ages and make-up of your group. The Dramart Representative will be in attendance at all the social activities. Some of the tutors may attend also. We do expect the accompanying teachers from the school to attend evening activities in a supervisory capacity.

Catalan law changed in 1999 and children under 16 years are no longer permitted in licensed premises after 10.00pm. (not applicable to the hotel). We ensure, with close co-operation from group leaders, that this law is observed by our groups.

Q - What is your responsibility in resort as Party Leader?

A - We expect all our party leaders to behave responsibly towards their group. We have the responsibility of the students whilst in workshop and rehearsal sessions and also for the duration of the evening activities. On excursion days one of our staff will always be in attendance. Once the evening activities are concluded it is the school teachers' responsibility to ensure that the students are in bed by the allocated time and that the conduct in the hotel does not disturb or annoy the other guests. Our course representative will work closely with you at all times during the trip and conduct daily meetings with you to talk through each day and to ensure everyone is conversant with the next day's activities.

Q - What are the professional theatre and education related backgrounds of the owners of other companies that you could consider booking with? What other companies in the education market have they previously been involved with?

A - We already know the answer to this question and we seriously believe that no other company in our field can match the training, professional qualifications and professional experience of William Ilkley and DRAMART PRODUCTIONS tutorial staff - that is our guarantee.

IN CONCLUSION

We appreciate fully that you, as a prospective Party Leader and Teacher within the UK's education system, are a professional person and one that will fully investigate the possibilities available to your students and their parents. We know that we have answered all the above questions honestly and comprehensively. We hope that maybe you will ask the same questions to our competitors and then compare their answers before you reach your final decision. These are carefully structured and monitored educational courses - not just a holiday - price is not everything.

Whatever your decisions regarding the proposed trip, we wish you and your students all the very best for future trips and productions and hope that one day we will have the pleasure of welcoming you all to DRAMART PRODUCTIONS LTD.

DRAMART PRODUCTIONS LTD
'Working with the Professionals'