Jeremy Harrison is Programme Director of Rose Bruford College’s MA Actor-Musicianship and MA Theatre for Young Audiences. He is an artist, researcher, and teacher whose work occupies the territory where music and theatre intersect. His early career, as one of the UKs leading actor-musicians, underpins a body of work that has seen him develop a training methodology and approach to theatre-making that encourages the integration of music, body, instrument and voice.
In 2011 Jeremy established the Theatre for Young Audiences Centre, where he works with artists and communities, supporting inclusive approaches to making work for, by and with children and young people. His interdisciplinary interests have led him to work in multi-sensory theatre contexts and to collaborate with leading practitioners in that field including Oily Cart.
ricca ricca*festa
In 2022 Jeremy was invited to run a seven-day workshop at the ricca ricca*festa, also known as the International Theater Festival Okinawa for Young Audiences, which has taken place in Okinawa annually since 2005. The festival presents carefully selected productions to be enjoyed by children, young people, and families, while also connecting TYA artists in Asia and beyond through networking programmes and workshops. This year was the 20th anniversary of the ricca ricca*festa and the first time for three years that international companies were able to perform. The programme included companies from Japan, Korea, Argentina, Iceland, Belgium, with Second Hand Dance, the only UK company to attend.
The Workshop
The workshop ran for seven days alongside the festival programme. Eleven participants from across Japan were invited to join following an application process managed by the festival team. The workshop focused on non-verbal approaches to theatre-making and actor-musician practice. All participants were actors who play instruments, and the work drew on Jeremy’s training approach, integrating live music-making into the performance process. The workshop culminated in a sharing at the closing ceremony of the festival.
Jeremy was especially honoured to be representing the UK and Rose Bruford College alongside TYA Centre associate researchers Dr Caleb Lee and Dr Nori Hidafuma, who has taught on the MA Theatre for Young Audiences alongside Jeremy, as well as Rose Bruford graduate Keiko Yamaguchi (BA European Theatre Arts).
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Jeremy is the author of Actor-Musicianship, published by Bloomsbury, see https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/actor-musicianship-9781472509635/
Recent work includes collaborations with Primary Shakespeare Company https://www.primaryshakespearecompany.org/special-schools-our-island and Oily cart https://oilycart.org.uk/shows/space-to-be-2/