Blagg!

Blagg! was TiPP's first major project, and for many years it was what we were known for. Devised by James Thompson and Paul Heritage in 1992, and designed by Jocelyn Meall, Blagg! is a drama based group working programme designed for prison and probation and settings. Later in its lifecycle it was adapted for youth justice contexts. Over the years hundreds of probation, prison and youth justice staff have been trained to use the programme and it has featured in several publications and evaluations.

Jo Blagg is a fictional character whose characteristics and history are created by the group through the drama process. Details of his/her life and experiences are written on the head set depicted here (the set head is 1.5m in height and can hold a substantial amount of information). Once the character has been constructed Jo is faced by a series of complex and challenging situations and the group are asked to consider how he/she might negotiate them or avoid them in the future.

Whilst we rarely deliver the full Blagg! programme these days, we still make use of some of the techniques and set as they are useful research tools. The head was employed in several of our arts based research projects and if you look carefully at Paul Gent's images in Gallery 1 you will see sketches of us using it in workshop.

Open Stages, 1997

images by al baker

Open Stages was a programme of events, conferences and seminars that profiled the work of leading applied and participatory arts organisations. Overthe three years of the programme, companies as diverse as Geese Theatre Company, Mind the Gap and Augusto Boal visited Manchester and shared their practice. The images here were taken during a workshop and presentation by Brazilian theatre practioner and father of the Theatre of the Oppressed movement, Augusto Boal.

The Grey Area, 2003

Images by david oates

The Grey Area was a play with music and songs devised with participants on a probation Drug Treatment and Testing Orders (DTTO) . The Grey Area was the term used by the group to describe the psychological, emotional and social space that they inhabit as they transition from "drug society" to "straight society". The performance was developed as a result of TiPP's working relationship with MDS (Manchester Drug Services) and Greater Manchester Probation Service. The show was premiered in the University of Manchester's John Thaw Studio and was subsequently performed at numerous conference and training events. In keeping with our approach to workshop practice the show brought together participants, MDS staff and professional actors onstage. Directed by Kate McCoy.

"What's the Point?", 2005

images by graham kay

What's the Point? was an action research project commisioned by Arts Council England, NW and Government Office, NW. The overall aim of the project was to stimulate the use of the arts in the Positive Activities for Young People (PAYP) scheme through research, evaluation and dissemination of a demonstration project delivering an Arts Enrichment programme with young people at risk. The project focused on a small cohort of young people during a two-week intensive programme of work, assessing the contribution of specific drama based arts enrichment activities to the delivery of some of PAYP key aims and objectives. The executive summary of the report is available for download here and the full report can be found here.

Creative Partnerships, East Lancashire, 2006

Images by TiPP

TiPP was a Creative Producer for Creative Partnerships, East Lancashire between 2005 and 2008. This saw us working closely with a secondary school in Colne, delivering a range of arts based projects that were designed to animate the national curriculum and put creatiivity at the heart of teaching. This saw TiPP developing projects in religious studies, biology, mathematics, and design. We also devised a project for school non-attenders, and for pupils at risk of being excluded. Creative Partnerships, East Lancashire became Curious Minds, a close partner of TiPP to this day.

Creative Partnerships, Manchester, 2006

images by TiPP

TiPP worked with Creative Producer, Graeme Urlwin to produce a weekly live theatre "soap opera" for pupils in Central Manchester Pupil Referral Unit. The perfomance, called Ste and Kelly: Alone and Skint told the story of a teenage brother and sister sharing a flat. The project was based in a transformed classroom designed to resemble the inside of a high rise flat by designer by Nerissa Cargill-Thompson. Weekly "episodes" were performed for the pupils, who then had the opportunity to interact with tghe characters, perform in some of the scenes and script the next "episode". The images here show some of the performances and workshops, led by Tom Hogan and Kate Goodrich.

West Manchester Summer Arts College, 2007

Images by chris charles & participants

The 2007 Summer Arts College was our first Summer Arts Colleges and ran through the six weeks of the summer school holidays. The project was developed in partnership with West Manchester Intensive Supervision and Surveillance Programme (ISSP) team. Based in Gorse Hill Studios in Trafford the combined arts programme provided young people with the opportunity to take part in drama, music, photography, visual art, street art and design workshops. The young people recorded several tracks for a CD under the name EST8-LYF and performed live at a celebration event at the Etihad Stadium

Our Mark, Royal Exchange Theatre, 2007

images by joel c. fildes, reproduced courtesy of the royal exchange Theatre

Our Mark was devised with men and women who attended a Manchester Drug Services (MDS) support group. The show was commissioned by the Community Engagement Team at Manchester's Royal Exchange and was performed in the theatre's studio space. The themes for the piece were developed out of a creative exchange process with women who were participants in HMP Styal's writers in prison project. Participants in the writing project would generate material which would act as session stimulus for the MDS group. Directed by Simon Ruding.

West Manchester Summer Arts College, 2008

images by chris charles & Participants

"Where am I from and where am I going?" saw participants from the boroughs of Salford, Trafford, Bury, Bolton and Wigan creating an exhibition of their photography, film making, radio, music technology and web design.

Under the guidance of highly skilled artists including JSD of Virus Syndicate, musician Claire Mooney, music producer Tim Thomas, and hip-hop artist Baba Israel.each completing young person achieved Bronze Level Arts Award and attended an exhibition of their work at professional venue Zion Arts (now Z-Arts).

The Blue Room, 2008

Images by participants

The Blue Room was a partnership between TiPP, The Lesbian and Gay Foundation, Lifeshare, and Manchester Public Health Development Service. The Blue Room was a programme of creative arts projects that worked with young, homeless men who were open to sexual exploitation. Funded by Arts Council England and Comic Relief, TiPP incubated the project until 2013 when it became an independant charity in its own right. It is now known as The Men's Room.

The images here are taken from a four month project in late 2007 that used photography, visual art, creative writing and film to provide a view of the city from "the other side of the street". The art work created by the participants was mounted as a temporary exhibition on the outside of a car park in Manchester city centre in 2008.

Wrexham Summer Arts College, 2009

images by chris charles & participants

The 2009 Summer Arts College was based in Wrexham, North Wales and the participants had the opportunity to develop photography skills, were introduced to the magic of light drawing and produced a short shadow puppet performance for young people.

Gallery 2

Photographs and images from our archives.

1991 - 2009.