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Previous experience
Graham Rogers was born in the East End of London at the end of WWII. He grew up playing on bomb sites during the day and at bed time he remembers making up the ends of stories after his Father fell asleep telling the beginnings. After a wide variety of short lived careers he became a teacher and taught in First Schools for many years, where he specialised in drama, music and, later, the expressive arts. For ten years he was a County Museum Advisory Teacher and it was during this time that he honed his storytelling skills, bringing history alive for children visiting museums. His work was very varied; historic sites, both indoors and outdoors and in museums and schools. During this time he gained a wide experience of storytelling, drama, theatre in education, INSET courses and of course working with museum artefacts. Much of his work still has an historic basis to it, although there are links to a wide spectrum of the curriculum.
Projects
His projects vary; some including a large element of children's drama and others tending more towards solo performances. All his projects, though, have a high degree of audience participation.
Stories are partly told and partly acted by Graham as he employs his wide range of teaching and acting skills. His experience with primary school children means that he can bring an audience through a range of emotions from fits of laughter to nail biting silence or from marching or dancing to avid attention with ease.
Performances are improvised around a prepared story and there fore no two are quite the same, the level of language changing to match the children's age.
Each of Graham's stories are small theatrical performances and because of this he uses a wide collection of props, musical instruments, mysterious objects, tricks and gadgets to accompany them. His main musical instrument is the Spanish guitar but he also plays the Lute, Anglo concertina, recorders, tin whistle and drum; not all at the same time.
Graham believes that many children in his audiences need to be lured into the excitement of the spoken word through visual stimuli. He therefore tries to ensure that all are enthusiastic and excited by the forthcoming event, even before a word has been spoken.
Group Sizes
Some of his projects, such his Pirate Story, are suitable for larger groups of a 100 or so. .
With Reception and Key Stage One children he prefers to work with groups of single class size. In this way the young children's natural enthusiasm to question and join in the performance can be carefully incorporated and encouraged.
It would of course be best to discuss audience sizes with Graham when planning a project.
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