Spotlight On: Jill Rezzano, Head of Education

1st May 2020

In this edition of ‘Spotlight On’, the New Vic’s Head of Education Jill Rezzano talks to us about running this exciting department, her Honorary Doctorate from Keele University… and always having a surprise up her sleeve!

What does your job involve?

I manage the New Vic’s Education department. We want to give everyone the chance to learn about theatre and through theatre. So, as well as working with students and teachers from schools, colleges and universities, we have a large youth theatre, a drama club for younger children, a group for young people who are home educated, and projects through our Live Age Programme with older people to encourage them to keep creative through their lives; I direct the Live Age festival each year.

I work with the rest of the Education team to develop and deliver workshops, learning resources and other support. I plan the programme, decide which projects we are going to create with which groups, and respond to groups and individuals who want to make work with us.  

I’m responsible for our schools partnership with the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) and others. We work across the curriculum, using drama to enhance learning in science, history, RE and other subjects too, and work closely with other organisations, including Stoke’s Cultural Education Partnership, through the Creative Young Voices programme. There is quite a lot of admin involved, especially around financial management, recruiting artists and other freelance staff, producing reports for our funders and our Board, and fundraising.

Talk us through a typical day…

My day often begins with a meeting, to look at how our work fits into the theatre’s overall planning, or about the theatre’s schedule. Or it could be an Education department meeting – these meetings are really important because everyone is so busy, and we need to catch up and find out how everyone is progressing with their projects and if there are any challenges to discuss. As a team, we support each other and try to come up with solutions together.  

Quite often, our work happens outside of the building, so I may be running workshops in a school, at a community centre or a university. When I return back at the New Vic, I try to make sure that I’ve looked at all the day’s emails and have caught up with my planning and research.

I write our Christmas Tale Trail events for very young children, and the shows that we tour to libraries for families and schools. I often write later in the day, as I like to have lots of voices in my head.

A really nice end to the day is to see a show at the New Vic. It can be especially exciting on opening night or guest night, when we get the chance to welcome and speak to people who have funded and supported us. I love New Vic audiences, it always feels like a privilege to be in their company. Sometimes, we will have a ‘late night’ discussion with our university students straight after the show, where we help them get to grips with what they have seen.

How did you get your job?

I had always dreamt of doing a degree in drama. I was lucky enough to study at Exeter University, which as well as being a great course, was also a beautiful place to live. I began volunteering alongside my studies, and gradually incorporated the skills that I was learning in my degree to my volunteer work, adding more and more creative elements to the projects I was involved in. By the time I left, I had a real passion for using theatre to make a difference; people sometimes just need to re-find their natural human instinct to be story makers.

From there, I worked within communities in Fermanagh in Ireland, Hampshire and Cheshire before coming to the New Vic. I am still learning all of the time!

What’s been your favourite moment working at the New Vic?

There are too many to mention. Working with all of our participants is amazing, especially when somebody tells you that you have made a difference to their life. I am also lucky to work with the most talented and phenomenally supportive team at the New Vic, who genuinely care about our community and are doing everything possible to make life better for everyone. I was given an Honorary Doctorate from Keele University for the work that we do around creativity in later life and the Ages and Stages project.

Tell us something people wouldn’t expect about your job role…

You have to be prepared for anything! Although we plan our work really carefully, I have often got into a workshop and changed everything there and then. This might be because it’s a bigger or smaller group than expected, it needs more physical energy to lift it, or more activities for calm and focus. You need to have lots up your sleeve to get the best out of everyone.

How has your job changed in lockdown?

I’ve spent my working life in a room together with other people creating theatre and I miss that experience so much. However, we are also discovering that remote ways of working can be really useful to help people connect with us, and there will be some things that I am going to take away from this time. For example, I have been keeping in touch with members of our Dementia and Creativity group by phone. These calls have given everyone a huge lift, and allowed participants to share things they have written with me. Kate Buttolph, the great musician we have been working with on the project, has been emailing samples of our work to people too. I am now thinking that a mid-week call between our ‘live’ sessions will be a good thing to carry on once the lockdown is over.

How are you keeping yourself happy in lockdown?

It took me a long time to acclimatise. I have two children at home and the eldest was unable to do GCSEs, so helping them to adjust and find things to do to keep positive and creative has helped me a lot.

I’m trying to remember not to spend too much time in front of screens, and to get some exercise! I love audio books, and I don’t think I’ve ever been so far ahead with the garden – seeing all the veg planted up makes me happy. We also found out, after a long wait, that we have got an allotment and I’m looking forward to the challenge of transforming that in the future!