"By turns boisterous, rhythmic, melodic and inspiring, the show gripped everyone through to its tumultuous climax." David Jones, co-director of the Bournemouth Literary Festival, 2008. Full review below.

'One in Five' is available to universities, colleges and schools as part of induction, as well as cultural or language programmes for international students. The show is accompanied by pre- and post-attendance materials for students, and workshops for international officers and EFL/ESOL teachers. (Running time approx 50mins, plus workshops tailored to needs.) What does 'One in Five' refer to? The number of people in the world who speak English to some degree. (The answer is revealed to students at the end of the performance.)

Contact Teflonstage for more information.

Click here for some poems about language and behaviour in the UK.

Key Topics covered in performance
Leaving and arriving - expectations and reality
Dealing with culture shock - the challenge of the new.
Be prepared to encounter colloquial English and slang not always covered in English language textbooks.
British food, humour, behaviour and regional accents.
Educational culture in the UK.
Making the most of your stay in the UK.

Possible workshops for language schools
Selected and organised in advance after consultation with your staff.
Workshops are conducted in groups by four actors.
Workshops and activities can be filmed, edited and supplied to your school.

General
Take part in theatre activities used by professional actors.
Discover your students' talents.
Practise group dancing.
Learn and perform songs.

Related to items in the play (Prior consultation with staff definitely required!)
TV chef - prepare a British dish.
Identify and practise different accents.
Present an English language class in dance form!
Creating tableaux vivants (living pictures).
Rehearse with students who wish to take part in the performance alongside professional actors.

List of 'One in Five' topics and workshops in Word format.

A review of One in Five

Authentic and boisterous!

The festival organisers very much appreciate what Kestrel Books and the Teflonstage theatre company did for us and we were all very impressed by their enormously entertaining "One in Five" performance.

The show offered a dynamic blast of poetry in performance, combining poetry, music, prose, wordplay and humour based on the theme of being an international student dealing with the wonderful variety of Englishes, identities, rivalries, customs, tribal behaviours, etc, in the world today.

Authenticity was the watchword and so many of the characters and vignettes that appeared struck a chord with the audience.

At one stage, the actors jeered, chanted and yelled at each other in the guise of football supporters and the atmosphere created was scarily authentic!

By turns boisterous, rhythmic, melodic and inspiring, the show gripped everyone through to its tumultuous climax.

... a superlative performance that had members of the audience all but falling off their chairs with laughter.

All in all, it was a highly entertaining show and one that the festival organisers cannot recommend highly enough. It is telling that the ELT practitioners present, including the Principal of ETC International College and several of his staff members (plus a handful of international students), also remarked that the material would lend itself perfectly to pedagogical use.

The format they used is apparently very flexible, and Tony Childs-Cutler of Teflonstage told us afterwards that the group can vary it according to the English language levels in the audience.

They are already discussing versions for ESOL students, for example, and one for a largely British audience. They also have available some pre- and post-performance materials if teachers would like to exploit these in the classroom.

Jamie, the Director, evidently has a genuine interest in theatre for educational purposes and the festival organisers are convinced that he and the company are bound for great things! The producers have managed to put together a great team and it will be exciting to witness how the show develops in future performances.

Thank you and well done to the whole team!

David Jones, Co-Director, Bournemouth Literary Festival.
www.bournemouthliteraryfestival.co.uk