Chris Neilands and Ross Jonas

Play it by Ear Drama  

playitbyeardrama.com

Subject or Primary School Year: Drama

Place of Birth: Both born in Dublin (not that you can tell from our accents)

Where you studied: Both studied at Queen's University Belfast. Chris studied History and Ross studied Drama.

What was your first job?  Chris: Sales assistant at Millets. Ross: Worked on a golf course

What did your first job teach you? Chris: That I was better at talking to people than selling them things. Ross: That I liked playing golf and the importance of taking responsibility.  

Family/Status: Chris is married to Steph and has two kids. Ross is married Sarah and also has two kids

Best advice you would give to someone thinking of a teaching career:  Enjoy what you do. The more you enjoy what you do, the more likely that the pupils will want to get involved. We go into schools excited to perform and teach drama and usually that gets the pupils on our side.

Play it by Ear Drama is made up of Chris and Ross. Over the last ten years they have worked with schools, churches and community organisations across the island of Ireland. They're passionate about using drama and storytelling to help young people to express themselves and build their confidence.

Chris and Ross really enjoy getting to work in schools doing a variety of different projects. This includes everything from shared education workshops that use drama to help children from different schools and backgrounds to have fun working together and getting to know one another; to shows such as “Patrick’s Story” which tells the story of St Patrick to help children to think about integrity and emotional resilience; to partnering with the 4 Corners Festival as they work with schools from across Belfast to create shows which deal with current social issues. Central to all they do is fun and humour!

One of the real privileges of their jobs is getting to see pupils finding their love of drama and storytelling. They’re very lucky to get to do a job in which they see children’s confidence grow and creativity expand.