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COURSE A OUTLINE
This action-packed week will involve creative play, group work, scene-work, improvisation, text-based performance work, directing, voice-work, practical methods of relaxation and class discussions about acting, technique and our own responses to work shared throughout the week. Each day will involve creative drama games and group activities to promote a strong, supportive working atmosphere from which creativity will naturally and comfortably arise. Improvisation and scene work will form a large part of each day with students working in smaller groups and pairs.
Specific texts chosen for the course will also be shared in advance of attending, so that students can immerse themselves in the presentation, direction and critical reflection of each piece during the week of performance work and artistic study. The focus of this course will be to provide an excellent toolkit for performance in a creative, safe and enjoyable environment.

COURSE D OUTLINE

‘Acting is about sharing, learning to play together.’ (Dymphna Callery)
The course will have participants on their feet from the start, exploring such elements as rhythm in movement and speech, ensemble work, improvisation, physicalising dialogue and collaborating with fellow actors in finding stage actions. It makes theatre games the cornerstone of the exploration of text and selects the most helpful, accessible and fun games for unlocking the actor and finding the inner actions of plays.

The course selects one-act plays as the raw material with which to engage techniques from physical theatre that especially serve the exploration of the text. It addresses such tasks along the way as breaking down a play into units of action and events, achieving spontaneity within the given circumstances of the play, and developing character studies grounded in actions. It also offers directors and actors techniques for evaluating their own work.

The course gives practical insights into the linked processes of directing and acting in plays and enables participants to bring their personal strengths and experiences to bear on the tasks involved. The techniques translate to each participant’s particular circumstances and assist all participants to gain confidence in directing and/or performing sustained dramatic actions, albeit in the one-act form.

COURSE F OUTLINE

In the course of our six days together, I hope we can dig deep into a couple of plays that have proven themselves in production and dig even deeper into our own understanding of how plays work, what makes a piece dramatically effective and how to find your own voice and the how and why of using it.

I’ll send out a short reading list a few weeks before July 23rd. It’s not a list that requires pre-reading unless you wish to do so. I’ll design it so that you can read it as we go. I think it’s good to start at the beginning with a quick overview of Aristotle and Greek tragedy. There are some great contemporary readings and responses to Aristotle’s Poetics and our reading for the class will begin with one of those. Otherwise, this is about having an in-depth conversation together about plays and what they mean. It requires everyone to read closely, reflect and pitch into the joint debate.

With that as background and impetus, the aim is that you can take that conversation, those ideas, critiques, debates and commentaries back to your desk and write ideas and scenes that will ideally be heading towards a play – one-act or full length. I will give you some specific prompts during the week for you to respond to. I’ll assign parts of the week to writing in a way that is not too pressured, hopefully, and allows you time to read, think, debate and write. A tall order for six days but it’s an invigorating challenge. A mini- journey and mini speed run through theatre history while we’re at it.