An unintimidating introduction to acting like a professional
Overview
Whether you're looking to tread the boards, improve your public speaking or just build confidence, this practical weekend workshop is the perfect primer in acting. Led by award-winning director Matthew Lloyd, who devised short-format training for the renowned Actors Centre, it's a fun and exciting way to pick up the basics.
You'll learn the skills necessary to interpret text and build character, as well as getting hands-on experience with diverse works from past masters such as Chekhov to challenging modern voices including Jez Butterworth. Working in an intimate, supportive environment, you'll receive in-depth personal feedback to help build your confidence and hone your individual skills, leaving you ready to make all the world your stage.
Course content
Day One
- Introduction, Physical Warm-up and Group Interaction – a series of exercises and games that set up a positive group dynamic and get minds and bodies into an energised and intuitive space
- Improvisation and Spontaneity – a brief exploration of what it means to accept and build
- Character and Text – working together on a piece of text we look at the questions an actor needs to ask to build a character and study a text for meaning and insight
- Scene Study – a session introducing eight contrasting dialogues, ranging from Shakespeare to Caryl Churchill
- Scene Study Sessions – eight pairs of actors working under the directorial microscope developing their powers of performance. A pair of practitioners will run sessions concurrently in two different spaces to maximise the amount of time participants spend working on the rehearsal floor. Issues tackled will include pace and projection; actions and motivation; subtext; understanding "style" and naturalism; a simple approach to verse; comedy and truth
- Showings and Feedback – presentation of developed work with review of individual progress and skills enhanced
Day Two
Tutor profile
Matthew Lloyd is an award-winning freelance director whose recent productions include Duet For One with Juliet Stevenson and Henry Goodman at the Almeida and in the West End. He was formerly the Artistic Director of the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester and also of the Actors Centre, where he devised the most dynamic programme of short format actor training in the country. He was the Artistic Director of the Skillset Film Lab and of the BBC Talent Boost programme, providing boot camp training for new acting talent. Other notable theatre credits include Waiting For Godot with Richard Wilson and the multi-award-winning The Fastest Clock In The Universe by Philip Ridley.
Ria Parry is Joint Artistic Director of Iron Shoes, an Associate Company of the Bush Theatre.
Directing work includes: The Winter's Tale Re-imagined (Regents Park Open Air Theatre); Tales of Winter (Southbank Centre); Dr Korczak's Example (Unicorn); Mad About the Boy (Scotsman Fringe First Award Winner / National Tour); Fen (Finborough); Crush (Scotsman Fringe First Award Winner / National Tour); Our Hearts in the Balance (British Museum).
Ria became the Resident Director at the National Theatre Studio in 2010 and was awarded the Leverhulme Bursary for Emerging Directors.
To book
Details
Dates: Saturday 21 and Sunday 22 September 2013
Times: 10am-5pm
Venue: The Guardian, 90 York Way, King's Cross, London N1 9GU
Price:£349 Early bird (limited), £399 Standard ticket (includes VAT, booking fees, lunch and refreshments)
Event capacity: 16
Dress: Please wear loose clothing you can move around in easily.
To contact us, click here. Terms and conditions can be found here.
Returns policy
Tickets may be refunded if you contact us at least 28 days before the course start date. After this time, up to 7 days before the course start date we may accept tickets and attempt to resell them on your behalf if the event is sold out. If the ticket is resold you will receive a refund of the ticket price, minus an administration fee equal to 10% of the ticket price. We cannot offer any refunds or attempt to resell your ticket less than 7 days before the course start date. Tickets may be transferred to another name, however they are not transferable to other courses or dates. Please see our terms and conditions for more information on our refund policy.