July - September 2014 Programme
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Contents
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Professional Development Programme (Quarterly)
Weekly/Fortnightly/Monthly Workshops
Industry Programme (Quarterly)
Weekly/Fortnightly Industry Workshops
Bespoke Coaching
Other In-House Opportunities
Supported Companies
Courses for Non-Members (Open Access)
page 3-38
page 39-44
page 45-58
page 59-60
page 60
page 61
page 62
page 63-64
The following symbols will help guide you through the programme and select the opportunities
available for your membership type and professional development needs.
= STANDARD MEMBERS
= PREMIUM MEMBERS
= ASSOCIATE MEMBERS
Keywords = WORKSHOP SUMMARY WORDS
The Keywords section serves as a summary to best describe the workshop, but is not finite to the workshop
content. Full descriptions and workshop leader biographies are also listed.
Industry Partners
Each season the Actors Centre will work with a partner to bring you current and relevant links to
practitioners in the industry. This season we are pleased to announce we are working in association
with The Mono Box.
The Mono Box is a collaborative, not-for-profit project with a big impact. Run by
actor Joan Iyiola and movement director Polly Bennett, The Mono Box responds to
what actors need and want by providing affordable access to a unique collection of
750 plays all donated by industry professionals, and by running a diverse programme
of workshops to compliment problems and questions that arise from auditioning,
working and keeping active between jobs. The Mono Box has curated a series of workshops with
their most trusted and inspiring practitioners to offer Actors Centre members insight into their open,
encouraging and collaborative ethos. To learn more about us check out: www.themonobox.co.uk.
We are also pleased to include another selection of workshops by BAPAM practitioners.
BAPAM: The British Association for Performing Arts Medicine is a charity that provides
specialist health support and education for all professional and student performing
artists across the UK.
2
July - September 2014 Programme
Professional Development Programme
This selection of high calibre and affordable workshops offers an unrivalled programme for the continual
professional development of emerging and established actors. Practice-based workshops range from
Shakespeare, voice and movement through to sightreading, screen acting and improvisation, as well as
many other exciting opportunities to develop new skills and work with the industry’s leading practitioners,
directors and performers.
The Meisner Technique – An Introduction
Kate Maravan
Dates and times TBC
Course: A1
Keywords: MEISNER | METHODOLOGY | TRUTH | INSTINCT | RESPONSIVENESS | AUTHENTICITY
Meisner defined acting as “living truthfully under an imaginary set of circumstances”. This intensive two day
workshop will explore the exercises central to Meisner Technique; ideal for those looking for a way to be less
in their heads, more confident, more resonant, more truthful and more spontaneous. The key exercise – The
Repetition Exercise – teaches participants to take the attention off themselves and put it on to their partners'
behaviour, allowing it to affect them and cause a spontaneous and authentic response. It encourages a
moment to moment capacity to listen/observe and respond with an emphasis on staying firmly rooted in the
present. "Kate Maravan is a first rate teacher; encouraging, specific and methodical in her approach. When I
studied with her I felt that within a short space of time, I had a clear grasp of all the basic principles of Sanford
Meisner's process." Dominic Cooke.
→ Kate is an actress/writer and teacher. She trained at RADA and has co-written scripts for theatre, the BBC
and Channel 4. In 1997 Kate discovered the Meisner Technique and embarked on an on-going practice and
exploration of the work. She began teaching in 2000 and now teaches in the UK and internationally. She
teaches weekly at the Actors Centre and weekly classes in Exmouth Market and Brixton. Kate is also interested
in collaborations with other practitioners; she teaches Meisner/5 Rhythms workshops with Cathy Ryan.
PARTICIPANTS: £60
3
July - September 2014 Programme
The Poetry Group Workshop and Audition Day
Catherine Harvey, Peter Kenny, Jonathan Cullen
July 2
10.00-17.30
Course: A2
Keywords: PERFORMING POEMS | IMAGINATION | LANGUAGE | VERSE | AUDITION DAY
Performing poetry is the perfect way to develop your craft as an actor, improving your sight reading skills, your
connection with verse texts, finding your own unique voice within the poem by engaging with language in its
most brilliant and varied forms and extending the range of your voice as well as your imagination. There is a
growing appetite for live verse and poetry in performance and the Actors Centre is delighted to launch an
exciting new initiative to bring the wonderful diversity of our poetic heritage to life. The Poetry Group will be a
company of actors, meeting on a regular basis to develop their skills in live reading and forming a professional
ensemble that will tailor selections of work for special events, fundraisers and one-off gigs. The sessions will be
facilitated by Catherine Harvey, Peter Kenny and Jonathan Cullen and you will be required to bring two copies
of the following: a sonnet; a poem by Emily Dickinson; a further two poems of your own choice. After the
workshops a group of 20 actors will be invited to join The Poetry Group. See page 61.
→ Catherine is a regular reader on Radio 4’s Poetry Please, as well other arts programmes, including Words
and Music, With Great Pleasure, The Verb and Night Waves. She was on the board of Speak-a-Poem, a poetry
speaking organisation running workshops throughout the country, culminating each year in the Lockwood
West Award at Central. After receiving the Poetry Society’s Gold Medal, she has taught at drama schools
including Central, Mountview and the Royal Academy of Music. As an actor, Catherine has worked at theatres
including the Bush, NT, Soho, the Orange Tree and Theatr Clwyd; in film and TV; for BBC Radio Drama and as a
voiceover artist recording numerous audiobooks, adverts and continuity for several TV channels. Catherine is
also an award-winning writer and works as a director of stand-up and sketch comedy.
→ Peter is an actor with over 25 years experience working in theatre, audio and radio. Whilst with the BBC
Radio Drama Company he made many poetry recordings for programmes such as Kaleidoscope and Woman’s
Hour along with a series of programmes on war poetry and poetry between the wars. He has an abiding love
for the spoken word in all its forms and in recent years has been shortlisted for Best Audiobook of the Year and
received an Earphones Award for his recordings of the works of Iain Banks (with and without the M).
→ Jonathan studied at New College, Oxford and Guildhall School of Music and Drama. He is an actor, director
and teacher. His theatrical career includes leading roles with the RSC, NT, Royal Court, Old Vic, Globe,
Chichester Festival Theatre and numerous shows in the West End, including playing Daniel Radcliffe’s father
in Equus. Last year, he appeared in Table, at The Shed (NT), directed by Rufus Norris, and then in Address
Unknown at the Soho Theatre. He also has extensive TV, film and radio credits. His directing credits include
work at RADA, Guildhall, Rose Bruford, BADA, Globe (education dept) and at Chichester Festival Theatre.
PARTICIPANTS: £10
The Body Never Lies: Creative Movement for Actors
Polly Bennett
July 3
10.30-13.30
Course: PH1
Keywords: CHARACTER | PHYSICALITY | CREATIVITY | AWARENESS
This essential physical workshop will focus on the notion of meaning and movement and how the body can say
so much about the human character in a matter of seconds. Using techniques she uses in theatrical rehearsal
rooms, Movement Director Polly Bennett will explore habitual movement and investigate how an awareness
of physicality when using text can open the door to more creative opportunities. Please have a monologue of
your choice learnt and wear clothes you can move easily in.
→ Polly is a movement practitioner, director and teacher working in the broadest applications of movement.
She holds an MA in Movement from Central School of Speech and Drama and was Resident Company
Movement Practitioner at the RSC 2013. She was Assistant Movement Director on the London 2012 Opening
Ceremony and Mass Cast Choreographer on Sochi Winter Olympics Ceremonies 2014. She has worked at the
NT, National Theatre Scotland, Bush, Young Vic and for the BBC.
PARTICIPANTS: £18
4
July - September 2014 Programme
You Already Know How to Act on TV
Sarah Punshon
July 3
10.30-17.30
Course: TV2
Keywords: SCREEN ACTING | SKILLS DEVELOPMENT | SCENE WORK | FEEDBACK | ADVICE
For actors with mainly stage experience, this workshop will give you the chance to gain confidence whilst
working with an experienced theatre and TV director, to transfer the skills you already have to acting for the
camera. We'll work on short scenes with close direction, with the opportunity to discuss particular problems
and air concerns. At the end of the session we'll review and assess the scenes we've recorded.
→ Sarah is a theatre and TV director. Since training in 2006 on the BBC Drama Directors Academy she has
directed Shameless, Emmerdale, EastEnders and Doctors. Theatre credits include directing productions for
Salisbury Playhouse, West Yorkshire Playhouse, New Vic Theatre, Oldham Coliseum, Theatre by the Lake,
Manchester Library Theatre and Creation Theatre Company. Her short film, This Way Up – a UK Film
Council/Screen Yorkshire production – premiered at Palm Springs International Short Film Festival in 2009.
PARTICIPANTS: £55
Energy Into Action – How to Own a Shakespeare Speech
Sue Dunderdale
July 3
10.30-17.30
Course: SH1
Keywords: ACTING THE CLASSICS | CHARACTER | EMOTION | TRUTH | TEXT AND SCENE WORK
This intensive day explores how to approach Shakespeare as a modern writer whilst honouring the power of
the language. We will concentrate on discovering the journey in a speech or scene and then finding out how to
begin putting together the building blocks to make the speech your own. Please bring a Shakespeare speech
that you would like to work on. Scenes from Hamlet & Measure for Measure will be provided.
→ Sue is a freelance director and writer and until recently was the Head of the MA Directing Course at RADA.
Her last production was The Brothers Karamazov at the GBS studio, RADA. Previously she directed Beasts for
Head for Heights at Theatre 503. In the previous few years she has directed Wuthering Heights and the
premier of Mrs. Pat at York Theatre Royal; Bottle Universe at the Bush; Cold Hands at Theatre 503; Paradise
Bound and The Way Home both at the Liverpool Everyman. She has directed numerous short films,
including Last Laugh (also wrote) which has played 5 festivals including LA and Chicago; Angel ; Mine
and Exposed . She has directed numerous dramas for TV and has two films in development – Loving Monsters
and L8 . She has been Artistic Director of Pentabus Theatre Company, the Soho and Greenwich Theatre.
PARTICIPANTS: £30
Loading the Gun
Akbar Kurtha
July 4, 11
10.30-17.30
Course: TV3
Keywords: ACTING ON SCREEN | AUDITIONS | BUILDING CHARACTER | CONFIDENCE
This intensive course focuses on acting & auditioning for the screen. We will look at creating, building and
structuring a part from the ground up. Gaining confidence and belief in your work, you will be able to work
freely with simplicity. The 2nd part of the course will include a look at the dos & don’ts of self-tape auditions.
→ Akbar graduated from Rose Bruford in 1992. He has worked internationally from London to LA. His most
notable film and TV credits are My Son the Fanatic, Judge Dredd, Syriana, Maniac, 24, House of Saddam and
The Disappearance of Lenka Wood. In 2008, he started to produce his own work in collaboration with Soho
Theatre supporting first time writers from diverse backgrounds. The plays Baghdad Wedding, This Isn’t
Romance and Haram Iran were critically acclaimed. In 2012, he produced The Taming of the Shrew and Before
the Night is Through with Suzy Catliff. Akbar has also worked at NFTS & London Film School, giving directors an
insight into the actor’s craft. Recently he has worked at the London Met Film School & Mountview.
PARTICIPANTS: £75
5
July - September 2014 Programme
The Pleasure to Make Believe
Amy Gwilliam
July 5
10.30-17.30
Course: A3
Keywords: PLAY | IMPROVISATION | GAMES | EXPLORE | ENERGY
Suspecting there may be a lingering tradition in British theatre in training actors to take themselves too
seriously, severing and censoring themselves from their own pleasure, this workshop invites performers to
dishevel, revel and reveal themselves through the anarchic and deeply beautiful world of Play. If we get back
to basics seeking what drives any performer – be they tragic, comic, clown, soap, politic – we find a common
ground, an inner child with a deep pleasure to convince, pretend, or even lie, charged with the secret
knowledge that it’s Make Believe. Throughout the day, we will work on reversing the censorship and
sharpening our pleasure through robust physical exercises, fantastic games and improvisation. We will work
both as ensemble and solo, across genres, expanding the limits of our own playfulness, and re/un/dis-covering
our unrivalled pleasure in performance.
→ Amy Gwilliam is an international performer and director and co-founder of Spain-based Teatro Entre
Escombros. Following two years at the École Philippe Gaulier, she has worked, toured and trained with artists
and companies from all over the world (Song of the Goat, Poland; SITI Company, New York; Spymonkey, UK;
École Jacques Lecoq, France) garnering critical acclaim and significant awards. Recent creations include The
Mole and the Worm; an underground tale, FUGA, (as performer), Jean Cocteau’s The Human Voice and Wild
Women Do (as director), all with significant tours. She also works in film and TV and is currently working on her
first solo, The Escape Goat, and building ensemble company Ruinelust Theatre.
PARTICIPANTS: £30
Simplicity
Bathsheba Garnett
July 7, 8, 9, 10, 11
10.30-17.30
Course: A30
Keywords: SELF EXPLORATION | METHODOLOGY | RESPONSIVENESS | TRUTHFUL PERFORMANCE
Simplicity will give you a range of tools and techniques that will help you as an actor and job seeker. You will
find that these techniques work just as well for auditions as they do for film, theatre and TV performances.
This workshop will not only help you get work but also help you glide into the role and situation by maximising
your personal involvement. Your ability to relate fully to your partners and include them into the meaningful
reality of the scene will be astonishingly rewarding. A by-product of this process is that line-learning is
naturally acquired as well as sightreading. If you have taken Simplicity before, we will take the work on further.
Bathsheba will provide a selection of scenes on the first day and you will have the opportunity to select one
with your scene partner to work on for the duration of the week. If you have a scene that you are particularly
interested in, please bring it to the workshop for consideration. Scenes should be no longer than 6 pages.
→ Bathsheba is a working actress and her screen credits include X-Files and Mean Girls as well as Blindness
directed by Fernando Meirelles and Adoration directed by Atom Egoyan. She has worked with many artists in
New York including Tyrone Guthrie on Broadway and trained with Lee Strasberg, Uta Hagen and Herbert
Berghof. Bathsheba also has an international directing CV of over 80 theatre productions worldwide.
PARTICIPANTS: £150 / OBSERVERS: £75
6
July - September 2014 Programme
Action on Camera
Martin Gooch
July 8
10.30-17.30
Course: TV4
Keywords: SCREEN ACTING | TV DRAMA | PRACTICAL | PREPARATION | FEEDBACK
This workshop offers a taste of what it's really like to be on a TV and feature drama set and what’s required of
you. Scripts will be provided in advance and filmed on the day. You’ll get a real insight into how fast it all
happens and how important it is for you to do your job which – in the eyes of a TV director – is: turn up on
time and know your words. Anything else is a bonus! We’ll review our filmed scenes at the end of the day and
compare with the actual televised ones.
→ Martin is a BBC trained director. He directed the BAFTA award-winning and EMMY nominated Spooks
Interactive (BBC/Kudos) and was a two time BBC New Director of the Year winner. He has directed Doctors and
Hollyoaks for TV as well as more than 20 short films, pop promos, commercials and virals. His debut feature
film as a Director, Death, featuring Leslie Phillips and Paul Freeman, is in the shops now and won Best Director
and The Audience Award at the Bram Stoker Film Festival, received nominations for Best of the Fest at
Raindance and Best Movie and Best Director at the 2012 Hollywood Feel Good Film Festival. His second
feature film, The Search for Simon won Best Movie at the Boston Sci-Fi Film Festival and at the Monte Carlo
film festival. He is currently in pre-production of his third feature film, a British sci-fi comedy, Alice on Mars.
Martin has worked in Hollywood as a screenwriter and spent many years in the camera department on movies
such as Judge Dredd, Harry Potter and The Muppets!
PARTICIPANTS: £55
Can I have a Volunteer Please?
Daniel Hoffmann-Gill
July 9 OR August 21
10.30-13.30
Course: A5
Keywords: POSITIVITY | IMPRO GAMES | CREATIVITY | SELF-BELIEF | POTENTIAL
If this sentence fills you with dread, or a desire to sit back and wait to see what happens first, then this
workshop is for you. A large majority of actors never reach their full potential as performers because they have
not only forgotten how to play and be playful but more fundamentally, they have little faith or belief in what
they say and do; always second guessing themselves and judging their creative output far too harshly.
Crippling fears of failure lead to anxiety and anxiety destroys creativity. Using positive thinking and NLP
techniques, mixed with classic acting, improvisation exercises and a few new things thrown in for fun, Daniel
will teach you practical methods to not only unlock your latent imagination and creativity but get you feeling
more positively about yourself, both as a performer and a human being. WARNING: this session will contain
lots of failure and a full ban on trying your best.
→ Daniel trained at the Central School of Speech & Drama and for the past 17 years has worked extensively as
an actor in theatre, TV and film. His most recent work is sketch comedy troupe This Glorious Monster, who are
signed with both United Agents and Hat Trick Productions and have a BBC pilot lined up for the winter of 2014.
Daniel has also taught at his alma mater, East 15 and the National Theatre.
PARTICIPANTS: £18
7
July - September 2014 Programme
Voice in Challenging Venues
William Trotter
July 9, 10
14.00-17.00
Course: VC1
Keywords: PROJECTION | DIFFICULT VENUES | VOCAL TECHNIQUES | VOCAL HEALTH | FLEXIBILITY
Site-specific, community, stand-up – increasingly performers are working venues that are neither theatres nor
studios, but which make challenging and unpredictable demands on the voice: over-heated, dry atmospheres,
sometimes restless audiences, open air, high stress levels. Not everyone has the basic voice skills that could
reduce the risk of a strained throat, but the more flexible your voice is, the more you can turn your lines to get
the reaction you want, whatever the environment. The first session will introduce you to some simple
exercises that you can use to lubricate your voice so that it doesn't tire and also make your voice more flexible,
varied and focused. In the second session we will apply what you’ve learnt to any text you want to bring in,
focussing on how vocal delivery can help you use the lines with more impact. This course is suitable for all
actors, solo performers and stand-up comedians and there will be a good deal of individual work.
→ William has provided voice input for shows at the Arcola, BAC, The Place, the Finborough, the Royal Court,
Menier Chocolate Factory, Lyric Studio and Riverside Studios. He has worked with actors of many levels of
experience, including established names and people at early stages in their careers. Actors he has coached
one-to-one have worked at the National, Royal Court and West End and leads at Regent’s Park and Apollo
Victoria. He has led workshops for Escape Artists, Graeae, Mind the Gap, the Magic Circle, RSAMD and for
Tamasha Theatre's actor-director laboratory. Drama schools he has taught at include ArtsEd, Central, Drama
Centre, East 15 and LAMDA. He trained at Central and Bristol and Exeter Universities and is on the training
working party of the British Voice Association.
PARTICIPANTS: £36
Want to Try Stand-Up Comedy?
Bentley Browning
July 11
10.30-17.30
Course: A6
Keywords: STAND-UP | TECHNIQUES | CREATING MATERIAL | DEVELOPING COMEDY PERSONA
This workshop aims to give you a solid introduction to performing stand-up comedy. Designed for the total
beginner to this field, we will look at fear reducing techniques, comedy basics and the best ways to develop
your comedy persona and voice. We will use fun and creative impro exercises to help you become a better
performer and assist you in creating material. You will be given joke creation techniques and have the chance
to make your own jokes. The workshop culminates in you doing your first 5-minute performance – something
to use at open mic nights in the future!
→ Bentley runs the Comedy Novices courses/workshops and is a stand-up comic and comic actor. Recent
credits include Health Freaks (Channel 4), This Morning, Odd One In, Loaded TV, Sex - The Sitcom (all for ITV),
Double Take (BBC2), Freakishly Normal (BBC3) and Louie Spence’s Showbusiness (Sky1). As a stand-up he has
appeared on the same bill as Jason Manford, Andi Osho and Richard Blackwood. Visit
www.comedynovices.com for further information.
PARTICIPANTS: £30
8
July - September 2014 Programme
Discovering The Play
Hamish MacDougall
July 13
10.30-17.30
Course: A7
Keywords: APPROACHES TO TEXT | FREEDOM | EXPLORE | CHARACTER
Actors are often faced with a piece of writing that on the surface tells us very little – ambiguous time, setting
and situation. Director Hamish MacDougall will tackle one of these plays with a group of actors and explore
different practical ways of approaching a text to unearth the characters and free the actors’ mind to play with
the text and not get stuck in an academic conversation. We will look at the rhythms of the writing and the
clues in the text and discover a way of going from the words on the page to a fully realised world.
→ Hamish is an Associate Director of The Kings Head Theatre and an Associate Artist of NYT. As a Director
Hamish has significant experience in new writing and has directed for a range of companies and theatres
including Old Vic New Voices, Arcola, Soho plus others. Highlights include directing the world premiere of a
previously undiscovered Tennessee Williams play and working with Edward Bond on a revival of The Under
Room. As an AD Hamish has worked for companies such as Complicite, The Old Vic & Trafalgar Studios.
PARTICIPANTS: £30
Lycra Not Included
Polly Bennett
July 14
10.30-12.00
Course: PH2
Keywords: DANCE | WARM UP | CONFIDENCE | RHYTHM | MOVEMENT | ALL LEVELS
Do you struggle to walk into a dance class because it’s full of dancers? Find it hard to pick up dances at
auditions or in rehearsal? Just want to get moving, learn a routine and loosen up? Having worked with a
number of wary actors, Polly has designed a workshop to take the fear out of dancing. After an intensive warm
up, concepts such as rhythm, movement quality, dynamics and shapes will be addressed and explored to
provide a greater understanding of their importance and how they may affect movement and the
interpretation of a dance routine. This workshop is suitable for all levels of dance ability.
→ Polly Bennett is a movement practitioner, director and teacher working in the broadest applications of
movement. She holds an MA in Movement from Central School of Speech and Drama and was Resident
Company Movement Practitioner at the RSC 2013. She was Assistant Movement Director on the London 2012
Opening Ceremony and Mass Cast Choreographer on Sochi Winter Olympics Ceremonies 2014. She has
worked at the NT, National Theatre Scotland, Bush, Young Vic and for the BBC.
PARTICIPANTS: £10
Simplicity
Bathsheba Garnett
July 14, 15, 16, 17, 18
10.30-17.30
Course: A30
Keywords: SELF EXPLORATION | METHODOLOGY | RESPONSIVENESS | TRUTHFUL PERFORMANCE
Simplicity will give you a range of tools and techniques that will help you as an actor and job seeker. This
workshop will not only help you get work but also help you glide into the role and situation by maximising your
personal involvement. Your ability to relate fully to your partners and include them into the meaningful reality
of the scene will be astonishingly rewarding. A by-product of this process is that line-learning is naturally
acquired as well as sightreading. Bathsheba will provide a selection of scenes on day 1 and you will have the
opportunity to select 1 with a scene partner to work on for the duration of the week. If you have a scene that
you are particularly interested in, please bring it to the workshop. Scenes should be no longer than 6 pages.
→ Bathsheba is an actress with screen credits including X-Files, Mean Girls, Blindness and Adoration. She has a
directing CV of 80+ theatre productions worldwide and has worked with many artists in NYC including Tyrone
Guthrie and trained with Lee Strasberg, Uta Hagen and Herbert Berghof.
PARTICIPANTS: £150 / OBSERVERS: £75
9
July - September 2014 Programme
Getting to Grips with Screen Acting
Anthony Topham
July 15
10.30-17.30
Course: TV5
Keywords: STAGE TO SCREEN | TV JARGON | TECHNIQUE | PRACTICAL | CONFIDENCE-BUILDING
This workshop is an ideal introduction or refresher course for those who may not have had the opportunity to
work on camera. We will deal with the technical aspects of acting for screen; hitting marks, eye-lines, what
questions to ask, then branching into non-verbal communication exercises to build camera confidence. The
afternoon session will be text-based; bringing the techniques learnt in the morning into practice and learning
how to give truthful performances within the technical confines of the medium. By the end of the day actors
will not only have the confidence to work and trust their instincts within the technical aspects of screen acting,
but also they will begin to enjoy the responsibility of the close-up. Throughout the session participants will be
able to watch themselves in playback in order to objectively analyse their screen performances.
→ Anthony is an actor with twenty years experience on stage and screen including West End shows and
feature films. He has been teaching acting and camera technique for almost 10 years at the Royal Welsh
College of Music and Drama, Italia Conti and the London Film Academy as well as maintaining a list of private
clients including established performers and acting newcomers. For full info visit www.anthonytopham.com.
PARTICIPANTS: £55
How to Play Comedy on Screen
Caroline Webster
July 18
10.30-17.30
Course: TV6
Keywords: SCREEN ACTING | COMEDY TECHNIQUE | STYLE | CHARACTER
This workshop introduces actors to the techniques required to play comedy drama and sitcom. Comedy on
screen requires playing the truth, with a heightened awareness and delivery that hits the rhythm and
absurdities provided by a comedy script. The key is to learn how to read & deconstruct the script and develop
a style of performance that delivers the laughs. If you would like to explore your comedy talent and tickle a
few funny bones, this is the workshop for you. Short scenes will be provided for rehearsal, filming and review.
→ Caroline began her career as an actress working extensively in theatre and TV and became a familiar face
when she appeared in four series of BBC1’s Casualty. She is currently a freelance director and photographer
and has written and directed a number of half hour films for Dramatic Media and Tara Television.
PARTICIPANTS: £55 / OBSERVERS £15
The World of the Monologue
Chris New
July 18 OR September 25
10.30-17.30
Course: A9
Keywords: CREATIVITY | IMAGINATION | SOLO WORK | AUDITION | PERFORMANCE
This workshop focuses on the creation of the monologue as a dramatic world in which an actor can lose
themself. We will deal with classic monologue challenges –creating drama and conflict on your own, building
an imagined world from only the words on the page and how to feel totally comfortable flying solo. The
workshop will be a process of presentation and observation, learning both as we watch and as we do. Please
bring a learnt monologue (approx. 2-3 mins) to present, classical or modern. This workshop is great for building
audition material and/or creating a richer inner world using techniques that will filter through all your work.
→ Chris trained as an actor at RADA. Graduating in 2006, he landed his first professional role starring in the
West End revival of Bent, (nominated as Best Newcomer - ES Theatre Awards). He then went on to lead
companies at the NT, RSC, Young Vic, Sadler’s Wells & Manchester Royal Exchange, returning to the West End
in 2009 to play Joe Orton in Prick Up Your Ears. He made his NYC theatre debut in 2011 in Lingua Franca & his
film debut in 2012 in Weekend, (Best Newcomer Nomination - BFI London Film Festival Awards).
PARTICIPANTS: £30
10
July - September 2014 Programme
Actions Speak Louder Than Words
Teresa Grimsditch
July 19
10.30-17.30
Course: A10
Keywords: ACTIONING | BUILDING CHARACTER | SCENE STUDY | EXERCISES
Have you ever wondered how to behave during those unscripted moments within a scene, or how to perform
an intense emotion for a close-up? This workshop offers a comprehensive introduction to Actions. Throughout
the day you will be guided through a series of stimulating and highly informative group and solo exercises. You
will discover: what Actions are; the differences between main & basic actions; how to pinpoint actions within a
piece of text; why a character's actions reveal more about them than their words; how actions define the true
relationships between characters; creative ways to use actions when developing character; how to use actions
actively within a scene; & how to build a catalogue of actions to draw upon as and when needed.
→ Teresa is a trained actress, theatre director and a qualified acting coach. She has designed and delivered
courses for RADA, Warner Brothers, NFTS, Drama Centre, Bristol Old Vic, Central, ALRA, East 15, LFS and the
Actors Centre. Teresa specialises in imagination training, but in her approach to acting she also draws from
previous teachers who include Karen Wentworth, Sam Kogan and Graham Dixon among others.
PARTICIPANTS: £30
The Meisner Technique
Scott Williams
July 21, 22, 23, 24, 25
10.30-17.30
Course: A11
Keywords: SANFORD MEISNER | METHODOLOGY | TRUTH | INSTINCT | RESPONSIVENESS
An introduction to the famous Meisner Technique as taught at the Neighbourhood Playhouse in New York,
whose alumni include Robert Duval, Sidney Pollack and David Mamet. This off-shoot of Stanislavski’s method,
created by Sanford Meisner, uses three basic exercises to get at the core definition of acting, “acting is living
truthfully under a given set of circumstances”.
→ Scott is founder of the Impulse Company, working with actors, writers and directors to create vibrant and
dynamic theatre. As a director his work has been seen all over the world.
PARTICIPANTS: £150 / OBSERVERS: £75
Fundamentals – The Actor on Camera
Suzy Catliff
July 24, 31, 18.30-21.30
July 27, 10.30-17.30
Course: TV7
Keywords: EMERGING | RETURNING ACTOR | SCREEN ACTING | SCENE WORK | CONFIDENCE
For those with little or no on-camera experience, this workshop will debunk some of the myths around screen
acting. Using scenes from films and TV dramas, you will build confidence and gain practical experience
discovering what works on camera. Using guided exercises looking at character and scene objectives, the inner
monologue, active listening and playing the space we will bring a greater degree of truth to your performance
and develop the ability for self-assessment helping to build confidence and improve your chances of success
when auditioning for TV or film. With plenty of opportunities to look at the playback before doing it again; you
will watch and learn from your mistakes. Scenes will be provided – some rapid line learning required.
→ Suzy works as a Casting Director and is a member of the CDG. TV credits include Primeval, The Inspector
Murdoch Mysteries, Casualty, Silent Witness and Hope and Glory III. Single dramas include D-Day, Empathy,
Lifeline and The Secret. She cast the feature film A Bunch of Amateurs and her associate work includes
Stormbreaker, The Gathering, Swimming Pool, Two Men Went to War and Fairy Tale – A True Story. She was
assistant casting director on Sense and Sensibility, The English Patient and Wilde. Suzy has worked extensively as
a lecturer in casting for various UK and US film schools and co-wrote The Casting Handbook. Suzy is also a theatre
director, and is a founding member of Lucky Stuff Productions. For more info visit www.suzycatliff.co.uk.
PARTICIPANTS £75
11
July - September 2014 Programme
How to Become a Comedy Sketch Writer and Performer
Karen Hayley
July 26, 27
10.30-17.30
Course: WR2
Keywords: COMEDY | WRITING | TV | CONFIDENCE | EXPLORE | CAREER | PRACTICAL | ADVICE
This fun, imaginative and highly informative course will introduce you to the process of becoming a comedy
sketch writer/performer. Through a series of games and exercises, you will learn how to create material from
improvisation and write for different formats, exploring the key differences between stand up, character
comedy and sketch comedy. We will explore the mechanics and components of what makes good sketch
comedy work, and you'll have the opportunity to explore and discover the best outlet for your comedy (live
performance, TV & radio sketch writing, monologue, narrative comedy, online series). We will also look at how
to apply these skills and take this work further, including practical advice on how to successfully pitch scripts to
networks and production companies, write spec scripts, continue writing and performing your own work, how
to build a career as a comedy writer/performer and the cross over between live and TV comedy. Skills
development will include: how to generate ideas; how to hone and edit your material; creating great comedy
characters; understanding comedy writing structure (i.e. set up/pay off, the 'reveal'); building confidence.
→ Karen Hayley is a comedy writer/performer and voice over artist with over 20 years experience in film, TV
and theatre. Best known for her TV sketch show performances including regular appearances in The Armstrong
and Miller Show, Dom Jolly's Fool Britannia, Lemon La Vida Loca, Bo Selecta, A Bear's Tail, The TNT Show,
Chikipedia and MTV's 1 LSQ with Russell Brand. She's written and developed TV and radio comedy projects for
Hat Trick Productions, Objective Productions, Talkback Thames and been featured on BBC3's The Verb, BBC
Radio1, BBC6 Music, New York's East Village Radio and BBC Comedy Online. She provides voices for cartoons
(Cartoon Network, CBeebies, MTV, Virgin Media) and has been featured on comedy podcasts (The Bugle). As a
live comedy writer/performer, she has performed in over 200 venues in the UK and abroad and has appeared
in several long-running theatre productions in the West End and at the National Theatre.
PARTICIPANTS: £60
The Play’s The Thing – Rehearsing with an American Accent
Terry Besson
July 28
10.30-17.30
Course: VC2
Keywords: ACCENT | DELIVERY | SPEECH | AMERICAN | TEXT | REHEARSING
Learn how to maintain an authentic general American accent from rehearsal into performance. We will look at
how the accent affects the style, rhythm, changes in flow, where the power lies, the subtle changes of speed
and tone, the energy of the piece, the energies of the characters and finding and using the correct muscularity
and breath strength for the accent. This is an exciting and interesting move on from the one-to-one sessions,
putting the work into practice over a sustained period, finding clues from the text and using the accent to
develop character. The workshop can accommodate any speeches or scenes that you are working on, or we
can work on a scene from any of the following: Twelve Angry Men (Rose), Speed The Plow, Glengarry Glen Ross
(Mamet), The Crucible, All My Sons, Death of A Salesman (Miller) and The Safe Sex Trilogy (Fierstein). Please
bring copies of any of the scripts listed and know your way around them, some copies will be available.
→ Terry is one of the country’s leading accent and dialect specialists. His vast experience gained over 30 years
working on film, TV, radio and theatre projects has given him a unique approach to the vocal and physical
changes needed when approaching acting in another accent. He has worked on such diverse projects as the
films Awaydays, Clubbed, Welcome to the Punch, Captain Phillips, Get Lucky, TUPAC, Hotel Taliban, the TV
series Poirot, Privates and Garrow’s Law. He is currently voice consultant at London Zoo!
PARTICIPANTS: £30
12
July - September 2014 Programme
Acting on Set
Jordan Beswick
July 28, 29, 30
10.30-17.30
Course: TV8
Keywords: SCREEN ACTING | CHARACTER | SCENE STUDY | WORKING ON SET | DIRECTION
An actor is a multi-tasker and the more balls you can juggle the better your chances of succeeding in this high
stakes arena. This course will take you step by step through the process of creation – from the initial reading
and breaking down of the script to the realisation of any given character’s emotional, psychological, spiritual,
physical, sexual and sociological world. You will not only be called upon to think for yourself, but also to take
and incorporate very specific direction on camera in an atmosphere that replicates being on set. Dealing with
the reality of your character as well as the technical demands of the professional workplace is an actor's creed
and this workshop will give you the tools to succeed.
→ Jordan began coaching actors 20 years ago at the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute in New York, focusing on
audition, acting for film & TV and script analysis. He has also taught at Andrea Magder's Film Workshop &
Laboratory in North Carolina, Studio VO/VF in Paris and the Institut für Schauspiel Film und Fernsehberufe in
Berlin. Jordan is a member of the Casting Society of America (CSA) and worked with renowned casting
directors including Douglas Aibel, Georgianne Walken and Sheila Jaffe on an array of award-winning films
including Dead Man Walking, Little Odessa, The Yards, Signs and Forty Shades of Blue before going solo and
casting several more award-winners including Getting To Know You and Urbania. Jordan has directed short
films and plays in LA, New York, Paris and Berlin. His own plays have been performed in many countries
including the UK, the USA and France. As an actor, Jordan trained with Michael Moriarty, Sandy Dennis, Shelley
Winters, Sally Kirkland and Martin Landau among many others.
PARTICIPANTS: £150
Scene Study – The Great American Writers
Laurence Mitchell
July 29, 31, August 5, 7
10.30-13.30
Course: A12
Keywords: TEXT WORK | EXPLORATION | IN THE MOMENT | TEXT ANALYSIS
This course offers a comprehensive and detailed insight into the fundamentals of working on a scene: who am
I, where am I, what do I want, how do I get it? The sessions will focus on the actor becoming as specific as
possible and exploring, organically and logically, moment to moment. Using material from a variety of
American writers including Tennessee Williams, Arthur Miller, Eugene O'Neill, Edward Albee, Lillian Hellman
and Lanford Wilson among others, the course will enable you to enrich and deepen your acting choices and
belief in the given circumstances. This course is suitable for both newcomers and those who have worked with
Laurence previously who wish to hone their craft. Scenes will be sent out for preparation in advance.
→ Laurence trained at Drama Centre and has been working as an actor for over 16 years. Theatre work
includes the National, Young Vic, Old Vic, Almeida, RSC, Soho, Lyric Hammersmith and Manchester Royal
Exchange among others. He has taught at Central, Drama Centre, ALRA, Central St Martins and is a visiting
tutor at the Copenhagen International School for the Performing Arts.
PARTICIPANTS: £72
13
July - September 2014 Programme
Confidence Tricks
Glen Walford
July 30
10.30-17.30
Course: A18
Keywords: COMMUNICATION | CONFIDENCE | SELF EXPLORATION | PERSONALITY
“The most important quality in acting is sincerity. If you can fake that you’re made.” The Hollywood producer
Sam Goldwyn’s famous remark signals our goals in today’s workshop. Strip away the phoney acting tricks and
replace with a toolkit filled with far more effective tricks which are mined from your own personal powers.
Conquer fear and embarrassment and enjoy a fun-filled, non-threatening day exploring direct communication
bolstered by bravado and self-belief. No preparation necessary as all material used will be excavated from you
yourselves. Just bring generous hearts and flexible souls assisted by large doses of chutzpah so you can big up
your charisma and communicate with clarity, truth and passion.
→ Glen is an international theatre director – founder of London Bubble, Hong Kong’s Chung-Ying and Artistic
Director of Liverpool Everyman and Ludlow Festival Shakespeare. Recent productions include Shirley Valentine
starring Meera Syal at Menier Chocolate Factory, transferring to Trafalgar Studios. She recently revived her
Korean production of this at Seoul Arts Centre (in Korean) and also revived her own modernised and
musicalised Two Gentlemen Of Verona, originally commissioned for Tokyo Globe. Her most recent credits
include The Merchant of Venice at Queens Theatre, Hornchurch, her own adaptation of George Orwell’s
Animal Farm at Tristan Bates Theatre and Ariel Dorfman’s Widows at BAC. She is currently preparing a film of A
Midsummer Night’s Dream Caribbean-style for Barbados and will direct a new production of Willy Russell's
Blood Brothers for Shownote Theatre in Seoul this summer. For more information visit www.glenwalford.com.
PARTICIPANTS: £30
Act for Screen
Jesse Quinones
July 30, August 6, 13, 20, 27
18.00-21.00
Course: TV9
Keywords: TECHNIQUE | PREPARATION | PRACTICAL | AUDITIONS | FEEDBACK | NEW SKILLS
This series of workshops is for theatre-based actors who wish to successfully transfer to TV or film. Theatre
training, while providing a wonderful foundation in the craft, does not always prepare actors for the challenges
of a fast-paced film or TV set. The extensive rehearsal periods typically associated with the stage are rare in
the world of film and yet, no matter how small the role, you are expected to arrive fully prepared. Based on his
experiences in both stage and screen, writer/director Jesse Quinones offers in-depth practical techniques and
strategies to ease the transition from one medium to another. During the course participants will explore
topics such as: the art of the self-taped audition; speaking without words; performance in close up/medium
shot/wide shot; rehearsal versus keeping it fresh; the power of improvisation; preparing yourself to work with
no direction; Method versus Stanislavski. The course is designed to enable participants to harness the
necessary skills to perform in front of the camera, to convert the techniques they have already acquired for
screen and to enter the world of film and television with confidence.
→ Jesse Quinones is a writer and screen director. In March 2013 he completed his debut feature film,
Calloused Hands, starring Andre Royo (The Wire) and Daisy Haggard (Episodes). It premiered at the Miami
International Film Festival and has gone on to screen at the Flickers Rhode Island International Film Festival
and the Film London LUFF Breakthrough Strand. It is currently on the festival circuit. Jesse has his first drama
serial currently under option with Shed Productions and his second feature film El Cubanito is in development
with producers Alexandra Stone (Kidulthood, Young Adam) and Carola Ash (Goodbye Bafana). In 2010 he was
commissioned by Current TV to make the investigative documentary Vigilante Britain and in 2009 he made
Surviving History, telling the story of seven Lithuanian Holocaust survivors. Jesse started in theatre as a
playwright and trained at the Royal Court Young Writers Programme, Soho Theatre Attachment Programme,
and BBC Writers Room. For further information visit www.jessequinones.com.
PARTICIPANTS: £150
14
July - September 2014 Programme
Acting on Camera
Gill Wilkinson
July 31
10.30-17.30
Course: TV10
Keywords: SCREEN PERFORMANCE | AUDITION | SCENE WORK | TV | JARGON BUSTING
This workshop will give actors a taste of audition processes and fast-shooting scenarios. You will learn about
shot sizes, eye lines and the speed at which you are expected to work. Actors will be sent scenes the night
before which will be used as a basis for a mock audition. This material will be reviewed and discussed. Actors
will rehearse scenes with their partner/s and be ready to walk on set to shoot straight away. The scene will be
blocked and filmed with a variety of shots and the rushes reviewed by the group, who will discuss all aspects of
the process including continuity, the speed of filming and what they felt was achievable in the allotted time.
This workshop provides a valuable insight into current TV auditioning, rehearsal and shooting practices.
→ Gill began her professional career as a director at The Bill after being head-hunted before she graduated
from film school. Since then her credits include Casualty, Peak Practice, Grange Hill, Hollyoaks and The Royal
Today. Experienced in a wide range of programme formats and styles including single- and multi-camera, Gill
was awarded the BAFTA/PO Scholarship to study Direction at the NFTS. Her graduation films Ellie and Horses
for Courses screened at numerous festivals, scooping awards in Tokyo and Chicago amongst others.
PARTICIPANTS: £55 / OBSERVERS: £15
Improvisation for Actors – In Work and Life
Paul Z Jackson
August 1
11.00-14.00
Course: A14
Keywords: PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT | CONFIDENCE | COMMUNICATION | CREATIVITY
Our lives are for the most part unscripted – we all make stuff up as we go along. As actors we are also familiar
with scripts. In this workshop we put a framework and vocabulary to both sets of skills, encouraging you to
access more of your resources. The focus is on how you can apply improvisation skills and principles for your
personal and professional development. You’ll experience activities that introduce you gently and safely to
tools and techniques that release your creativity, build your confidence and resilience and improve your
communication skills. Under the guidance of Improvisation Academy director Paul Z Jackson, get ready to
adapt on your feet in interviews, castings and auditions; in setting up new projects; and in negotiating with
colleagues, directors and agents.
→ Paul Z Jackson is an inspirational coach and director. His workshops in improvisation, accelerated learning
and the solutions focus approach are popular at conferences and with clients including London Business
School, P&G and the Tate galleries. As a journalist, a senior producer with BBC Radio and as the founder of the
More Fool Us improvisation comedy team (which trained Rob Brydon and Ruth Jones), he has prompted a lot
of laughter, on-stage and off, mostly intentionally. He is currently President of the Applied Improvisation
Network and a director of the Improvisation Academy. His books include Impro Learning, 58½ Ways to
Improvise in Training, and as co-author, The Solutions Focus and Positively Speaking. For more information
please visit www.improvisationacademy.co.uk.
PARTICIPANTS: £18
15
July - September 2014 Programme
From Speech Into Song
Nina Finburgh and Heather Weir
August 1
14.00-17.00
Course: MT2
Keywords: CONFIDENCE | SINGING | FEEDBACK | VOCAL TECHNIQUE | PERFORMANCE
A workshop aimed at the actor/singer looking at how to get that recall and land the job. Heather will work on
any vocal problems, offering guidance and tips on how to overcome them. Nina will work on the interpretation
of your chosen lyrics to ensure your acting is sincere, sensitive and involving. Bring one or two prepared songs
that will release your best potential. Can we believe what you are singing and do we want to listen? This
workshop is suitable for Musical Theatre performers and actors who might occasionally have to sing at
auditions.
→ Nina has coached many of our foremost musical theatre artists and has worked with Classical and
Contemporary Companies and coached Principals in Ballets and Musicals.
→ Heather is a freelance MD, actor and singer and a teacher of voice and sung voice in drama schools.
PARTICIPANTS: £30 / OBSERVERS: £10
Learning Lines with Confidence
Brigid Panet
August 2, 3
10.30-17.30
Course: A15
Keywords: TEXT WORK | CONFIDENCE | PERFORMANCE | DELIVERY
Brigid offers a unique, practical and successful technique for line-learning, useful for any text. The work is
centred on acting and sustaining a connection with your scene partner. In this way we can free ourselves from
tense and anxious rote-learning and enjoy sincere and creative acting while the words become a secure and
expressive part of the character we are playing. Over this two-day workshop we can see how learned lines
become doubly secure overnight and improve in clarity and expression with work on breathing and phrasing.
→ Brigid trained at Central and worked professionally, acting in theatre and TV for 14 years before starting to
teach and direct. Since then Brigid has taught and directed plays in the major English drama schools and
around the world. She worked with the NT’s Education Department, initiating and directing their first three
educational Shakespeare tours in England and Ireland. She is a teacher/director at RADA and NYU.
PARTICIPANTS: £60 / OBSERVERS: £30
Tools for Learning an Accent
Elspeth Morrison
August 4
10.30-17.30
Course: VC3
Keywords: ACCENTS | TECHNIQUES | TOOLKIT | PREPARATION
Learning a new accent for a role? Chances are you will be given very little time with an accent coach and will have
to struggle alone. This workshop will give you techniques for working by yourself on any accent, breaking down the
various components of accents so that you have a better chance of hitting the right notes all by yourself.
→ Elspeth Morrison is an ex-BBC producer who escaped the Corporation to explore her passion as an accent
coach. She has huge experience in coaching actors for television, theatre and film roles in accents spanning
from Trinidad to Cockney. Radio listeners will be familiar with her popping up as a regular pundit commenting
on the use of accents and she has also worked on the BAFTA award-winning series, Faking It. In this workshop
she welcomes all levels of accent confidence.
PARTICIPANTS: £30
16
July - September 2014 Programme
Tools to Improve and Protect Your Voice
Ian MacDonald
August 5
10.30-13.30
Course: VC4
Keywords: VOICE | BREATH | STRENGTH | CONTROL | VOCAL CARE
This workshop will address pertinent personal issues related to voice. Focussing on how the breath can be
controlled to help reduce anxiety, reduce vocal fold damage, increase brightness, volume and projection and
to give a sense of ease and confidence to your audience. Placing the voice and giving it time to resonate
without sounding laboured, slurred or slow are subtle yet tricky skills the vocal performer is always working to
improve. Bring a short piece of text to work with.
→ Ian studied music and psychology at Glasgow University and Vocal Pathology at University College London.
Between these two he also graduated from the Royal College of Music in voice, piano and composition. He has
been the lead vocal rehabilitation specialist for the British Association for Performing Arts Medicine (BAPAM)
since 2000 and is the course tutor for the world’s first MSc in Performing Arts Medicine at University College
London, a collaboration with The Royal College of Music and Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance.
PARTICIPANTS: £18
The 7 Levels of Tension
Ed Woodall
August 6
10.30-17.30
Course: A16
Keywords: PSYCHO-PHYSICAL | LECOQ | IMAGINATION | MOVEMENT
If you have ever wondered why what you end up doing as an actor is not as good as what you think you should
be doing, then you need this workshop. Actor and director, Ed Woodall will take you through the “daddy” of all
psycho-physical exercises which he was taught by Lecoq himself and has refined with Simon McBurney and
others over the years. The exercise charts a revelatory progression from the pre-theatrical states through the
all-important “Neutral” to the increasingly dramatic states or “registers of play”. This workshop is a great
work-out for your imagination and will get your acting out of your head and into your body. There is a lot of
movement so bring clothes you can move easily in.
→ Ed trained at Ecole Jacques Lecoq in Paris. He has worked as an actor at the National, RSC, ETT, Complicité,
Improbable and Kneehigh, with directors such as Katie Mitchell, Simon McBurney, Phelim McDermott, Greg
Thompson, Carl Heap, Tom Morris, Lucy Bailey and Emma Rice. Ed has just acted with the RSC again in Tanika
Gupta's The Empress and has several movie credits including Master and Commander, Emma and Enigma. He
is also an award-winning theatre director (Time Out Live Award for Een Hond Begraven). He has taught at the
NT Studio and at many drama schools including Central, East 15 and Rose Bruford. Ed has been developing his
teaching for the last 4 years at the Oxford School of Drama where he teaches Masks, Clowning and Buffoon.
He is also in the third year of his training as a Feldenkrais practitioner.
PARTICIPANTS: £30
17
July - September 2014 Programme
Shakespeare’s Island
Paul Brennen
August 8
10.30-17.30
Course: SH2
Keywords: ACTING THE CLASSICS | LANGUAGE | IMAGINATION | CONFIDENCE
Based on Declan Donnellan's book The Actor and his Target, this one-day workshop will release you from the
burden of character and build confidence with Shakespeare's language. Using techniques that will release the
imagination and intuition and mine the text with precision of thought, this innovative, informative and
hopefully, inspiring workshop is aimed at new professionals and experienced actors wishing to add an
alternative perspective on dealing with a classical text. Prepare two speeches by your favourite Shakespearian
character.
→ Paul Brennen is an actor, writer and director having worked on stage and in film for the last thirty years. He
has played leads at the National Theatre, the Globe and in the West End as well as extensive credits with
Declan Donnellan at Cheek by Jowl. Most recent credits include Twelfth Night and Three Sisters with Filter.
Screen work includes the films Aliens 3, I.D., Incognito and the upcoming Hector with Peter Mullan. He ran his
own award-winning theatre company with Martin Clunes and set up the first independent radio company. He
has performed and delivered Shakespearian workshops all over the world and has worked at RADA, Central,
Guildford and Italia Conti. For the last three years he has appeared as a regular character in Tom Fontana's
Borgia.
PARTICIPANTS: £30
Creating a Creature and an Introduction to Motion Capture Performance
Sarah Perry
August 9
10.30-13.30
Course: PH3
Keywords: MOTION CAPTURE | CREATURE PERFORMANCE | FILM | VIDEO GAMES | NEW SKILLS
Many films, as well as the TV and Games industries, require actors to create non-human, animalistic and other
worldly characters. This workshop will look at creature performance, with a particular emphasis on creating for
motion capture. We will look at how the analysis of creature behaviour can inspire physical choices and
performance techniques. You will have the space to play, create and explore using a range of games and
exercises. We will also discuss the basic principles of Motion Capture performance and the physical aspects we
need to consider when working within this field. Prior to the session please observe and research a chosen
animal’s movements and behavioural characteristics and maybe have a go at embodying their physical
qualities too, so as we can use this a starting point in the workshop.
→ Sarah is an actor, movement coach, director and tutor specialising in yoga, movement for actors and acting
for animation. She has coached many actors for film, TV and live performance and is a visiting lecturer and
workshop leader at numerous UK Universities and educational institutions, including Norwich University of the
Arts, University of West London, University of Kent, Ravensbourne and the Met Film School. She spent three
months researching and coaching movement on the feature film Jupiter Ascending directed by the
Wachowskis and has also worked with character animators on Harry Potter, The Chronicles of Narnia, Voyage
of the Dawn Treader, John Carter, World War Z and Guardians of the Galaxy.
PARTICIPANTS: £18
18
July - September 2014 Programme
Screen Acting – Be Real and Believable
Daniel Dresner
August 11, 13
10.30-17.30
Course: TV11
Keywords: SCREEN PERFORMANCE | PRACTICAL | CONFIDENCE | ON SET PREPARATION
Make your screen performances real and believable. If you don't believe it then how can the viewer? This
intensive two-day workshop will focus on truthfully living and thinking on screen. Totally hands on, you will
take away the necessary steps to help you achieve this. Working with and without scripts, each participant will
have at least two opportunities per day to view themselves on screen and be guided with feedback. The
workshop is held in a positive and constructive atmosphere.
→ Daniel studied at the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute in New York and has had a long career as a working
coach, teacher and actor. His many recent credits include playing George W Bush for Channel 4, 17 episodes of
an internet TV series, a sitcom pilot, 14 short radio stories, Mercenaries for ABC, Sixty Six for Working Title,
commercials for Bet Victor, Subway, Orangina, the Labour Party and a training video series for the NHS.
PARTICIPANTS: £75 / OBSERVERS: £30
Fundamentals – Essential Voice
William Trotter
August 11, 18, September 1, 8, 15, 22
18.00-21.00
Course: VC11
Keywords: VOICE | TEXT WORK | SPEECH | EMERGING | RETURNING ACTOR | SKILLS BUILDING
This summer course is for any member who has never encountered basic voice work, as well as those who
need a refresher, seeing their vocal needs differently now than they did when first training. It won't just be
about the sound of the voice as an end in itself, but will explore how the voice contributes to the total
performance, how when properly connected to text the voice and speech are a central part of action and
character. Content will include: understanding and developing vocal technique – body, breath, voice quality,
resonance, range and articulation; vocal delivery and the interpretation of text; and pulling voice and acting
seamlessly together in performance. A range of texts and monologues will be studied demonstrating the links
between good vocal technique and acting. Some homework may be necessary.
→ William Trotter has provided voice input for shows at the Arcola, BAC, The Place, the Finborough, the Royal
Court, Menier Chocolate Factory, Lyric Studio and Riverside Studios. He has worked with actors of many levels
of experience, including established names and people at early stages in their careers. Actors he has coached
one-to-one have worked at the National, Royal Court and West End and leads at Regent’s Park and Apollo
Victoria. He has led workshops for Escape Artists, Graeae, Mind the Gap, the Magic Circle, RSAMD and for
Tamasha Theatre's actor-director laboratory. Drama schools he has taught at include ArtsEd, Central, Drama
Centre, East 15 and LAMDA. He is on the training working party of the British Voice Association.
PARTICIPANTS: £115
19
July - September 2014 Programme
Accents – Multi-Cultural London English
Louise Jones
August 12
10.30-13.30
Course: VC12
Keywords: ACCENT | CONTEMPORARY | TEXT WORK | VOICE
Within the last 20 years we have witnessed a shift from a traditional cockney accent of East London to a new
contemporary sound. This accent is often known as ‘street’ London and linguistically termed Multi-Cultural
London English. During the 1980s young Londoners responded to the American hip hop and garage music
scene and created their own sound – Grime music. Along with this music came a whole new youth cultural
expression, which led to the birth of a new accent. This is now an established accent spoken by many young
Londoners and one that should be in a young actor’s accent repertoire. This workshop aims to offer a fun,
informative and accessible approach to accent learning using beatboxing and the music of East London artists
such as Tinie Tempah and Labrinth, applied to the scripts of contemporary playwrights.
→ Louise received her MA in Voice Studies from RCSSD. After graduating she returned as a visiting lecturer.
Louise also teaches at the Performance Preparation Academy in Guildford where she is in charge of the
students’ speech and accent learning. She has worked with performers from Greenwich and Lewisham Young
People’s Theatre, Tara Arts, Outfox productions and students from Arts Ed. Most recently, Louise worked with
Clean Break Theatre Company coaching the ‘street’ accent for Vivienne Franzmann’s Pests at the Royal Court.
PARTICIPANTS: £18
Screenwriting for Actors
Nirpal Bhogal
August 14, 15
10.30-17.30
Course: WR5
Keywords: SCREENPLAYS | WRITING | STRUCTURE | CHARACTER | MOTIVATION
Many actors find themselves drawn towards screenwriting and in this workshop writer and director Nirpal
Bhogal will introduce you to the principles of crafting a screenplay. This intensive two-day workshop will focus
on basic story structure, building characters, outlining and most importantly, keeping focussed, motivated and
fighting the fear that might stop you from writing your first script.
→ Nirpal directed the first block of series 4 of Misfits. He recently wrote and directed his debut feature Sket, a
girl-gang thriller. The film saw Nirpal and his lead actress nominated for Best British Newcomer at the London
Film Festival where it premiered before UK release. Little White Lies wrote that “Bhogal’s style marks him out
as a name for the future”. After directing several shorts and music promos Nirpal made his breakthrough with
the critically acclaimed short film Cold Kiss, starring and produced by Ray Winstone.
PARTICIPANTS: £60
Meisner and Cold-Reading
Susan Bracken
August 19
10.30-17.30
Course: A17
Keywords: MEISNER | COLD-READING | SKILLS | AUDITION | TAKING DIRECTION
In this workshop we will look at how the Meisner trained actor can develop their cold-reading skills by learning
to make effective and dynamic choices while still fully engaging with their partner. This workshop will provide
you with a system of what to do the moment you are handed a script and how to respond quickly and
effectively to redirection. We will also look at how to deal with an unresponsive casting director and what to
do if the reading isn’t going well. Scripts will be provided 15 minutes before the workshop starts in order for
participants to practice making quick decisions (what’s just happened, how do I feel, what do I want?).
→ Susan Bracken is an actress and director. She is co-founder of C Company, a Meisner based ensemble that
has tested its work in performance over the last four years on the London stage. She trained in the Meisner
Technique at Act One Studios, Chicago.
PARTICIPANTS: £30 / OBSERVERS: £15
20
July - September 2014 Programme
Puppetry for Actors
Richard Booth
August 22
10.30-16.30
Course: A42
Keywords: INTRODUCTION | NEW SKILLS | PRACTICAL | NEW OPPORTUNITIES
Puppetry has seen an increase in popularity over the last few years, largely due to the success of such
productions as War Horse, Avenue Q and Elephantom. However, there is very little training available to actors
who may be interested in learning the basics of the art. Actors are often asked to audition for puppetry jobs,
and if you are unaware of the principles it can often be overwhelming. This practical workshop will give you
the basic tools and an understanding of the principles of puppetry, which can be applied to a wide variety of its
genres. This will give you a head start in an audition or a job and add an extra skill to your repertoire. For a
workshop outline please contact bookclass@actorscentre.co.uk.
→ Richard has been a professional puppeteer for the last five years, trained and experienced in Bunraku,
object manipulation, full body, glove and rod puppetry. His most recent work includes Topthorn Head and the
Goose in War Horse at the New London Theatre. He is a founding member and Associate Artist of Flabbergast
Theatre with whom he has devised and performed several shows including the critically acclaimed Boris &
Sergey’s Vaudevillian Adventure which received eight 5-star reviews and number one in the “List” top shows of
the Edinburgh Fringe. This show and others with Flabbergast has seen Richard perform at the Soho Theatre,
Old Vic Tunnels with the Edward Sharpe Quartet, three Latitude Festivals, Secret Garden Party, Pleasance,
Kings Head Theatre, Udder Belly and Little Angel Theatre to name a few. Their new show, Boris & Sergey’s
Astonishing Freakatorium, will appear at the London Wonderground in June 2014.
PARTICIPANTS: £30
Finding Your Pigeon-Hole (Or Defying it)
Tim Holloway
August 26
10.30-17.30
Course: TV12
Keywords: SCREEN ACTING | PERSONALITY | AUDITIONS AND INTERVIEWS | MARKETABILITY
What is a pigeon-hole? Am I in one? How can I get out if I am? Is it better to be in one? Is it an inescapable
reality? This workshop offers the opportunity to explore how you come across both on camera and in person.
We will look at the person/actor who walks through the door – how do they match the expectation of the
director? How does “real life” confirm what appears on the screen? We will look at your strengths and
weaknesses, your ticks and shadow movements. We will examine who you are in the absurd situation of being
auditioned and go on to explore how you deliver in “role”. Bring a prepared piece (90 seconds max) which you
feel best “fits” you. Please forward your CV or Spotlight to bookclass@actorscentre.co.uk when enrolling on
this workshop.
→ As a TV director and producer Tim Holloway worked extensively in series drama for the BBC on Casualty,
Peak Practice, The Bill and many other series. He was nominated for a BAFTA in 2007 for Series
Producing Byker Grove. Prior to working in TV, Tim directed short films as well as acting and directing theatre.
After making a move into media education and training working primarily with young actors, directors and
writers, Tim continues to make independent projects including music videos and documentaries. He has taught
at the Actors Centre for many years.
PARTICIPANTS: £55
21
July - September 2014 Programme
Improve Your Voice by 90%
Frances Parkes
August 26
10.30-17.30
Course: VC13
Keywords: VOICE WORK | GROTOWSKI TECHNIQUE | LEARN EXERCISES | FREEING UP
Allow your acting to be unimpeded by any unresolved vocal problems. Using the Grotowski technique the
performer is at one with their voice. Do you feel that you're swallowing the words? When you're talking
upstage do you feel the audience can hear you? Are you happy with the range of notes and the variety of tone
in your voice? Do you feel that your vocal energy is being sucked in rather than going out to the audience? This
workshop will give you the tools to release and develop your voice with a daily vocal exercise schedule.
→ Frances has worked extensively in film, TV and radio. She lectures at the University of London and
continues to coach actors here and in California in vocal development and dialects. She has been working with
vocal techniques first outlined by Grotowski for the last 10 years and his insights influence all of her work.
PARTICIPANTS: £30 / OBSERVERS: £15
“Speak the speech…as I Pronounced it to you.”
Eamon Haughian
August 26, 27
10.30-17.30
Course: SH3
Keywords: SHAKESPEARE | VOICE | CHARACTER | IMAGERY | INFORMAL PERFORMANCE
By focusing simply on Shakespeare’s language, this workshop aims to stage the final act of Romeo & Juliet. We
will explore rhythm, imagery and use of rhetoric and create 3D characters from the world of the play. We will
then explore the relationships between characters and make performance choices based on the detail of the
language alone. This will then allow participants to open up the possibilities of the emotional life of the
thoughts and characters. Day one will take an in-depth look at Shakespeare's rhythm and verse structure while
day two will build on the previous day’s work and apply that to the final act of Romeo & Juliet. This workshop is
ideally suited for anyone who would like to explore Shakespeare for the first time, anyone who would like to
refresh their skills and anyone who would like a different way of looking at Shakespeare’s language.
→ Eamon is a freelance voice, text and accent coach. For the last two years he has been working for the RSC
on a range of productions including Hamlet, As You Like It, All's Well That Ends Well (Theatre Royal Newcastle),
and Richard II (Barbican). Throughout his time with the company he has worked as a voice coach on Matilda,
The Musical. Eamon has also taught at many acting schools including Central, LIPA, Rose Buford and East 15
and he is a full-time voice and accent tutor at The American Musical Theatre Academy of London.
PARTICIPANTS: £60
Cracking Verse
Chris New
August 27, 28
10.30-17.30
Course: SH4
Keywords: ACTING THE CLASSICS | VERSE | CONFIDENCE | NEW APPROACH | RHYTHM
There is nothing to fear – you can speak it! Spread over two days, this is a crash course in cracking verse.
Developed throughout his time at RADA and the RSC, Chris' approach is a simple, clean technique that you'll be
able to confidently apply and carry with you throughout your career. The course will demystify verse and show
how its structure and rhythms can only help you to a better performance.
→ Chris trained as an actor at RADA. Graduating in 2006, he landed his first professional role starring in the
West End revival of Martin Sherman’s Bent, for which he was nominated as Best Newcomer at the Evening
Standard Theatre Awards. He then went on to lead companies at the NT, the RSC, the Young Vic, Sadler’s Wells
and Manchester Royal Exchange, returning to the West End in 2009 to play Joe Orton in Prick Up Your Ears. He
made his New York theatre debut in 2011 in Peter Nichol’s Lingua Franca and his film debut in 2012 in Andrew
Haigh’s Weekend, for which he was nominated as Best Newcomer at the BFI London Film Festival Awards.
PARTICIPANTS: £60
22
July - September 2014 Programme
American Accent and Dialect
Kara Tsiaperas
August 28
10.30-17.30
Course: VC8
Keywords: GENERAL AMERICAN ACCENT | SCRIPT WORK | TECHNIQUE | CONSISTENCY
This one-day workshop will focus on acquiring a General American or Standard American accent for auditions
and performance. The aim is to build confidence in sounding authentically North American to native ears. If
you have familiarity with the accent then this workshop can help to fine tune your sound and if you are just
getting started then it can help you acquire a systematic approach in order to maintain a consistent American
accent. The day will consist of a discussion of American accents and dialects and what clues to look for in the
script. We will focus on the vowel and consonant changes – what to look for and how to create the sounds;
how the articulators are held and how that affects the texture of the sound; the overall tune and music of an
American sound; and strategies for staying in the accent. Kara will read a few key pieces of text to illustrate
some of the sounds that you want to capture and you are welcome to make a recording in order to practice at
home. Please bring something to take notes with, a recording device and a small hand mirror.
→ Kara Tsiaperas is originally from California and has taught voice in London and New York City. In the UK she
has taught at Central, the Oxford School of Drama, Rose Bruford and Drama Studio London and in NYC at the
New York Film Academy, the School of Film and Television, the American Musical Academy of Dramatic Art,
Marymount Manhattan College and New York University at the Tisch School. Some of her coaching credits
include: Cat on a Hot Tin Roof at the West Yorkshire Playhouse, Hidden in the Sand at Trafalgar Studio, His
Greatness at the Finborough Theatre, The Kingdom of Heaven at the Print Room, and Huck Finn for Fresh Glory
Productions. Kara has an MA in Voice from Central.
PARTICIPANTS: £30
Fundamentals – The Shakespeare Toolkit
Giles Taylor
September 1
10.30-17.30
Course: SH5
Keywords: ACTING THE CLASSICS | FOUNDATION TECHNIQUES | SHAKESPEARE | TEXT | EXPLORE
How do I know if I'm speaking Shakespeare well? This workshop with leading Shakespeare verse and language
expert, Giles Taylor, will introduce you to the techniques required to tackle a Shakespearean verse text with
confidence. In addressing the rhythms, poetry and rhetoric Shakespeare employs, Giles will give you the tools
to make informed choices that will lead to the fullest, clearest and most dynamic way to convey sense and
character and above all to make the text uniquely your own. Texts will be provided on the day.
→ Giles – known for his enthusiastic and encouraging approach – has been a teacher for over 12 years and an
actor for nearly 25. He has worked with many leading classical directors including Greg Doran (RSC), Edward
Hall (RSC, Propeller) and Rachel Kavanaugh (RSC, NSC) and has studied verse with Cicely Berry, Peter Gill, John
Barton and Giles Block. He also works as a Shakespeare Consultant, most recently for As You Like It (West
Yorkshire Playhouse), The Comedy of Errors (Manchester Royal Exchange), Romeo and Juliet, Much Ado About
Nothing and The Tempest (Open Air Theatre, Regent’s Park), Twelfth Night (Old Vic Tunnels) and Romeo and
Juliet (Shakespeare’s Globe on tour).
PARTICIPANTS: £30 / OBSERVERS: £15
23
July - September 2014 Programme
In The Moment
Geraldine Alexander
September 1
10.30-17.30
Course: A43
Keywords: TRUTH | SPONTANEITY | KEEP IT FRESH | CHARACTER | CONFIDENCE
This workshop aims to help actors prepare to work, building a character from the script. Through various
exercises participants will be given the tools they need to be ready and confident to work, whatever the
text and medium. The aim is to create something complete that retains its integrity in performance and to be
"in the moment". Texts will include Present Laughter by Coward and Chekhov’s The Seagull.
→ Geraldine has worked extensively as an actress in theatre, radio, TV and film. Her recent work includes
Strange Interlude at the National, The Welsh Boy, For Once, Love for Lydia and Fall at the Traverse, The
Maids with Neil Bartlett and many plays at Shakespeare's Globe, the National Theatre, the RSC, the Royal
Court, the Royal Exchange and in the West End. She has worked extensively with Mike Alfreds and also directs
at RADA. She directed her play Amygdala at The Print Room in 2014 and is now published by Oberon Books.
PARTICIPANTS: £30
renegade residency
Gari Jones
September 3, 4, 5
10.30-17.30
Course: A44
Keywords: DEVISING | NEW WORK | INNOVATION | PERFORMANCE | RISK-TAKING
This is an exciting and innovative week of devising, storytelling, theatre-making and site-specific ideals to
create new work that is present, necessary and resonant. Led by director/writer Gari Jones, under the banner
of his theatre company, renegade, this is pro-active, confidence-building work alongside an ethos of
spontaneity and risk where the line between rehearsal and performance becomes redundant.
→ Gari is an established director whose work has been seen at many UK and London theatres and
internationally. He was a long-term collaborator with Pinter as Director and Associate Director at the NT,
Almeida, in the West End and at the Lincoln Center's Pinter Festival, New York. Directing credits include
Celebration, The Room, No Man’s Land, Betrayal, A Slight Ache, The Lover, The Dumb Waiter, The Caretaker,
Night and Sketches. Gari’s company renegade is a new way of thinking and exists to showcase artists and work
in all mediums, to provide opportunity, to collaborate and to create innovative work and events.
PARTICIPANTS: £90
Sharpen Your Skills
Patricia Doyle
September 3, 4, 5, 9, 10, 11
14.00-17.00
Course: A45
Keywords: SKILLS DEVELOPMENT | EXPLORATION | CONFIDENCE | RETURNING ACTOR
This course will help you to keep in practice and discover new skills and talents, working through improvisation
into poetry and text work. Each of the six sessions is different, leading on to the next, giving a progression to the
course that is especially helpful if you feel you’ve been out of it all for a while and maybe your confidence needs a
boost. The course will help you release new energy and enjoyment as you work physically together in the early
sessions and imaginatively on classic and new writing in scene work and speeches, all helpful for auditions. Some
of the final session is given over to audition material and how to get work.
→ Patricia trained as an actress at RADA and has worked at the NT, the RSC, Royal Court, the West End and in rep,
radio and film. As a theatre director her productions include plays by Stoppard, Chekhov, Churchill, Frayn, Ibsen,
Priestley and Brenton. For the Northern Ballet Theatre Patricia has directed Carmen and A Streetcar Named Desire,
co-directed Peter Pan, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Hamlet a new ballet of Cleopatra and, most recently, The
Great Gatsby and Cinderella. She is preparing to work on a new ballet of Nijinsky for Bratislava in 2015. She
recently directed her first short films, Beware of What You Wish For and No Man’s Land.
PARTICIPANTS: £96 / OBSERVERS: £60
24
July - September 2014 Programme
Method Introduction
Sam Rumbelow
September 4, 5
10.30-17.30
Course: A46
Keywords: METHOD | TRUTH IN PERFORMANCE | EMOTION | SENSORY WORK
The teachings of Lee Strasberg are followed by the likes of Meryl Streep, Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Philip
Seymour Hoffman and many more. The creative challenge of an actor is to bring truth and life to the character
and the script. The methodology is the means to succeed at that task. Over the two days this workshop will
introduce the foundation of this empowering technique; you will learn the key components of relaxation,
sensory work and their application in your acting.
→ Sam Rumbelow brings over 30 years experience in stage, TV and film. As an actor he has worked with Helen
Mirren, John Thaw, Bill Paterson and Penelope Wilton amongst others. As a Method teacher Sam has worked
with many established actors and coached for stage and screen. As well as teaching in the UK he has also run
workshops in Sweden, Denmark and Italy. Recently he collaborated with Britain’s Turner Prize-winning artist
Gillian Wearing on her debut feature film, Self Made which toured such film festivals as London, Dublin,
Florence, New York, LA, Toronto, Singapore and Wroclaw. Self Made is due to be broadcast in the UK by
Channel 4 later this year. As Artistic Director of The Ensemble, Sam has directed two critically successful stage
productions, Work and Trading Faces, with The Ensemble now expanding their focus into film. As actor,
director and teacher he brings the means to evaluate an actor’s instrument on both a professional and artistic
level, unlocking real sustained means to their work.
PARTICIPANTS: £60
The Headstrong Approach to Screen Acting – Autumn Intensive
Michael Ferguson
September 5, 8, 9, 10, 11
10.30-17.30
Course: TV13
Keywords: SCREEN PERFORMANCE | CHARACTER | IMAGINATION | CONFIDENCE | TEXT WORK
Here is a five-day course which provides another opportunity to train in this important new approach to screen
acting. Headstrong draws on the work of Stanislavski, Meisner, Adler and Strasberg, but is driven by the
extensive directing and teaching experience of the course leader, Michael Ferguson. Michael has developed
Headstrong to bypass the clutter and confusion he believes accumulate too easily around screen performance
training and offers instead a straightforward route to compelling results. He also passionately believes that
actors should be respected as creative artists, not regarded as hired hands and works continuously to lighten
the emotional and physical burdens that actors struggle to bear. Michael has been closely involved in
television drama for well over forty years as a director, producer, writer, acting theorist and tutor and has
devised this course not only to cover all aspects of script interpretation, character creation and the unique art
of performing drama on a screen but also to help members build confidence and take control of their time in
front of a camera. Previous filming experience is not essential, but commitment and imagination are.
Newcomers and members already familiar with Michael’s Headstrong work will find this course equally
valuable. Camera and playback facilities will be incorporated on the two concluding days. A detailed course
plan is available from the Bookings Office. To apply please send your Spotlight link or CV to
th
bookclass@actorscentre.co.uk. Deadline for applications: Friday 29 August.
→ Michael Ferguson trained as an actor at LAMDA before becoming a producer, director and writer of
television drama with the BBC and major ITV companies. As a teacher he has worked at RADA, Bristol Old Vic,
Guildford School of Acting and ALRA. In 2002 he established the Film and Television training department at
the ArtsEd School of Acting. At the Actors Centre he has led Sky and BBC summer schools, tutored countless
workshops and directed several short films. During the last ten years he has been developing Headstrong, an
important new approach to screen acting.
PARTICIPANTS: £180 / CV APPLICATION
25
July - September 2014 Programme
Devising for Actors and Theatre Makers
Annie Siddons
September 6, 7
10.30-17.30
Course: A47
Keywords: NEW TECHNIQUES | CREATING WORK | EXPERIMENT | EXPLORE | CREATIVITY
In this rigorous, fun and thought-provoking workshop we will look at ways into devising through games and
exercises. We will work towards defining the ways in which you, as a performer can unlock your devising mojo.
We will look at devising through the lenses of character, movement, narrative, music, limitation and structure.
Day one will be playing, experimenting and flexing our devising muscles and on day two we will devise a short
piece. The exact content of the course will depend on the number and experience of participants but you can
expect to: learn different techniques and methods for unlocking the devising process; experiment with
character, music, form, structure and narrative; explore and develop your own preferred ways into devising,
developing your self-awareness as a performer/maker; look at obstacles to effective devising and learn how to
turn them into devising gold; devise a short piece in a group. Bring comfortable clothes and stuff to write with.
→ Annie Siddons is a playwright, theatremaker and performer. She wrote Rapunzel for Kneehigh and has
worked with BAC, Bristol Old Vic, Filament Theatre, Undercurrent Theatre, the Gate Theatre and Theater
Sagohuset amongst others. She will perform her lyrical narrative piece Raymondo at Pulse 2014 and play
festivals during the summer before Edinburgh Fringe and then a London run. Her version of The Nutcracker
and the Mouse King will be the Christmas show at the Unicorn Theatre.
PARTICIPANTS: £60
Fundamentals – Acting and Audition Technique
Morna Regan
September 7
10.30-17.30
Course: A20
Keywords: ONE-TO-ONE | AUDITIONS | MONOLOGUES | SIGHTREADING | INTERVIEW SKILLS
These one-to-one consultations each lasting an hour are designed to address your specific needs, be that
preparing text for a specific upcoming audition, monologue work, audition technique and presentation, how to
combat nerves, how to take direction, how to sightread and how to interview. Consultation with the tutor is
welcomed ahead of the session so that it can be tailor made to best suit your needs.
→ Morna is a Fulbright Scholar and MFA graduate in Acting from the University of Southern California and a
BA graduate from Central. At USC she was coached in auditioning skills by Joe Mantegne, Rita Moreno and
Annette Bening. In the UK Morna has worked at, amongst others, the Donmar, Hampstead, Tricycle & Traverse
One. In Ireland work regularly included The Abbey Theatre, the National Theatre of Ireland, The Gate Theatre
& The Lyric. Morna is concentrating on writing. Her most recent play The House Keeper won The Irish Times
Best New Play Award 2013. Her play Midden won an Edinburgh Fringe First & was produced at the Hampstead.
PARTICIPANTS: £40
Where are all the Roaring Girls?
Joan Iyiola
September 7
11.00-14.00
Course: ATC1
Keywords: ACTING THE CLASSICS | FEMALE ROLES | CHARACTER | CONTEMPORARY VOICES
Inspired by the Roaring Girls Season at the RSC and convinced that there are more parts available for women,
join Joan as she delves into a number of great plays with exceptional parts for women. Dealing primarily with
classical plays by Shakespeare’s contemporaries, this workshop will uncover and unlock some of these
formidable females and help find their voices in today’s world.
→ Joan Iyiola is co-founder of The Mono Box and is also a Vice Patron of the Actors Centre. She trained as an
actress at Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, NYT and Cambridge University. She is currently with the RSC in the
Roaring Girls Season and is playing in The White Devil, The Arden of Faversham and The Roaring Girl.
PARTICIPANTS: £18
26
July - September 2014 Programme
Approaches to Acting
Max Key
September 8
10.30-17.30
Course: A58
Keywords: SCENE STUDY | NATURALISM | MODERN PLAYS | PRACTICAL | EXPLORE
This one-day workshop will explore approaches to naturalistic acting, with emphasis on acting techniques and
their application by working on scenes from British modern playwrights. Open to those who have worked with
Max previously and those who are new to his workshops.
→ Max Key trained on the National Theatre Directors’ Course and has worked at most of the major London
theatres and drama schools including the Royal National Theatre, Royal Opera House, Lyric Hammersmith,
Arcola Theatre, Southwark Playhouse, Royal Haymarket, Guildhall School of Music and Drama and LAMDA.
Please visit his website www.maxkey.co.uk for more details.
PARTICIPANTS: £30
Shakespeare’s Playground
Michael Gould
September 9, 12, 16
18.00-20.00
Course: SH6
Keywords: ACTING THE CLASSICS | LANGUAGE | RHYTHM | VERSE AND PROSE | CHARACTER
This workshop will help you unlock the dramatic power of Shakespeare’s world. Over three sessions we will
embrace the pleasure of his language. On the first day we will unpack a toolbox of techniques to reveal the
rhythms, sounds and grammar of his texts; we will explore the difference between prose and verse, examine
how Shakespeare organises thought and feeling to reveal character and how all of this works to create
dramatic action. On the second day we will apply those tools, experimenting with a range of texts. On the final
day, it’s over to you. Using texts you have chosen we will explore how we can make that vital connection
between actor and character and how, maybe, we can make it seem as if it belongs to us and always has.
→ Michael has worked as an actor and teacher at the RSC, National and Shakespeare’s Globe. His theatre
credits include Our Class, Waves, Earthquakes in London and Pressure Drop, as well as the recent criticallyacclaimed A View From the Bridge at the Young Vic. He also played Polonius to Michael Sheen’s Hamlet and,
Iago in Othello for the RSC. His TV/Film credits include Wallander, Ashes to Ashes, Lucan, Silent Witness, Secret
State, Getting On, Crocodile, Room 8 and Private Peaceful.
PARTICIPANTS: £54
Emotions and Character
Joy Richardson
September 10
11.00-17.00
Course: A52
Keywords: IN THE MOMENT | EXPLORING EMOTIONS | INSTINCT | BUILD CONFIDENCE
Do you have to feel it to act it? This workshop will look at the emotional landscape available to you as a
performer, helping you to make clear choices with confidence. We will explore six primary emotions: disgust,
anger, fear, surprise, happiness and sadness. Trust your instincts whilst being in the moment. Perform with
freedom and confidence. Using games, and storytelling, this workshop will help with auditions, rehearsals and
performance. It is a fun workshop. No preparation necessary. Just be ready to play.
→ As an actor Joy delivers workshops for various companies including The National Theatre and Shakespeare's
Globe. She has performed in productions at Shakespeare’s Globe, The National Theatre and in the West End.
She has performed with Dame Judi Dench, Mark Rylance and Sir Michael Caine. Joy recently appeared in
Welcome to Thebes at the National Theatre and Song of Songs with the Royal Shakespeare Company.
PARTICIPANTS: £30
27
July - September 2014 Programme
The Play’s The Thing – Rehearsing with an RP Accent
Terry Besson
September 10
10.30-17.30
Course: VC6
Keywords: ACCENT | DELIVERY | SPEECH | RP | TEXT | REHEARSING
Learn how to maintain an authentic RP accent from rehearsal into performance. We will look at how the
accent affects the style, rhythm, changes in flow, where the power lies, the subtle changes of speed and tone,
the energy of the piece, the energies of the characters and finding and using the correct muscularity and
breath strength for the accent. This is an exciting and interesting move on from the one-to-one sessions,
putting the work into practice over a sustained period, finding clues from the text and using the accent to
develop character. The workshop can accommodate any speeches or scenes that you are working on, or we
can work on a scene from any of the following: any Noel Coward or Oscar Wilde, New Found Land, Jumpers,
Travesties, Hapgood, Rosencrantz and Guilderstern are Dead (Stoppard), Equus, Amadeus (Shaffer), Animal
Farm, Nineteen Eighty-Four (Orwell), Bodies (Saunders) & The Secret Rapture (Hare). Please bring copies of any
of the scripts listed and know your way around them, some copies will be available.
→ Terry is one of the country’s leading accent and dialect specialists. His vast experience gained over 30 years
working on film, TV, radio and theatre projects has given him a unique approach to the vocal and physical
changes needed when approaching acting in another accent. He has worked on such diverse projects as the
films Awaydays, Clubbed, Welcome to the Punch, Captain Phillips, Get Lucky, TUPAC, Hotel Taliban, the TV
series Poirot, Privates and Garrow’s Law. He is currently voice consultant at London Zoo!
PARTICIPANTS: £30
A Play in Two Days
Sarah Berger
September 11, 10.30-17.30
September 12, 10.30-21.00
Course: A53
Keywords: PLAY READING | REHEARSAL PROCESS | PREPARATION | PERFORMANCE | SKILLS
This two day workshop will take you through the casting, reading and rehearsing process, getting a play up on
its feet and finishing with a rehearsed reading in front of an invited audience. These days rehearsals are
shorter, industry rehearsed readings are common and the ability to prepare properly and lift something from
the page quickly and make quick character choices are important. Every job is an audition and the ability to
prepare thoroughly, respond to direction and assimilate information fast is a vital asset. A suitable play will be
selected to accommodate all participants, who should come prepared to audition for several parts. We will
cast and read the play on the first day and rehearse and get it on its feet for a reading on the evening of the
second day.
→ Sarah Berger graduated from The Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Before completing her course she
was cast as Abigail in the BBC production of The Crucible by Arthur Miller. Her acting career spans over 30
years and includes three seasons with the RSC where her roles included Olivia in Twelfth Night. She has played
leads in six West End shows, appeared in numerous off-West End theatres and tours, toured America twice
playing Ariel in the Tempest and Lady Macbeth and has appeared in numerous TV dramas and films. In 2010
she produced Write On, a week-long festival of new writing at County Hall, involving nearly 100 actors, writers
and directors. In June 2012 Sarah founded the So and So Arts Club, an internet based global club for people
across the arts whose aim is to help promote new writing and further members’ careers by helping them to
connect and showcase their talent through a rehearsed reading programme and regular showcase events.
PARTICIPANTS: £60
28
July - September 2014 Programme
Screen Audition, Rehearsal and Performance
Robert Knights
September 11, 18, 25
18.00-21.00
Course: TV14
Keywords: SCREEN PERFORMANCE | AUDITIONS | TECHNIQUE | CONFIDENCE | SKILLS
This course aims to give the actor the confidence and skill to be relaxed and effective on camera. The first
session will explore the screen audition – what the director is looking for, making bold choices, absorbing the
director’s notes and demonstrating flexibility. The second session will look at the screen rehearsal – the
purpose of a scene within the script, finding the right tempo and blocking. In the final session scenes will be
shot and reviewed for discussion. We will explore the close-up, wide shots, how to vary performance for shot
sizes and how to handle props. We’ll also discuss the film crew, what their skills are and how they can help you
give your best performance. Participants will work in pairs and will be required to learn scripts.
→ Before becoming a TV and film director Robert was an AD at Bristol Old Vic and Royal Court. For his screen
work he won an international Emmy for Porterhouse Blue and has been BAFTA-nominated 3 times. Some of his
credits include The Dawning, Tender is the Night, Mosley, Double Vision, The Glittering Prizes, Inspector Morse,
The Bill and Monarch of the Glen. He has directed Sir Anthony Hopkins, Dame Helen Mirren, Sir David Jason,
Dawn French and Kim Cattrall. He teaches at East 15, BOVTS, RWCMD. For more info visit IMDb.
PARTICIPANTS: £80
Behind the Scenes/In Front of the Lens
Ben Gutteridge
September 12
10.30-17.30
Course: TV15
Keywords: SCREEN ACTING | ON-SET ENVIRONMENT | PERFORMANCE | FEEDBACK | ADVICE
This workshop will demystify what goes on behind the camera so that you can focus on what's happening in
front of it. Firstly, we will take a look at the technical aspects of a crew and their kit, with reference to the
differences between TV, film and commercials, as a means to understand what’s going on while you wait for
them to set up the shot. Secondly, we will rehearse and block actual scenes, shooting them live, using the
group as both actors and camera team, recreating the distractions and feeling of pressure that one would
normally have on set, in front, as well as behind the camera. The workshop will be an interactive exploration of
both the technical aspect and the performance, followed by real life examples.
→ Ben Gutteridge has been a professional director for over 7 years, working in various countries. He has
directed TV drama for the BBC and Channel 4 and advertising for brands such as Prada and Volvo. His short
film, Brides of Desire, made as a Soho House Electric Shorts finalist, was in the Official Selection for Palm
Springs Film Festival. Ben has been “One to Watch” in The Reel, selected for Edinburgh Film Festival Talent Lab
and London Film Festival Think-Shoot-Distribute. He is represented by Independent Talent and is currently
working with two renowned writers on different projects for production this year.
PARTICIPANTS: £55
29
July - September 2014 Programme
Scene Study Through the Ages
Mark Field
September 12, 15, 16
10.30-17.30
Course: A54
Keywords: SHAKESPEARE | REALISM | CONTEMPORARY | STYLE | PERFORMANCE
This scene study crash course will take you on a journey through the major periods in theatre history
introducing you to a wide range of plays and playwrights. We will explore a range of texts including
Classics/Greek, Shakespeare, Jacobean, Restoration, 19th Century Realism, Modern and Post Modern. We will
outline and practice some fundamental processes for truthful acting and apply them to scenes from all these
periods identifying style, connection, differences and understand how to make the classic feel contemporary
and the contemporary classic.
→ Mark is a stage and screen actor and director. As an actor, he has worked with the Oscar-nominated
Stephen Daldry, Evening Standard Award-winner Philip Ridley, opposite Olivier Award-winner Deborah Findlay
and with Sir Ian McKellen. He has performed onstage for the Old Vic, Chichester Festival Theatre, Rose Theatre
Kingston, ETT, West Yorkshire Playhouse, Trafalgar Studios, Soho Theatre, Arcola and in theatres in New York
and Australia; and onscreen for the BBC, Miramax Films, Ecosse Films, Curve Films and many independent
filmmakers. Mark’s directorial credits include the staging of August Osage County (Bancroft Studio)
and Tartuffe (BSA) as well as the creation of an independent film company with the London Film Collective and
Blue Iris Films. Mark won the inaugural Alan Bates Bursary Award, the Old Vic New Voices Award and was
nominated for Best Actor at the Off-West End Awards. He also teaches at RADA, Birmingham School of Acting,
Mountview and Communicaid Business Solutions.
PARTICIPANTS: £90
Learning Lines with Confidence – Stage Two
Brigid Panet
September 13
10.30-17.30
Course: A56
Keywords: TEXT WORK | CONFIDENCE | PERFORMANCE | DELIVERY | ADVANCED LEVEL
Brigid offers a unique, practical and successful technique for line-learning, useful for any text. The work is
centred on acting and sustaining a connection with your scene partner. In this way we can free ourselves from
tense and anxious rote-learning and enjoy sincere and creative acting while the words become a secure and
expressive part of the character we are playing. Exclusively for members who have taken Learning Lines with
Confidence workshops, this one-day stage two workshop will capitalise on the work already done and reinforce
and deepen the positive and practical experiences – from a secure foundation we can fly even higher.
→ Brigid trained at Central and worked professionally, acting in theatre and TV for 14 years before starting to
teach and direct. Since then Brigid has taught and directed plays in the major English drama schools and
around the world. She worked with the NT’s Education Department, initiating and directing their first three
educational Shakespeare tours in England and Ireland. She is a teacher/director at RADA and NYU.
PARTICIPANTS: £30 / OBSERVERS: £15
30
July - September 2014 Programme
Improv to Improve
Todd Kramer
September 13
10.30-17.30
Course: A33
Keywords: IMPRO | AMERICAN TECHNIQUE | AUDITIONS AND PERFORMANCE | CONFIDENCE
What makes the improv training method and performance technique so effective is that it helps actors build
the 4 cornerstones of performance which are: agree, accept and add/contribute (“yes, and”); observe, listen
and react with sharpness, clarity and confidence; work as a team and become an integral part of the ensemble;
break out of your comfort zone and have ready access to all the tools in your talent toolbox. This fun workshop
is designed for all levels of improv experience. We will start with the basics and you will also be introduced to
the method of training used at The Groundlings (LA). You will be taken through exercises that will not only
improve how you do in castings and performances but can also help in all kinds of personal relationships as
well as start you on the path of becoming a performance level long-form improviser.
→ Todd is an American born actor and improviser with nearly 20 years experience. He holds a BA in Theatre
Arts from Loyola Marymount University, LA and studied with the renowned Groundlings in LA for over 3 years.
He has been training, performing and teaching improv ever since. He is now London based as a stage, screen
& commercial actor.
PARTICIPANTS: £30
Magic Text Exercises
Marieke Audsley
September 14
10.30-17.30
Course: A34
Keywords: CLASSICAL TEXT | PHYSICAL WORK | NEW EXERCISES | CONFIDENCE BUILDING
This workshop will introduce you to a range of exercises and approaches that will quickly equip you to give
clear, compelling performances of classical speeches and scenes. Taking a predominantly physical approach,
you will discover new techniques that will fast-track much of the cerebral table-work parts of a rehearsal
process and also banish the fear that comes with taking on well known monologues.
→ Marieke trained at Birkbeck on the Theatre Directing MFA. Recent directing credits include Sleight & Hand
(Summerhall) and Civil Rogues (Pleasance). Marieke's assisting credits include I Can't Sing! (Palladium), A Mad
World My Masters (RSC Summer Season 2013), Othello and The Way of the World (Crucible Theatre Sheffield).
PARTICIPANTS: £30
Fundamentals – Movement for Actors
Sarah Perry
September 14
10.30-17.30
Course: PH5
Keywords: EMERGING | RETURNING ACTOR | BODY | PLAY | EXPLORE | PHYSICALITY
This workshop explores movement for actors and the power of non-verbal communication. Understanding
ourselves better through movement enhances our awareness of the body and this feeds into our strengths as
an actor. We will explore and observe ourselves as movers – asking; where do I hold tension, how can I release
this tension, do I have movement habits that are getting in the way of my performances and what impressions
am I making non-verbally? We will then look at the body & movement as a tool for performance; how would
this character walk, how can we manifest characters’ thoughts and feelings through the body & how can we
use our bodies to communicate more effectively? Prepare & learn a 1-min monologue prior to the session.
→ Sarah is an actor, movement coach, director and tutor specialising in yoga, movement for actors and acting
for animation. She has coached many actors for film, TV and live performance and is a visiting lecturer and
workshop leader at numerous UK unis and educational institutions. She was movement coach for the feature
film Jupiter Ascending and has also worked with character animators on Harry Potter, The Chronicles of Narnia,
Voyage of the Dawn Treader, John Carter, World War Z and Guardians of the Galaxy.
PARTICIPANTS: £30
31
July - September 2014 Programme
abstr-Acting
Ed Woodall
September 15
10.30-17.30
Course: A35
Keywords: NEW TECHNIQUES | CREATIVITY | EXPERIMENT | MOVEMENT
Are you tired of using your own clichés to act with? This workshop will help to banish them and create vivid
and lifelike acting. abstr-Acting is the skill of abstracting the essence of a reaction, a character or an action and
reforming it or playing it so that the audience perceives it to be real. This workshop will use an understanding
of how painters achieve their effects to guide you through some techniques which will make your acting more
lifelike. Bring a piece of text you are familiar with and you will experiment with abstract movement and be
amazed at the way that abstr-Acting can transform it. At the end of the day you will take away a useful
technique that will bring life to any part you play. Bring clothes that you can move easily in.
→ Ed trained at Ecole Jacques Lecoq in Paris. He has worked as an actor at the National, the RSC, ETT,
Complicité, Improbable and Kneehigh, with directors such as Katie Mitchell, Simon McBurney, Phelim
McDermott, Greg Thompson, Carl Heap, Tom Morris, Lucy Bailey and Emma Rice. Ed has just acted with the
RSC again in Tanika Gupta's The Empress and has several movie credits including Master and Commander,
Emma and Enigma. He is also an award-winning theatre director (Time Out Live Award for Een Hond
Begraven). He has taught at the NT Studio and at many drama schools including Central, East 15 and Rose
Bruford. Ed has been developing his teaching for the last 4 years at the Oxford School of Drama where he
teaches Masks, Clowning and Buffoon. He is also in the third year of his training as a Feldenkrais practitioner.
PARTICIPANTS: £30
A Close-up on Screen Acting
Robert Bierman
September 16
10.30-17.30
Course TV16
Keywords: SCREEN PERFORMANCE | PRACTICAL | SCRIPT WORK | FEEDBACK | SKILLS
This workshop is aimed at improving screen presence and screen acting. By shooting and watching TV and film
scripts, actors will see their performance change and improve from take to take. We will spend as much time
as possible shooting and reviewing scenes with director’s comments, giving actors maximum on-screen time.
→ Robert is an experienced TV and film director. Credits include Keep the Aspidistra Flying, Blonde Bombshell,
Between the Lines (BAFTA Winner) and Waking the Dead (Emmy Winner).
PARTICIPANTS: £55
Hamlet – Scene Study
Simon Usher
September 16, 17
10.30-17.30
Course: SH11
Keywords: ACTING THE CLASSICS | SCENE STUDY | LANGUAGE | ADVANCED
Hamlet is a play in which actors believe they have to generate a lot of emotional heat. But what is the most
effective way of doing this? Where and what is the source? Over the two days we will work intensely on the
text, focussing on three scenes, to try to find the answers. In fact it is the only place to look if you are to avoid
cliché and generalisation.
→ Simon Usher has directed extensively in the UK over the last thirty years. His many credits include Sing Yer
Heart Out For the Lads (National Theatre), Tamar's Revenge (RSC), Herons (Royal Court), Pond Life (The Bush)
and many other productions in London and the regions. He was associate director at Leicester Haymarket,
artistic director of The Belgrade, Coventry and resident director at the National Theatre Studio. He has 70
professional credits including Timon of Athens, The Winter's Tale, Pericles (Leicester) and Hamlet (Coventry).
He also directs regularly at the major drama schools.
PARTICIPANTS: £60
32
July - September 2014 Programme
Writing and Performing Solo
Claire Dowie
September 17
10.30-17.30
Course: WR4
Keywords: SOLO SHOWS | WRITER/PERFORMER | PRACTICAL | STORYTELLING | CHARACTER
Claire Dowie will illustrate her unique approach to writing and performing acclaimed, award-winning solo
theatre shows. Learn useful techniques for the creation and development of character and narrative and
enhance your writing and performing skills. The workshop will explore the difference between acting and
performing in three steps: the creation or memory of characters and events, retelling the story of those events
from the character’s viewpoint and recreating reality in the imaginations of the audience. We will create
characters from a range of stimuli – whether they are real or imaginary, based on ourselves or other people,
the process is the same. We will uncover our character’s stories allowing them to emerge organically without
manipulation and focus on the narrative, finding the perspective(s) from which to tell our stories. At the end of
the day there will be an opportunity to show the work created and receive detailed comments and suggestions
for further development.
→ Claire Dowie is an award-winning writer, performer and comedian whose work is studied and performed all
over the world both in English and in translation. Twelve stage plays including Adult Child Dead Child and Why
is John Lennon Wearing a Skirt? have been published by Methuen in three collections alongside her first novel,
Creating Chaos, which has also been published in German and Italian. Recent productions include H to He (I’m
turning into a Man), which won international awards at festivals across Europe and her own revival of Why Is
John Lennon Wearing A Skirt? which won the Golden Cockerel for the best show at the Hill Street Solo Theatre
Festival 2013 and was Best of the Fest in the Edinburgh Evening News with six stars. Claire has written
extensively for BBC radio and television drama and also teaches at King’s College London and RADA. For
further information visit www.clairedowie.co.uk.
PARTICIPANTS: £30
Performing Poetry
Jonathan Cullen
September 17
14.00-17.00
Course: A36
Keywords: POETRY | SPOKEN VERSE | VOCAL RANGE | LITERARY EXPLORATION | PERFORMANCE
Nearly all poetry in previous centuries was written to be heard aloud, not to be read in solitude. Reading
poetry isn’t just for poets and scholars; it’s a vital part of an actor’s toolkit – and it also gets you work! You
DON’T need to have a degree in Literature. You DON’T need to be widely read. All you need is an actor’s
dramatic instincts and a passion to explore your voice and your language in its most intense and daring
creations. This session is open to all levels. Please bring two copies of a poem of your choice.
→ Jonathan Cullen studied at New College, Oxford and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and is an
actor, director and teacher. His theatrical career includes leading roles with the RSC, the National Theatre, the
Royal Court, the Old Vic, Shakespeare's Globe, Chichester Festival Theatre and numerous shows in the West
End, including playing Daniel Radcliffe’s father in Equus. Last year, he appeared in Table, the opening
production at The Shed (NT), directed by Rufus Norris and then in Address Unknown at the Soho Theatre. He
also has extensive TV, film and radio credits. His directing credits include work at RADA, Guildhall, Rose
Bruford, BADA, the Globe Education Department and at Chichester Festival Theatre.
PARTICIPANTS: £10
33
July - September 2014 Programme
The Headstrong Approach: One-To-One Screen Performance Coaching
Michael Ferguson
September 17
10.30-17.40
Course: TV17
Keywords: SCREEN PRESENCE | SCENE WORK | TECHNIQUE | ONE-TO-ONE
One actor, one director, a camera, a monitor and a one-hour time slot. Here’s a rare opportunity to advance
the craft and art of your screen performance in a private workshop with Michael Ferguson. Basic skills, screen
presence, mind management, thoughtfulness, credibility and confidence are among the problem realms that
can be explored and where practical solutions can be proposed. A short script will be emailed to attending
actors the day before their session. Session start times: 10.30, 11.35, 12.40, 14.30, 15.35, 16.40.
→ Michael Ferguson trained as an actor at LAMDA before becoming a producer, director and writer of TV
drama with the BBC and ITV. He has worked at RADA, Bristol Old Vic, GSA and ALRA. In 2002 he established
the Film and Television department at ArtsEd. During the last ten years he has been developing Headstrong, an
important new approach to screen acting.
PARTICIPANTS: £45
Fundamentals – Performance Naturalism
Vicky Jones
September 18, 19
10.30-17.30
Course: A37
Keywords: NATURALISM | TRUTH | TEXT | PERFORMANCE | CHARACTER | METHODOLOGIES
This workshop will take a multifaceted approach to naturalistic acting, from application to text and text
analysis through to character building and performance. We will utilise techniques by some of the most
relevant and respected theatre practitioners of our time including Stanislavski, Uta Hagen, Susan Batson,
Sanford Meisner and Stella Adler. In studying a wide range of texts from modern classics through to new
writing, we will explore the meaning of truthful performance, look at how the actor makes dynamic character
choices and build on these choices to develop creative naturalistic performances with detail, colour & nuance.
→ Vicky is co-Artistic Director of DryWrite (www.drywrite.com), a theatre company dedicated to interrogating
and challenging the roles of playwright and audience. Over the past six years Vicky has worked as a freelance
workshop leader for the Young Writers Programme at the Royal Court. Other freelance directing credits
include The Freedom of the City (Finborough), A Bedroom (Lyric Studio) and The Blind Bird (Gate Theatre,
Directors Festival). For the NT, Coram Boy, Rafta, Rafta (Staff Director) and Banned: The History of Censorship
(NT Platform). As AD, Piano/Forte, I Remember the Royal Court and The One with the Oven (Royal Court).
PARTICIPANTS: £60
Scene Study: Shakespeare’s Comedies
Alison Sutcliffe
September 18, 19
10.30-17.30
Course: SH7
Keywords: CLASSICAL THEATRE | TEXT WORK | CHARACTER | EXPLORATION | PERFORMANCE
This course, led by former RSC director Alison Sutcliffe, will explore scenes from Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, As You
Like It, Midsummer Night’s Dream and Love’s Labour’s Lost. The sessions will mirror the rehearsal process from
detailed textual breakdown through content, characterisation, storytelling and staging. This workshop is for those
with little experience of Shakespeare and those who want to develop their skills.
→ Alison began her career working for John Barton at the RSC, subsequently becoming an Assistant Director and then
directing her own productions for them including Warwickshire Testimony, Transit of Venus and Melons. She has also
directed in the West End (Haymarket Theatre), Lyric Hammersmith, Chichester and the Watermill, Newbury. Her
production of Edmund Kean transferred to New York. She has founded two theatre companies, Cotswold Theatre
Group and the Bridge House Company. She recently worked as Shakespeare advisor on a major British Bollywood
feature film (Life Goes On, Stormglass Films), directing short extracts from King Lear.
PARTICIPANTS: £60
34
July - September 2014 Programme
The Telegenic Actor
Terry Iland
September 19
10.30-17.30
Course: TV18
Keywords: SCREEN ACTING | TRUTH | TECHNIQUE | CHARACTER | WORKING WITH DIRECTORS
This workshop will look at different approaches to performing on film and television including; your
relationship with the camera, how to get the best from the director, new ways of “seeing” the role, selfpreservation, you and the character, creating interest, engaging the viewer, building your role, uncovering the
truth of the situation and the screenplay – how to read the lines and between them.
→ Terry has directed hundreds of hours of television on many continuing drama series in the UK. Credits
include Casualty, The Bill, Down to Earth, Dream Team, Grange Hill, EastEnders, Expert Witness, Heartbeat and
over 150 episodes of BBC Doctors. Terry (who originally trained as an actor at the Drama Centre London)
divides his time between writing and directing.
PARTICIPANTS: £55
An Introduction to Comedy Technique
David Boxer
September 19
14.00-18.00
Course: A38
Keywords: IMPROVISATION | PLAYING COMEDY | NEW TECHNIQUES
There is a common overturning of the power mode involved in making comedy; from status transactions and
one-up-man-ship to Punch and Judy and from Chaplin to Fawlty Towers. This workshop will establish a simple
technique that will help comedy playing and improvisation. We will understand the difference between a
comedy actor and stand up comedians, a difference between acting comedy and performance comedy. In no
way do you need to be a funny person to cause an audience to laugh.
→ David has studied at NIDA and the Lecoq School in Paris. He has taught Improvisation in several drama
schools and his freelance directing includes work with Moving Pictures and many Shakespeare productions.
PARTICIPANTS: £20
The Meisner Technique
Scott Williams
September 22, 23, 24, 25, 26
10.30-17.30
Course: A11
Keywords: SANFORD MEISNER | METHODOLOGY | TRUTH | INSTINCT | RESPONSIVENESS
An introduction to the famous Meisner Technique as taught at the Neighbourhood Playhouse in New York,
whose alumni include Robert Duval, Sidney Pollack and David Mamet. This off-shoot of Stanislavski’s method,
created by Sanford Meisner, uses three basic exercises to get at the core definition of acting, “acting is living
truthfully under a given set of circumstances”.
→ Scott is founder of the Impulse Company, working with actors, writers and directors to create vibrant and
dynamic theatre. As a director his work has been seen all over the world.
PARTICIPANTS: £150 / OBSERVERS: £75
35
July - September 2014 Programme
Confidently Speaking – English Neutral Speech for Actors with Accents
Anne Walsh
September 23
10.30-17.30
Course: VC10
Keywords: FOREIGN & REGIONAL ACCENT COACHING | AUDITION | SKILLS | SPEECH | VOICE
Just as the actor takes on a different physicality and psychological outlook to portray individual characters, so
it is with the voice and accent. Many talented international and regional British actors find their casting
opportunities are restricted due to a too strong an accent in spoken English. Knowing what aspects to improve
and how to continue to work towards improving them is important and this one-day workshop offers actors
with accents a supportive and successful methodology to work with, so that you can increase your chances for
success in audition and casting situations. Regardless of your accent, this workshop will enable you to highlight
your strengths and weaknesses and give you some important speech tools to go away and work with postworkshop. It will also introduce you to a methodology that can be practiced life-long towards reducing your
accent and honing your skills in neutral spoken English. This workshop is ideal for actors with an international
accent and English as a second language, actors with a regional British accent and English as your first language
and actors with English as their first language but no technical speech training who would like to learn the
Spoken English Neutral template.
→ Anne Walsh is a voice, speech and vocal communications coach and has worked in some of England’s
leading drama schools including Drama Centre and Central. Her film, theatre and TV work includes dialogue
assistant on Steven Spielberg’s Munich and dialect consultant on The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency and
Waking the Dead (BBC1). Theatre credits include Kebab at the Royal Court and The French Lieutenant’s
Woman (national tour).
PARTICIPANTS: £30
Imagination, Creativity, Eloquence – A Fresh Approach to Speaking Shakespeare
Ryan Kiggell
September 23, 24, 25
18.00-21.00
Course: SH10
Keywords: ACTING THE CLASSICS | CREATIVITY | IMAGINATION | LANGUAGE | PERFORMANCE
This workshop will galvanise our ability to speak Shakespeare with courage and spontaneity, free from learnt
traditions, preconceptions and insecurities. Using techniques and insights that tackle the sounds, rhythms and
hidden images of the verse, we can build an approach that fires our inner creativity, awakens our deeper
imagination and releases our natural eloquence.
→ As an actor, Ryan has performed Shakespeare internationally and has numerous credits in the West End
and on screen. Highlights include regular work with Cheek by Jowl, Complicité and with the Peter Hall
Company in Bath. As a theatre maker he has worked with the Southbank Centre, Southwark Playhouse and
Brits Off Broadway in New York. He has taught Shakespeare at Mountview, the Actors Centre and Factory
Junction, a performance space he runs in South London with his theatre company aya (www.ayatheatre.com).
PARTICIPANTS: £54
36
July - September 2014 Programme
Why Be Good When You Can Be Brilliant?
Kym Suttle
September 26
10.30-17.30
Course: A40
Keywords: SEMIOTICS | EXPLORATION | SPONTANEITY | PRACTICAL
How does an actor manage to move an audience when they're just not feeling it? This highly practical
workshop is geared towards actors and directors/choreographers. Taking the somewhat dry-sounding concept
of semiotics, Kym will teach you what semiotic indicators are so that you can use them to transform your
performance into something inspired and captivating. Sometimes all it takes is a seemingly small adjustment
to make a huge difference to the way a scene is played. Through precise exploration of a piece of text we will
discover how to improve your performance.
→ Kym has been working in theatre and film for over 25 years. He has an MA in Dance Studies from Laban and
was an actor, writer, director, choreographer and composer for the Loft Repertory Company. He recently
produced his play Treatment which is currently in development as a screenplay to be filmed in 2014. In 2013
he was both Art Director and acted in the feature film The Journey directed by Lance Nielsen. With his
experience in drama, comedy, dance and physical theatre he has a wealth of information to share with you.
PARTICIPANTS: £30 / OBSERVERS: £15
Cabaret – Exploring the Genre
Paul L Martin
September 26, 29
10.30-17.30
Course: MT3
Keywords: CABARET | SOLO PERFORMANCE | STAGE PRESENCE | REPERTOIRE | ADVICE
A two-day workshop for singers of all abilities with varying experience in the art of cabaret – whether you have
taken part in many cabaret shows, or barely heard of Liza Minnelli but want to find out what makes cabaret
(the genre) the hottest ticket in town these days. Paul and his accompanist will explore the best repertoire to
use, how to talk to an audience to link your stories and songs, your presence and persona on the cabaret stage
and advise the best way to put a dynamic and varied set together. Coupled with up-to-the-minute information
on who to know and where to go on the London cabaret scene in order to get your name out there, this
workshop is a must for anyone wishing to take their achievements in cabaret work to the next level or break
through for the first time. Please bring a varied selection of songs (sheet music, not backing tracks please) to
work on (ones that you know well!), including some character-based choices.
→ Paul has been performing in and co-ordinating cabaret for 22 years and is the creator and producer of the
London Cabaret Awards. His agency and production company have run shows at the Leicester Square Theatre,
Arts Theatre, Battersea Barge, Crazy Coq, Soho Revue Bar, Lost Society, Volupte, Live Lounge and Cellar Door
as well as working on many corporate events and television programmes. He has performed worldwide,
appeared as a TV talent show judge, is a member of MAC in New York and is director and founder of Excess All
Areas. For info visit www.excessallareas.co.uk.
PARTICIPANTS: £80 / OBSERVERS: £30
37
July - September 2014 Programme
Translating Translations in Performance
Susannah Tresilian
September 27
10.30-17.30
Course: A24
Keywords: SCRIPT WORK | CONFIDENCE | PERFORMANCE | DEVELOPMENT | INTERNATIONAL
This one-day intensive workshop takes a rare, modern European text in English translation and puts it on
stage. The day includes: exploring what to look out for in first readings; questions to ask about context and
character in a text from a different source; characterisation and the freedom of exploring new roles. There will
then be a fast-rehearsal towards a script-in-hand performance at the end of the day. Expect unique, different,
exciting, innovative, sometimes challenging texts – and the chance to try out unusual and un-stereotypical
roles in a stress-free, creative environment! The workshop will also provide access to a range of new works,
bringing fresh material to audition repertoires and opening up new avenues to consider regarding theatres and
companies which produce international works here and abroad.
→ Susannah is a theatre director whose work has frequently been in collaboration with the European Theatre
Convention and the Nottingham Playhouse. She speaks four languages (Italian, French, Spanish and English)
and has worked in theatres in France, Italy, Norway, Spain, Croatia and Cyprus, working with actors to produce
work in their mother-tongue languages. As Associate Director of NEAT 11 Festival she directed UK premiere
script-in-hand performances of texts from Belarus, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Ukraine, Serbia and Kosovo.
PARTICIPANTS: £30
A Close-up on Screen Acting
Robert Bierman
September 29
10.30-17.30
Course TV16
Keywords: SCREEN PERFORMANCE | PRACTICAL | SCRIPT WORK | FEEDBACK | SKILLS
This workshop is aimed at improving screen presence and screen acting. By shooting and watching TV and film
scripts, actors will see their performance change and improve from take to take. We will spend as much time
as possible shooting and reviewing scenes with director’s comments, giving actors maximum on-screen time.
→ Robert is an experienced TV and film director. Credits include Keep the Aspidistra Flying, Blonde Bombshell,
Between the Lines (BAFTA Winner) and Waking the Dead (Emmy Winner).
PARTICIPANTS: £55
Fundamentals – Improvisation
Paul Foxcroft
Date: to be confirmed
10.30-17.30
Course: A57
Keywords: BEGINNER | EMERGING | RETURNING | IMPROVISATION | CHARACTER | PLAY
Improvisation is a key skill in any actor’s repertoire, from coping with live performance to succeeding in auditions.
Actors are forever asked to think off the script and onto their feet. This workshop will allow actors to learn the basics
of improvisation, the freedom to play and the joy of supporting your scene partner. Starting with games and working
towards fully improvised scenes, you will learn the essential skills to work in a rehearsal room, discover character and
re-energise your performance. You will develop a sense of fun and play that can be used in professional work.
→ Paul is an experienced improviser, performer and teacher. He has survived a number of 50-hour improvised
marathons, both in Canada with show creators Die-Nasty and in the UK with The Sticking Place. He was cofounder of seminal London improv troupe, The Institute, performs as exactly one half of improv wonder-team
Paul&Cariad with the incredible Cariad Lloyd, is a core cast member of Monkeytoast: The Improvised Talk
Show and guests regularly with Grand Theft Impro and Austentatious. As a writer, Paul was a finalist in
Montreal's Just For Laughs International Comedy Festival scriptwriting competition in 2011. His material has
been broadcast on TV and radio in Canada and he's just sold a pilot script to a Canadian production house.
PARTICIPANTS: £30
38
July - September 2014 Programme
Professional Development – WEEKLY, FORTNIGHTLY AND MONTHLY WORKSHOPS
You may attend as many or as few of these regular workshops as you wish, although a regular commitment
to each discipline is more beneficial.
Weekly Meisner
Kate Maravan
Mondays
14.00-17.00
Course: A50
Keywords: WEEKLY | MEISNER | INSTINCT | IN THE MOMENT | FURTHER DEVELOPMENT
These workshops are for those who have experience in the Meisner Technique. A chance to continue or
refresh the work, whether as an occasional drop-in or a regular workout. This is a drop-in workshop.
→ Kate is an actress/writer and teacher. She trained at RADA and has co-written scripts for theatre, the BBC
and Channel 4. In 1997 Kate discovered the Meisner Technique and embarked on an on-going practice and
exploration of the work. She began teaching in 2000 and now teaches in the UK and internationally. She
teaches weekly at the Actors Centre and weekly classes in Exmouth Market and Brixton. Kate is also interested
in collaborations with other practitioners; she teaches Meisner/5 Rhythms workshops with Cathy Ryan.
PARTICIPANTS: £18 / OBSERVERS: £10
Preparing for Singing Auditions
Mary Hammond
Thursday July 17, 18.00-21.00
Mondays August 4, September 22, 14.00-17.00
Course: MT1
Keywords: MONTHLY | SHARING | SUPPORT | CONFIDENCE | SINGING | FEEDBACK | AUDITION
This is a practical workshop to try out singing audition material for actors who find singing auditions traumatic
and musical theatre performers with specific songs to work on. We will create a supportive and constructive
environment to try things out. You can bring music of any style and all abilities and experiences are welcome.
Participants will be given constructive advice both in choosing material and vocal help as needed. This
workshop will continue on a monthly basis so participants can develop their confidence and technique.
→ Mary is currently Head of Musical Theatre at the Royal Academy of Music. She has an eclectic teaching
practise covering many genres, working with performers from both West End shows and regional theatre. Her
recent personal highlights include work on London Road at the NT and visiting Glastonbury with Coldplay.
PARTICIPANTS: £30 / OBSERVERS: £10
Actors’ Weekly Drop-In
Vicky Jones
Mondays
18.00-21.00
Course: A55
Keywords: WEEKLY DROP-IN | SKILLS BUILDING | TEXT | EXPLORE | TECHNIQUE | CONFIDENCE
Drop in for a stimulating acting workshop utilising contemporary professional methods on a myriad of texts
from Shakespeare via modern classics to new writing. Based on the belief that we learn through doing, this is a
workshop to help you experience new techniques, keep your skills fresh and gain constructive and supportive
feedback. Perfect for those just starting out and those who wish to keep their hand in, this workshop can build
confidence and develop overall technique. This workshop involves no preparation.
→ Vicky is co-Artistic Director of DryWrite (www.drywrite.com), a theatre company dedicated to interrogating
and challenging the roles of playwright and audience. Over the past six years Vicky has worked as a freelance
workshop leader for the Young Writers Programme at the Royal Court. Other freelance directing credits
include The Freedom of the City (Finborough), A Bedroom (Lyric Studio) and The Blind Bird (Gate Theatre,
Directors Festival). For the NT, Coram Boy, Rafta, Rafta (Staff Director) and Banned: The History of Censorship
(NT Platform). As AD, Piano/Forte, I Remember the Royal Court and The One with the Oven (Royal Court).
PARTICIPANTS: £18
39
July - September 2014 Programme
Weekly Singing Coaching
Heather Weir
Mondays
18:00-21:00
Course: P4
Keywords: WEEKLY 1-2-1 | SINGING | SKILLS | TECHNIQUE | ALL LEVELS
Private, 45-minute coaching sessions for all stages of development of the actor who needs to sing. Exercises
for the individual warm-up, working from the song text, preparation of audition material and how to interpret
musical direction your way.
→ Heather is a freelance MD, actor and singer and a teacher of voice and sung voice in drama schools.
PARTICIPANTS: £34
Vocal Surgery
Caryll Ziegler
Every other Tuesday (see website or call reception for dates)
10.30-13.30
Course: V2
Keywords: FORTNIGHTLY 1-2-1 | VOCAL PRACTICE | SKILLS | BODY | TECHNIQUE | ARTICULATION
Half-hour, private sessions for voice problems including speech faults and poor articulation and placement for
native and foreign English speakers. Caryll also specialises in English usage, pronunciation, phonetics, etiquette
and behaviour from Shakespeare to contemporary playwrights. Caryll can also work with you on simple vocal
control through anatomical knowledge, relaxation, release and imagination. Using the body naturally, your
vocal instrument becomes flexible and exciting. You will also pick up tips for your own personal
vocal/articulation warm-up. Please bring any pieces that you would like to work on, including audition pieces
and let the Bookings Office know in advance if you have any specific requests.
→ Caryll was taught Shakespeare by John Dover Wilson, founder of the Arden Shakespeare. She spent two
years with Joan Littlewood's Theatre Workshop Company, set up the Voice Department of the London Studio
Centre and was one of the founding Principals at ALRA. She was Head of Voice at Webber Douglas from 19972006. She has worked on Channel 4's Faking It and her clients have included Laura Michelle Kelly, Minnie
Driver, Donna Air, John Hefernan, Thomas Craig, Nigel Lindsay, Hari Dhillon and Stockard Channing.
PARTICIPANTS: £25
Improvisation – Monthly Workshops
Paul Foxcroft
Tuesdays July 22, August 19, September 16
18.00-21.00
Course: A63
Keywords: MONTHLY | IMPROVISATION | PLAY | EXPLORE | CONFIDENCE | CREATIVITY
The ability to think on your feet freely and without fear can allow an actor to reach new levels in performance
and in the elemental process of rehearsal. These monthly improvisation workshops allow actors to be more
present, connect to other performers and create work that even surprises themselves. Not necessarily geared
towards comedy, but towards creating truthful scenes, that will inspire and re-energise any performer. Allow
yourself to play, be free and gain confidence and take these skills to auditions, rehearsals and even your own
creative work.
→ Paul is an experienced improviser and has been performing and teaching professionally in the UK, Canada
and Europe for nine years. During that time, he has survived a number of 50-hour improvised marathons, both
in Canada, with show creators Die-Nasty and in the UK with The Sticking Place. He was co-founder of seminal
London improv troupe, The Institute, performs as exactly one half of improv wonder-team Paul&Cariad with
the incredible Cariad Lloyd, is a core cast member of Monkeytoast: The Improvised Talk Show and guests
regularly with Grand Theft Impro and Austentatious. As a writer, Paul was a finalist in Montreal's Just For
Laughs International Comedy Festival scriptwriting competition in 2011. His material has been broadcast on TV
and radio in Canada and he's just sold a pilot script to a Canadian production house. Most recently, he's been
teaching and performing in Belgium and Germany.
PARTICIPANTS: £18
40
July - September 2014 Programme
Sightreading and Presentation
Nina Finburgh
Wednesdays
10.30-13.30
Course: G15
Keywords: WEEKLY | SIGHTREADING | PRESENTATION | AUDITION | TEXT WORK
The innovator of the now widely used method for revealing potential when sightreading at auditions, Nina
Finburgh takes a weekly morning session for a group of twelve. Please be advised that workshops fill up well in
advance. Texts are provided on the day. These sessions are for Premium members only. If you have not
participated in Nina’s workshop before, please join an Audition Technique – Cold and Prepared Readings
workshop (see below).
→ Nina has coached many of our foremost musical theatre artists and has worked with classical and
contemporary companies and coached Principals in ballets and musicals.
PARTICIPANTS: £18 / OBSERVERS: £10
Audition Technique – Cold and Prepared Readings
Nina Finburgh
Wednesdays July 23, September 3
10.30-13.30
Course: G18
Keywords: INTRODUCTION | SIGHTREADING | PRESENTATION | AUDITION | TEXT WORK
Learn about this skill, vital when meeting Directors and Casting Directors with Nina Finburgh, mentor to many
of our most established performers. Texts are provided on the day. If you have not participated in Nina’s
regular sightreading workshops before, you must take this workshop first. You only need to attend one before
participating in Nina's weekly Wednesday workshops, (see above). “Nina Finburgh is as close as we get to a
genius in actor training. With absolute directness and honesty, she delivers her techniques for sight reading in
clear, practical terms. One session with her opens up the audition process. Work with her more and your career
will change for the better.” – Scott Williams, Impulse Company
→ Nina has coached many of our foremost musical theatre artists and has worked with classical and
contemporary companies and coached Principals in ballets and musicals.
PARTICIPANTS: £18 / OBSERVERS: £10
Working
Nathan Osgood
Wednesdays
18.00-21.00
Course: A49
Keywords: WEEKLY | AUDITION | SCENE WORK | CHARACTER | RETURNING | PRACTICAL
We all know how good we are when an audition comes during, or just after a period of work. These weekly
workshops are hands-on and aim to help you stay that sharp. Working on scenes from new American and
British plays, hot-seating audition piece characters, improvisation on text and taking quick direction in an
audition setting.
→ Nathan’s many directing and acting credits include seasons at the National Theatre, Chichester Festival
Theatre, the Tricycle, Henry Street Theatre in New York and the films Velvet Goldmine, Sahara, Piccadilly Jim
and Mission Impossible. He has most recently appeared in Cool Hand Luke and A Life with Joan Rivers, both in
the West End and can be seen in the new film Red Lights with Sigourney Weaver.
PARTICIPANTS: £18
41
July - September 2014 Programme
Putting in the Hours
Various Tutors
Thursdays
13.30-15.30 or 15.45-17.45
Course: TV48 or TV49
Keywords: WEEKLY | SCREEN PERFORMANCE | CONFIDENCE | CREATE | SHARE | DISCUSS | PRACTICAL
In order to excel in any field of human endeavour it’s necessary to accumulate about 10,000 hours of practice.
That’s what they say and it’s probably true. There’s no doubt that commitment and opportunity produce
superior skill, but where can trained but inexperienced screen actors get an opportunity to put in ten, let alone
ten thousand hours of experience in front of a camera? These innovative weekly workshops are specifically
designed to help members improve their screen skills and to gain experience and confidence. During these
record-and-review sessions, participants will film short sequences and discuss the playback with an
experienced director or tutor. This is not a drop-in workshop. Scripts will be emailed to participants the day
before each session and because each workshop is limited to four participants, a high standard of pre-learning,
punctuality and commitment is essential.
→ These workshops will be led by a small team of tutors that include Daniel Dresner, Cathy Hammond, Akbar
Kurtha, Gill Wilkinson and Suzy Catliff. Please check individual dates on the website for the tutor biographies.
PARTICIPANTS: £18
Private Singing
Brian Galloway
Every other Thursday (see website or call reception for dates)
13.15-16.15
Course: P3
Keywords: FORTNIGHTLY 1-2-1 | SINGING | AUDITION | BEGINNER | EMERGING | REFRESH | PRACTICE
Private, half-hour singing sessions for the less confident and those who need to rehearse songs for audition or
those wanting to try new ones. Brian is an excellent pianist and thus is able to record your music for practising
at home. Learn a basic singing technique with a relaxed approach.
→ Brian has been working with singers for many years and teaches professional students in the UK and
abroad. He also manages two performing groups which regularly perform in London.
PARTICIPANTS: £25
Shakespeare Sweatshop – Monthly Workshops
Luke Dixon
Thursdays July 17, August 21, September 18
18:30-21:30
Course: SH20
Keywords: MONTHLY | CLASSICAL THEATRE | AUDITION | SCENE WORK | CONFIDENCE | TEXT
Stretch your Shakespeare skills in Luke Dixon's monthly workout, for both Shakespeare virgins coming to his
texts for the first time and experienced old hands in need of refreshment. We'll look at monologues and
scenes, familiar plays and lesser known ones. This will be an ideal opportunity to find or work on new audition
speeches in a fun, supportive and enthusiastic environment that will leave you feeling inspired and confident.
Bring along a speech to work on, a character you would like to play or a scene you would like to be in. Or
contact Luke in advance for advice: luke@lukedixon.co.uk.
→ Luke Dixon is a performance maker, writer, teacher and academic, internationally known for his innovative
productions of Shakespeare, his site-specific performances, his teaching of actors and his research into
performance. His productions for Theatre Nomad, of which he was Artistic Director for 20 years, included allfemale versions of Macbeth and Hamlet and productions of A Midsummer Night's Dream, Twelfth Night and As
You Like It. These productions have been seen in China, North America, South Africa, Germany, France, Poland,
Russia, Czech and Slovak Republics, Spain and the UK. He has a doctorate in “The Performance of Gender”, and
has published regularly on performance. His book, Play-Acting, a Guide to Theatre Workshops, is published by
Methuen in the UK and by Routledge New York and his 4 Good Audition Guides to Shakespeare are published
by Nick Hern Books.
PARTICIPANTS: £18
42
July - September 2014 Programme
Monthly Screen Acting: Acting is Simple, Confidence is Key
Ewa Kolodziejska
Fridays July 25, August 29, September 26
10.30-17.30
Course: TV59
Keywords: SCREEN ACTING | PREPARATION | SCENE WORK | PRACTICAL | TECHNIQUES
This monthly practical workshop will explore screen acting technique in a quick and accessible way. You will
learn a wide range of the most popular techniques and see them work first hand off and on camera. The work
will be inspired by Stanislavski and Ewa's focus on relaxation, concentration and imagination, enabling actors
to own their craft and improve their work practically on a regular basis. In class, work will focus on self and
character, listening and responding in the moment and homework in equal measure. A commitment to work
hard in class and on your own will ensure that you learn all you need to be a fulfilled working actor.
→ Ewa is an international acting coach and theatre director. She teaches using a plethora of acting
practitioners, but she specialises in Uta Hagen, Stanislavski, screen acting and audition technique. She trained
as an actress at Arts Ed, LAMDA and RADA. In 2010, she completed her MA in Actor Training and Coaching at
RCSSD. She also works as a visiting lecturer and most recent visits include LAMDA, Central, Rose Bruford and
London Film Academy. Her current research practise lies in 21st century life coaching, concentrating on the
science of success and the importance of self-belief. For more information visit www.actingcoachewa.com.
PARTICIPANTS: £45
Voice
Jessica Higgs
Every other Friday (see website or call reception for dates)
14.00-17.00
Course: V3
Keywords: FORTNIGHTLY 1-2-1 | VOCAL PRACTICE | TECHNIQUE | TEXT | SKILLS
These sessions provide advice and tutoring on all aspects of voice work including basic technique, vocal health,
text work, keeping the voice free and expressive when acting, sight-reading and RP. Half-hour private sessions.
→ Jessica is a freelance voice coach. Theatre work includes Salisbury Playhouse, Bolton Octagon and Mamma
Mia! Her earlier work as an actor, singer and MD, along with her more recent directing experiences, greatly
informs her voice work and the assistance she gives to performers.
PARTICIPANTS: £25
Monthly Writers Drop-in
Stewart Permutt
Fridays July 25, August 29, September 26
18.30-21.30
Course: WR1
Keywords: MONTHLY | SCRIPT WRITING | CREATE | SHARE | DISCUSS | SUPPORT
These sessions are aimed at anyone who has work they would like to be read for group feedback or just simply
want to come and observe or discuss an idea. The aim is to encourage, stimulate and support writers through a
workshop approach. This is a chance to hear your work aloud and discuss problems and ideas with the group.
Previous participants have won the prestigious Verity Bargate Award, the Off Cut Festival at The Old Red Lion and
had productions at Edinburgh Festival. Rehearsed readings of completed works are often shown in the TBT. The
Actors Centre supports the Writers Group in a variety of ways including opportunities to undertake an annual
play reading, involvement in the monthly Green Room Programme and input into the film courses along with the
potential to create short response pieces to main-house shows in the Tristan Bates Theatre.
→ Stewart is a playwright, teacher and actor. He has given writing workshops for Channel 4, The Bankside
Globe and Morley College. His play Real Babies Don`t Cry won an Edinburgh Fringe First. His play Unsuspecting
Susan starring Celia Imrie played at The Kings Head, off-Broadway and Stuttgart. Singular Women starring
Lesley Joseph played at Edinburgh, The Kings Head, a National Tour and Perth, Australia. Many Roads To
Paradise with the late Miriam Karlin was produced at The Finborough and Jermyn Street Theatres.
PARTICIPANTS: £10 (Associate Members can participate in this workshop)
43
July - September 2014 Programme
Weekly Accent Clinic
Terry Besson
Saturdays
10.30-13.30
Course Code: D1
Keywords: WEEKLY 1-2-1 | ACCENTS | SPEECH | VOCAL PRACTICE
Private, half-hour accent clinic. Please advise the Bookings Office which particular accent you wish to study.
→ Terry studied with Cicely Berry and has worked at the NT, Peter Hall Company, English Shakespeare
Company and the BBC.
PARTICIPANTS: £25
The Dyslexia Toolbox – Monthly Sessions
Deborah Leveroy
Saturdays July 26, August 30, September 27
14.00-17.00
Course: A59
Keywords: MONTHLY DYSLEXIA SUPPORT | TEXT WORK | SKILLS DEVELOPMENT | STRATEGIES
Are you dyslexic or think you might be? Do you want to improve your memory, concentration and reading
skills? These individually tailored 45 minute sessions will help you prepare for auditions, rehearsals and
performances by maximising your memory, reading and organisation skills, among others. Strategies are
specifically tailored for dyslexic actors. Areas that can be explored include:
• line learning
• mind mapping
• computer packages
• sight-reading & speed reading techniques
• text-to-speech software
• letter writing skills
• visual stress
• music and exercise
• non-text based approaches to rehearsal
• the assessment process and support funding options.
If you’re in need of a skill top-up or want tailored advice then come along, whether you’re dyslexic, dyspraxic
or neither. When booking please indicate what you want to work on. If you have a dyslexia/dyspraxia
assessment report that you want to discuss in the session, please email it in advance to
dcleveroy@hotmail.com and a user-friendly summary report will be provided.
→ Deborah’s practice-based PhD looks at dyslexia in the context of actor training institutions and the
profession. She is the drama advisor to the British Dyslexia Association’s music committee, has run dyslexia
workshops at the Moscow Art Theatre School, Young Vic Dyslexic Directors Network, TaPRA, National Student
Drama Festival and has taught acting at Richmond University, Kent University and CSSD. Deborah trained at
Drama Studio London. Publications include: ‘Dyslexia and Sight-Reading for Actors’ in Dyslexia, Music and the
Performing Arts (British Dyslexia Association), ‘Locating dyslexic performance: text, identity & creativity’ in
Research in Drama Education (Routledge), ‘Enabling Performance: Dyslexia, (Dis)ability and Reasonable
Adjustment’ in Theatre, Dance and Performer Training (Routledge).
PARTICIPANTS: £34 (Associate Members can participate in this workshop)
44
July - September 2014 Programme
Industry Programme
The Industry Programme offers a range of workshops that provide our members with knowledge of, and
links to, the industry, assisting them in a working context and with their employability. Workshops and
sessions assist in developing new skills and career opportunities and range from casting and audition
technique to career advice and business skills with many other opportunities to develop new strategies,
build confidence and realise your potential.
Script to Screen Showcase
Dates to be confirmed
Experience a 360-degree insight into the film-making process. Working on a shoot, under the real-life
conditions of a small scale film production, you will participate in aspects of film making not usually open to
actors, including script development and the edit. Learning through practical interaction with a leading screen
director you will create, produce and feature in a short film that will be screened in front of an audience of
friends, industry and peers in the Tristan Bates Theatre. As well as providing a showcase for you as a screen
actor, this will also equip you with the knowledge to initiate your own future projects. Please apply with your
CV by July 23rd - the director will cast the film and you may be invited to meet with him/her as part of this
process. The film will be cast in July, rehearsal and filming in October and the screening in December. Dates
will be confirmed shortly.
PARTICIPANTS: £400
Off the Record
A series of talks with leading actors and other industry professionals hosted by Paul Clayton
with Special Guests
Dates to be confirmed
Off the Record is an ongoing series of talks with key figures in the industry. Actors and directors giving
interesting and informative insights into their personal journeys in this challenging and ever-changing business.
Hosted by Paul Clayton, there will be an opportunity for audience members to ask pertinent questions. In our
first season of Off the Record, we were delighted to welcome Juliet Stevenson, Hugh Bonneville and Actors
Centre founder members Clive Swift and Bruce Alexander. New dates will be announced in upcoming
newsletters. Previous talks are available to listen to on our website.
£FREE
Elements of Motivation
Nirpal Bhogal
July 1
11.00-13.30
Course: AD1
Keywords: SELF EXPLORATION | CONFIDENCE BUILDING | PREPARATION | AUDITION | SHARING
In this workshop Nirpal will look at techniques and ideas to help empower you to feel positive and motivated
to developing your craft and build confidence and skills so that when opportunities arise you are prepared and
excited, rather than frustrated (which all too often comes across in auditions). We will look at: the reasons why
you want to be an actor – and how remembering this will keep you motivated; the importance of networking;
how to keep positive; how to interpret rejection; auditioning; and understanding the industry.
→ Nirpal Bhogal directed the first block of series 4 of Misfits. He recently wrote and directed his debut feature
Sket, a girl-gang thriller for Gunslinger/Revolver. The film saw Nirpal and his lead actress nominated for Best
British Newcomer at the London Film Festival where it premiered before UK release. After directing several
shorts and music promos Nirpal made his breakthrough with the critically acclaimed short film Cold Kiss, a film
about knife-crime, starring and produced by Ray Winstone.
PARTICIPANTS: £18
45
July - September 2014 Programme
Make a Radio Play in a Day
Gordon Lamont
July 4
10.30-17.30
Course: RV2
Keywords: RADIO DRAMA | SCRIPT DEVELOPMENT | RECORDED OUTCOME | PRACTICAL
Plan, rehearse and record a short radio drama from scratch with experienced radio director Gordon Lamont.
This intensive one-day workshop will include an introduction to radio drama techniques, improvising your
story and characters, scripting and planning scenes, rehearsal and recording, playback and discussion.
Following the workshop Gordon will email an edited MP3 of the play to all participants.
→ Gordon is a freelance writer and director of audio, video & online material. Formerly with BBC learning he has
produced 200+ programmes, including Afternoon Play and was part of the BAFTA winning team for Off by Heart
(BBC). Recent work includes Hands on History (BBC) & the Tate Movie Project (BBC, Aardman, Tate Galleries).
PARTICIPANTS: £30
How to Increase your Casting Potential: TV Casting and Etiquette
Suzy Catliff
July 6 OR September 21
10.30-17.30
Course: CA1
Keywords: AUDITIONS | TV DRAMA | PREPARATION | PRACTICAL | COLD READING | FEEDBACK
This workshop takes an in-depth and practical look at casting for TV Dramas. This will be a thoroughly practical
day’s work where you will be cast in at least two different scenes, get a chance to cold-read, sight-read and
prepare a scene in advance, be put on tape and then review your work in a supportive group environment.
Former feedback for Suzy: “I found that the sessions were clearly differentiated so that the focus was very
specific which made it easy to understand objectives and relevant advice on the day.”
→ Suzy works as a Casting Director and is a member of the CDG. TV credits include Primeval, The Inspector
Murdoch Mysteries, Casualty, Silent Witness and Hope and Glory III. Single dramas include D-Day, Empathy,
Lifeline and The Secret. She cast the feature film A Bunch of Amateurs and her associate work includes
Stormbreaker, The Gathering, Swimming Pool, Two Men Went to War and Fairy Tale – A True Story. She was
assistant casting director on Sense and Sensibility, The English Patient and Wilde. Suzy has worked extensively as
a lecturer in casting for various UK and US film schools and co-wrote The Casting Handbook. Suzy is also a theatre
director, and is a founding member of Lucky Stuff Productions. For more info visit www.suzycatliff.co.uk.
PARTICIPANTS: £55
Understanding Your Branding – One-to-One Sessions
Darren R L Gordon
July 7 OR September 8
10.30-17.30
Course: AD2
Keywords: 1-2-1 | SELF MARKETING | BRANDING | CAREER | PLANNING
As an actor you are a product and like any good product you need a marketing strategy, branding and packaging.
These 1-2-1, 45-minute sessions are an opportunity to discuss your personal branding and how effective it is. We
will look at your existing marketing material including any of the following: CV, headshot, showreel, covering
letters, personal website, Spotlight, Casting Call Pro and performance piece (monologue of no more than three
minutes in length). Darren will work through as much of this material as possible looking for the consistency of
the message your brand is sending out and identifying ways that it can be strengthened.
→ For the last 15 years Darren R L Gordon has been helping actors develop a career in TV, film & theatre. For the
last 7 years he has run his own company training actors and producing small-scale theatre and a variety of filmbased productions. He has delivered workshops for C4, BBC and a number of theatres across the country. He has
worked with actors at all ages and levels of experience and has helped them progress their technique,
understanding, contacts, range and abilities. He has had particular success helping actors identify what they have
to offer and how that is best marketed to the industry having created his Branding & Networking Workshops.
PARTICIPANTS: £34
46
July - September 2014 Programme
The Digital Revolution: Make work, Get work, Make Money, Make Work
Owyn Stephens
July 8
10.30-13.30
Course: AD3
Keywords: ONLINE PRESENCE | BRANDING | YOUTUBE | ADVICE | DEVELOPMENT
This workshop explores the future of the industry online and why performers of every skillset should have
their own dedicated digital channel. This introduction to the digital world will take you, step by step, through
how to set up, brand and make content on YouTube. Focusing on successful channels to emulate, the
workshop also looks at how to gain, keep and increase your audience, collaborate with others, achieve
attention from the entertainment industry and look toward making money from the fastest growing
entertainment platform in the world.
→ Owyn is an actor, writer and producer of Owyn & Co, his officially-partnered YouTube channel. His first
sketch, Knightmare, was nominated for sketch of the year by The Poke, his second, Quest, was labelled “One
of the most playful, original sketches ever seen” by TV Comedy is Dead. Since launch, Owyn & Co has gained
over 350,000 views, over a dozen corporate commissions and has been featured in Shortlist and The Guardian
as well as winning humbling acclaim from the likes of comedy giants Peter Serafinowicz (Shaun of the Dead,
Spaced), Graham Linehan (Father Ted, The IT Crowd) and Sam Bain (Peep Show, Fresh Meat).
PARTICIPANTS: £12
Casting with Confidence
Irene Cotton
July 9
14.30-17.30
Course: CA2
Keywords: FILM & TV | PRESENTING YOURSELF | AUDITION TECHNIQUE | INDUSTRY ADVICE
Build confidence and pick up tips to make the most of all your film and TV casting opportunities. You’ll be sent
a scene to prepare in advance that is specially suited to your casting type and on the day we’ll film and
playback your performance with extensive notes and tips to get the most from the scene and present yourself
at your best. Following this there will be a Q&A focussing on the practical side of your careers, looking at how
to be proactive, how to work effectively with an agent, working without an agent and how to, hopefully,
achieve a lifetime career in this demanding profession.
→ Irene is a Casting Director for film, theatre, TV and commercials. She originally worked alongside Jonathan
Miller at the Old Vic and other theatre casting credits include the National Theatre, Chichester, Crucible
Sheffield, Olympia Theatre Dublin and many productions on Broadway and in the West End. She worked
extensively for Talkback/Thames casting over 200 episodes of The Bill as well as many shows for CBBC. Her
other TV and film credits include The Libertine, Seventh Moon, Little Lord Fauntleroy and she was also the
regular casting director for the BBC’s Panorama. Currently Irene is casting two films, The Little Mermaid for
Done Four Productions Vancouver and Americus for RAI Europe. In September she starts casting a new play
about Churchill for Guildford and the West End.
PARTICIPANTS: £30
47
July - September 2014 Programme
Commercial Castings
Toby Mace
July 10
10.30-17.30
Course: CA3
Keywords: COMMERCIAL AUDITIONS | CREATIVITY | PRACTICAL EXERCISES | INDUSTRY ADVICE
This workshop will provide a pro-active and empowering model for actors to apply to the commercial casting
process. Participants will learn how to take control and analyse a script for key moments to play and therefore
overcome the typically passive attitude in commercial castings – “it's just about what you look like” or “the
decision is all in someone else's hands”. We will break down scripts as dramatic texts to help you find what you
need quickly to make informed and creative decisions. Each participant will have the opportunity to put these
methods into practice in mock castings on camera, using individual genuine commercial scripts suited to their
casting type. We will also look at how commercials work as media, brands and narratives and how casting
works in terms of audience and industry – as an enabling dynamic, not a constraining one. This workshop is
suitable for all actors, irrespective of their existing commercials casting experience.
→ Toby Mace has worked for over 15 years as a professional actor, appearing in over 40 commercial
campaigns around the world for brands such as Marmite, Carling, Mini, McDonald's, IKEA, Philadelphia, Kit Kat
and FlyBe. His television work includes dramas The Cry with Sarah Lancashire, Waking The Dead and Hollyoaks.
He has taught at Drama Studio London and The MTA.
PARTICIPANTS: £45
Autogenic Training Taster Workshop
Giovanna Reitano
July 10, 18.00-20.30 OR
September 6, 10.30-13.00
Course: AD4
Keywords: RELAXATION TECHNIQUE | SELF-CONFIDENCE | FOCUS | CONCENTRATION
These sessions are for actors who wish to learn mind-body relaxation skills to improve their physical and
psychological wellbeing and performance. You will be introduced to the principles and practice of Autogenic
Training (AT), a research-based relaxation technique and comprehensive therapeutic approach that helps to
enhance self-confidence, focus and concentration, emotional flow and the body’s energy level. AT is a useful
technique to prevent and reduce stress and stress-related symptoms and conditions such as anxiety, stage
fright, panic attacks, emotional tension, sleeplessness, headaches and migraines, tiredness, muscle tension,
mild depression and hypertension. Performers will be also shown examples of autogenic practice. There is no
need to wear special clothing for this workshop. Associate members can participate in these sessions.
→ Giovanna Reitano is a qualified and registered Autogenic Therapist and Hypnotherapist and a BAPAM
practitioner and trainer. She trained and worked several years as a classical professional harpist and her
educational background is also in Gestalt and Counselling/Psychotherapy. Giovanna’s experience includes
working with children and adults with different psychological issues and medical conditions.
PARTICIPANTS: £10
48
July - September 2014 Programme
Improve Your Chances Auditioning
John Melainey
July 14
10.30-17.30
Course: CA4
Keywords: AUDITION | TECHNIQUE | CONFIDENCE | PREPARATION | FEEDBACK
Audition technique is the most important skill an actor will ever learn. This workshop is designed to build confidence
and improve your chances of success when auditioning for TV, film and commercials. We will look at how to approach
a commercials script differently from a TV/film script and how to prepare well and quickly. You’ll have the opportunity
to look at the playback before doing it again, allowing you to watch and learn from your mistakes and from all the
others who were reading for the part. You’ll be shown a sightreading and preparation technique that helps free you
from the script and make the camera your ally. Please bring a DVD RW, not a DVD R so you can take away your work.
Participants will be sent a scene to learn shortly before the workshop. Please contact the Bookings Office if you have
not received this scene a few days before the workshop.
→ John has first-hand experience of the casting process on both sides of the camera. For 20 years John has, on behalf
of Hubbard Casting, auditioned and directed thousands of actors whilst running casting sessions for TV, film and
commercials. He has combined this experience with his 30 years of professional acting work to refine and teach the
solutions to the problems faced by actors during the audition process.
PARTICIPANTS: £55 / OBSERVERS: £15
Casting on Camera
Polly Hootkins and Chris Green
July 16
18.00-21.00
Course: CA5
Keywords: AUDITIONS | PRACTICAL EXERCISES | FEEDBACK | INDUSTRY ADVICE | NEW SKILLS
This workshop will improve your skills in front of camera and familiarise you with the tools required to succeed
at a casting/audition session. Carefully selected scenes will be performed and recorded in front of the group
then analysed and refined by Polly and Chris before being presented a second time. Polly works specifically on
what is required at a casting session while Chris focuses on the behind-the-scenes work that is required to
build a convincing performance, often with little or no preparation. The importance of taking risks,
understanding the intricate, almost mystical, relationship between actor and camera and the ability to reveal a
character’s thoughts between the lines on the page will be discussed and demonstrated throughout the
session. Feedback and involvement from everyone present is encouraged throughout and an open discussion
plus Q&A at the end provides a robust conclusion to the workshop. Actors will always receive their scenes
several days before the workshop so that they have time to prepare.
→ Polly was an actress and agent before becoming a Casting Director. Her film casting credits include A New
Day In Old Sana’a, Captain Jack, The Long Kiss Goodnight, Cutthroat Island, Dark Blood (which was halted after
the demise of River Phoenix and the Director George Sluizer is now about to resurrect it), Prospero’s Books,
Utz. TV casting includes Wild at Heart, Rose & Maloney, Marguerite Volant (10x1 hour series for French
Canada TV). Theatre casting credits include Chichester Festival Season, Faithful Dealing at Soho Theatre, M.
Butterfly for Singapore Repertory Theatre and The Wood Demon for The Playhouse, London. Her current
project is a film with Arabic speaking actors, to be shot in Marrakech in 2014.
→ Chris started out as an actor and is now a screenwriter, who also directs and produces. Chris’s writing
credits include: Rhinoceros (Granada/Coastal Productions); Going Home (BBC); Festival of the Americas which
received 3 Canadian Academy Award Nominations including Best Film; Fell Tiger (BBC) which won T.R.I.C.S.
Award Best Drama Series; A Dinner Of Herbs (Festival Films); four episodes of Trainer (BBC); story consultant
and lead writer for four episodes of Adventurer (Thames/TVNZ/Gatetarn Co-Production) and 7 episodes of
series one of Peak Practice (ITV). Chris currently has several film and TV projects in development through his
company Island Films.
PARTICIPANTS: £30
49
July - September 2014 Programme
Audition Technique – Preparing Yourself for Success
Gabrielle Jourdan
July 23, 24
10.30-17.30
Course: CA6
Keywords: PRACTICAL EXERCISES | FEEDBACK | PREPARATION | FLEXIBILITY | COLD-READING
How do you nail that audition and get the job? This course looks at demystifying the audition process so you
have the confidence to excel under pressure. We will explore how auditions work and analyse auditions from
the point of view of the director, producer and casting director. Audition preparation is key; we will decide
how to make the best choices while remaining flexible and open to redirection. We will look at tackling scenes
for an audition and also explore how best to choose and prepare monologues both modern and classical. Sight
reading is an essential part of the audition process – we will examine strategies and techniques to enhance
sight reading skills and create truthful, dynamic performances. The course covers script work from a variety of
text types. Please bring a modern and Shakespeare monologue with you that you would like to work on.
→ Gabrielle trained as an actor at Drama Centre London and has worked extensively in theatre, film and
television including leading roles at the Royal National Theatre and Royal Shakespeare Company. She won an
Ian Charleson award for her portrayal of Jessica in The Merchant of Venice directed by Trevor Nunn at the RNT.
For the last ten years she has combined acting with directing and teaching. Directing projects include working
with Peter Gill at the Sheffield Lyceum, Richard Wilson at the Sheffield Crucible and Daniel Evans on numerous
projects for The Royal Court and Young Vic. She is currently an Associate Lecturer at Drama Centre where she
teaches audition technique and textual analysis.
PARTICIPANTS: £60
Why Make a Short Film?
Michael van der Put
July 23
18.30-21.30
Course: AD5
Keywords: CREATE WORK | INDUSTRY ADVICE | OPPORTUNITIES | CAREER DEVELOPMENT
This session is for anyone with an interest in short film as a medium and is maybe weighing up the costs and
benefits of making their first short. The primary purpose of the session will be to introduce participants to the
form and show a selection of work by contemporary directors made on a variety of budgets. By the end of the
session participants will have an idea of the process and what to do with a finished short film. We will look at
the UK and worldwide festival circuits as well as examine the online platforms that filmmakers use to
showcase their work. Finally we will look at whether making a short film can actually lead to a career in
television or feature film. The work that will be shown will be from established or up and coming directors.
→ Michael van der Put is a freelance film and theatre director based in London. He studied directing at Drama
Centre where he made his debut short Callum. To date Callum has screened at 26 festivals around the world
and won 15 awards, including Best UK Short at the East End Film Festival. The film was selected as a finalist for
the Rushes Soho Shorts Newcomer Award and made it onto the long-list for the BAFTA Short Film Award
2012/13. Recently Michael has been working with many of the cast and crew of Callum to develop two follow
up shorts Angry Face & Rage. Together with Callum these films will form a triptych of youth shorts under the
umbrella title; Broken Hearted Youth.
PARTICIPANTS: £10
50
July - September 2014 Programme
Auditions: Happy In Your Skin
Mark Field
July 29
10.30-17.30
Course: CA7
Keywords: AUDITION STRATEGIES | PRESENTING YOURSELF | CONFIDENCE | TOOLS FOR SUCCESS
This fast-paced workshop will guide you through strategies for success in the audition and interview processes
for professional theatre, TV and film jobs. We will cover: how to research and speak knowledgeably about the
play/project; what you need to know about each director, casting agent, writer and company; how to present
yourself as the actor they want to work with; how to stand out in an audition and interview; how to audition
with impact. This workshop will give you fresh, practical tools to use for future auditions, interviews and
castings and is suitable for all levels of experience.
→ Mark is a stage and screen actor and director. As an actor, he has worked with the Oscar-nominated
Stephen Daldry, Evening Standard Award-winner Philip Ridley, opposite Olivier Award-winner Deborah Findlay
and with Sir Ian McKellen. He has performed onstage for the Old Vic, Chichester Festival Theatre, Rose Theatre
Kingston, ETT, West Yorkshire Playhouse, Trafalgar Studios, Soho Theatre, Arcola and in theatres in New York
and Australia; and onscreen for the BBC, Miramax Films, Ecosse Films, Curve Films and many independent
filmmakers. Mark’s directorial credits include the staging of August Osage County (Bancroft Studio)
and Tartuffe (BSA) as well as the creation of an independent film company with the London Film Collective and
Blue Iris Films. Mark won the inaugural Alan Bates Bursary Award, the Old Vic New Voices Award and was
nominated for Best Actor at the Off-West End Awards. He also teaches at RADA, Birmingham School of Acting,
Mountview and Communicaid Business Solutions.
PARTICIPANTS: £30
A Voice for Commercial Media
Katie Lyons and Ruth Gibson
July 31
14.30-17.30
Course: RV3
Keywords: VOICEOVER TECHNIQUES | SKILLS | VOCAL DEVELOPMENT | CAREER | PRESENTATION
This workshop will help actors to develop their skills and range as a voiceover artist. This workshop
specifically focuses on brandability and usability of the voice for anyone seeking work in the commercials and
marketing sector. The workshop will explore understanding your voice, what agents require, how to get the
most out of your voicereel, techniques in the studio, working with the client and much more. It is the perfect
workshop for actors wanting to move into commercial voiceover, or actors with limited voiceover experience
who want to expand their knowledge and skills.
→ Katie is an actress, voiceover artist and writer and has voiced adverts for Kinder Bueno, Charles
Worthington, Avon, Lynx and Specsavers as well as The Secret World video games and documentaries such as
At Teens In Love (ITV) and Kara Tointon: Don't Call Me Stupid. Her recent acting credits include The Kitchen
(National Theatre), Him & Her (BBC3), The Crimson Petal and The White (BBC2), Boy A and Green Wing (both
Channel 4) and the feature film The Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus. Katie has also facilitated numerous
workshops for young people and her clients include the Future Film Festival (BFI), BBC Blast, Oval House
Theatre, Goldsmiths University of London and Lilian Bayliss School.
→ Ruth is an actress and voiceover artist. She was featured on the BBC Culture Show, famous voices and in
the Readers Digest. She is most famous as the voice of Orange Mobile but has recorded numerous adverts for
television and radio, including Ariel washing powder, Look Magazine and British Airways and in-house work for
American Express, HSBC, Co-operative Bank and The Times. Ruth's work as an actress includes productions at
the National Theatre, RSC with Alan Ayckbourn and for the BBC. In 2009 she won a MEN best actress award.
PARTICIPANTS: £25
51
July - September 2014 Programme
TV Comedy Castings
Sarah Hughes
August 1
10.30-17.30
Course: CA16
Keywords: CASTING | COMEDY | SCREEN & THEATRE PERFORMANCE | CONFIDENCE | FEEDBACK
A day for those interested in developing their comic acting both for TV and theatre, with an intensive look at
the differences between various comedy styles, how to adapt comedy acting to prevailing trends and how to
develop a sense of timing and confidence in comic performance. We will work on comic audition pieces, try to
define what types of comedy acting might suit participants best and discuss and analyse some filmed and
some text-based scenes. Participants will be filmed in mock auditions which we will watch back and discuss.
→ Sarah has been Alan Ayckbourn's casting director since 1991, casting his plays at the SJT, in the West End, the
NT and on Broadway, as well as many other productions at the SJT. Since 2000 she has also freelanced for the BBC;
series include Jonathan Creek, Grass, Love Soup, Parents of the Band, 2 Pints, Pulling, Rock & Chips, The Old Guys,
Freedom and The Great Outdoors. Freelance theatre work includes plays for West Yorks, Birmingham Rep, Theatre
Royal Northampton and Frantic Assembly, including 2014’s The Believers. She was a Senior Cast Co-ordinator for
the London 2012 Olympic & Paralympic opening/closing ceremonies, leading on the Paralympic Opening. In 2013,
she cast Slings and Arrows for the BBC and recent projects include world premieres of Godber's Muddy Cows and
Ayckbourn's Arrivals and Departures, revivals of Time of My Life and Sugar Daddies at the ACT Theatre in Seattle.
PARTICIPANTS: £55 / OBSERVERS: £15
How to Be Your Own Agent
Paul Cawley
August 2
10.30-13.30
Course: AD6
Keywords: ACTORS’ STATIONERY | INDUSTRY INFORMATION & ADVICE | FEEDBACK
With less work and more actors it's tough being an actor and with cuts on the way it's about to get tougher. So the last
thing you need to do is to send out the wrong material to the wrong people at the wrong time. This workshop deals
with the importance of good self-marketing, how to identify your strengths and how to use various media effectively.
All students will receive an appraisal of their CV and photo, both from their fellow participants and from the tutor.
Topics covered include: a “good” CV, the right photo, how to write a covering letter, Spotlight, networking, how to be
your own agent and The Curse of the Last Rolo. All participants must bring a copy of their current photo and CV.
→ Paul’s 25 year career has encompassed a variety of theatre from Greek tragedy and Restoration comedy to modern
classics and new writing in venues as varied as NT, Chichester, Gate and Finborough, as well as appearances in the
West End. On screen he began in children’s TV and has since appeared in comedies, dramas and soaps, not to mention
commercials. He has taught at the Actors Centre, City Lit and Drama Studio and he has been one of the Equity/Skillset
Careers Advisors since 2005.
PARTICIPANTS: £18
RSC Casting: A Q&A Session
Hannah Miller
August 4
11.30-13.00
Code: CA14
Keywords: Q&A | INDUSTRY PROFESSIONAL | NETWORKING | ADVICE
Do you have a question about the RSC casting process? Would you like an opportunity to ask a casting director
about their work? Hannah will talk about her role at the RSC and the casting process from her perspective,
offering tips and advice on how to make the most of your opportunities and answering all your questions.
→ Hannah is currently Head of Casting at the RSC. After studying Drama at Hull Uni Hannah worked with Cheek
by Jowl and then became the Casting Assistant at the NT. She first joined the RSC in ‘03 as Deputy Casting
Director leaving in ‘05 to become Casting Director at Birmingham Rep. She has cast for Northampton Theatres,
Hampstead & Young Vic amongst others, returning to the RSC in ‘08.
PARTICIPANTS: £12
52
July - September 2014 Programme
Kick-Start Your Career
Paul Cawley
August 13 AND September 17
18.00-21.00
Course: AD7
Keywords: 1-2-1 | CAREER | ADVICE | PROGRESSION | PLANNING
Get personal career advice that's designed exclusively for you. In the 1st 30-minute private session bring your
CV, photo & showreel, address your specific concerns and worries & get practical solutions tailored specifically
for you. In the 2nd private session, see how things are going & get a longer term plan to help you in the future.
→ Paul’s 25 year career has encompassed a variety of theatre in venues as varied as NT, Chichester, Gate and
Finborough, as well as appearances in the West End. On screen he began in children’s TV and has since appeared
in comedies, dramas and soaps, not to mention commercials. He has taught at the Actors Centre, City Lit and
Drama Studio and he has been one of the Equity/Skillset Careers Advisors since 2005.
PARTICIPANTS: £50
Advanced Audition Technique
Vicky Jones
August 29
10.30-17.30
Course: CA17
Keywords: STRATEGIES | PRESENTING YOURSELF | PREPARATION | CONFIDENCE | IMAGINATION
We all know it doesn’t matter how perfect you feel you are for a part, or how much preparation you’ve done – it
all hangs on that first, crucial, 20 minute meeting with the director. This workshop takes you from the moment
you get the audition, through the best strategies in audition prep, to the audition itself and is packed with
essential guidelines to help conduct the perfect audition. We will explore how to access a new unseen text with
very little time, how to make educated, nuanced and potent decisions about character, how to maintain
composure in the audition itself, how to respond clearly and imaginatively to the director’s suggestions, how to
guarantee you have shown the best of yourself and how to be objective about your audition.
→ Vicky is co-Artistic Director of DryWrite (www.drywrite.com), a theatre company dedicated to interrogating
and challenging the roles of playwright and audience. Vicky has worked as a freelance workshop leader for the
Young Writers Programme at the Royal Court. Other freelance directing credits include The Freedom of the City
(Finborough), A Bedroom (Lyric Studio) and The Blind Bird (Gate Theatre, Directors Festival). For the NT, Coram
Boy, Rafta, Rafta (Staff Director) and Banned: The History of Censorship (NT Platform). As AD, Piano/Forte, I
Remember the Royal Court and The One with the Oven (Royal Court).
PARTICIPANTS: £30
TV Drama Castings
Sarah Hughes
September 1
10.30-17.30
Course: CA15
Keywords: CASTING | TV | DRAMA | PREPARATION | FEEDBACK | ADVICE | CONFIDENCE
A chance to talk about how TV auditions work and how to make them work better. We will look at some
typical TV drama scenes. Participants will be filmed and then we will watch the scenes back and discuss. We
will talk about TV drama castings and how best to prepare for them and how to overcome the "blocks" that
sometimes prevent us from doing our best on the day.
→ Sarah has been Alan Ayckbourn's casting director since 1991, casting his plays at the SJT, in the West End, the
NT and on Broadway, as well as many other productions at the SJT. She has freelanced for the BBC; series include
Jonathan Creek, Grass, Love Soup, Parents of the Band, 2 Pints, Pulling, Rock & Chips, The Old Guys, Freedom and
The Great Outdoors. Freelance theatre work includes plays for West Yorks, Birmingham Rep, and Frantic Assembly.
She was a Senior Cast Co-ordinator for the London 2012 opening & closing ceremonies. In 2013, she cast Slings and
Arrows for the BBC and recent projects include world premieres of Godber's Muddy Cows and Ayckbourn's Arrivals
and Departures, revivals of Time of My Life and Sugar Daddies at the ACT Theatre, Seattle.
PARTICIPANTS: £55 / OBSERVERS: £15
53
July - September 2014 Programme
Acting on Your Mind
Karen O’Connor
September 4
10.30-13.30
Course: AD8
Keywords: CONFIDENCE | STRATEGIES | OVERCOMING ANXIETY | PREPARATION
Karen is a performance coach working with elite and student performers. During her own performing career
she became curious how performers might learn from the mental training regimes used by elite sportsmen
and women who similarly need to be confident and mentally tough under pressure. Her research has
subsequently led her into this current ground breaking area of work. In this workshop you will have an
opportunity to: consider innovative applications of sport psychology to performance; explore practical
strategies for managing performance anxiety; and gain knowledge of how to be mentally tough when you have
one chance to get it right.
→ Karen leads a programme of Coaching in Performing Skills at Birmingham Conservatoire – the only one of
its kind in the UK. She also has a thriving private practice, collaborating with performing artists and executives
based in the UK, Europe and United States. As well as being a mental skills practitioner for the British
Association for Performing Arts Medicine (BAPAM), Karen regularly shares her expertise through
presentations and workshops with various performing arts establishments including the Masters in
Performing Arts Medicine course at UCL and the 2012 Cheltenham International Music Festival. Her career
began as a professional oboist, initially with the Orchestra of Opera North in Leeds followed by an invitation
from Sir Simon Rattle to join the internationally-acclaimed City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (CBSO),
with whom she has performed in many of the world’s great concert halls including Carnegie Hall New York,
Suntory Hall Tokyo, Vienna’s Musikverein and Berlin’s Philharmonie. For more information visit:
www.performingartsconsultancy.co.uk.
PARTICIPANTS: £18
Target-Setting and Career Progression
Darren R L Gordon
September 9
10.30-17.30
Course: AD9
Keywords: CAREER TARGET SETTING | SELF EXPLORATION & ASSESSMENT
As an actor, you need to have a constant sense of your objectives and a strong awareness of how effectively you are
progressing towards them. This workshop is designed to help you identify realistic and measurable targets to work
towards, giving you practical and insightful advice that will help you to achieve and move your career forward.
Adopting this approach will get you used to assessing what is beneficial and helping you move forward and what is
actually doing the opposite. All you will need is a copy of your CV, a list of objectives (no matter how big or small they
are), a notepad and a pen.
→ For the last 15 years Darren R L Gordon has been helping actors develop a career in TV, film and theatre. For the
last seven years he has run his own company which trains actors and produces small-scale theatre and a variety of
film-based productions. He has also delivered workshops for Channel 4, the BBC and a number of theatre venues
across the country. He has worked with many actors at all ages and levels of experience and has helped them progress
their technique, understanding, contacts, range and abilities. Over the last few years he has had particular success in
helping actors identify what they have to offer and how that is best marketed to the industry and as a result, has
created his Branding and Networking Workshops.
PARTICIPANTS: £30
54
July - September 2014 Programme
Producing a Show
Ben Monks and Will Young
September 9
18.00-20.00
Course: AD10
Keywords: PRODUCING | HOW TO | LONDON FRINGE | Q&A
Would you like to produce your work at the Tristan Bates Theatre? Are you interested in applying for the
supported AC Members’ slots? Do you have questions about getting your work on? Or are you just not sure
what producing a fringe show really means and think you’d better find out? This Q&A session with Ben Monks
and Will Young, Creative Producers at the Tristan Bates Theatre, includes an overview of the dedicated AC
Members’ weeks available as part of the TBT’s programme and tips for applying, as well as information on
producing a fringe/Off West End show and a chance for you to ask your producing questions.
→ Ben and Will are Creative Producers at the TBT, responsible for programming, working with visiting
companies and in-house projects including the annual FIRST Festival and the dedicated programme slots for AC
Members. Elsewhere Ben and Will run production company Supporting Wall, where recent shows include the
premieres and UK tours of Philip Ridley’s Fringe First Award-winning Dark Vanilla Jungle (Royal
Exchange/Pleasance Edinburgh/Soho Theatre, 2013-14), Tender Napalm (Southwark Playhouse/UK Tour, 201112) and Moonfleece (Riverside Studios/UK Tour, 2010), as well as the world premieres of Timberlake
Wertenbaker's Our Ajax (Southwark Playhouse, 2013) and Shallow Slumber (Soho Theatre, 2012) among
others. They were shortlisted for Best Producer at the OffWestEnd.com Awards in 2010 & 2011 and received a
SOLT/TMA Stage One Bursary in 2009. Ben & Will have also provided general management, tour booking & PR
for a range of international companies across the performing arts.
PARTICIPANTS: £FREE (Associate Members can participate in this workshop)
Anxiety and Stress: What They Are, How to Deal with Them
Carol Chapman
September 16
10:30-13:30
Course: AD11
Keywords: DEALING WITH PRESSURE | MIND | BODY | PRACTICAL TECHNIQUES | CREATIVITY
This interactive workshop will give participants the chance to explore ways of understanding and dealing
better with their own anxieties and stresses. Using many illustrations based on her extensive clinical
experience helping actors deal with stress and pressure, Carol will help participants identify how anxiety
manifests itself in the body, mind, emotions and behaviour. Various general types of stressor are identified
and factors that can affect actors’ reactions to these. She will also discuss the relationship between the normal
everyday stresses of a performing career and the symptoms that can signal a more serious issue. She will
introduce and demonstrate various ways of coping with anxiety and stress, ranging from the very practical, like
using relaxation techniques and time management strategies, to the more psychological, such as challenging
negativity and low self-esteem. She will offer suggestions about good psychological self-care to foster wellbeing and enhance creativity. Questions and comments will be encouraged and it is hoped participants will
leave the session with insights and practical suggestions.
→ Dr Carol Chapman, BA (Hons), MSc, D.Psych, CPsychol, is a Counselling Psychologist and Performance
Coach. Since the 1990s, using methods for which there is solid research and clinical evidence, she has been
helping performers of all types to identify, understand and overcome their problems and fulfil their potential.
She is the assessing Psychosocial Clinician at BAPAM and practices privately and in the NHS. She also offers
health education lectures and workshops to members of the performing arts, front and backstage. She is
currently an Honorary Lecturer in Performing Arts Medicine at UCL on the MSc course which is run in
conjunction with BAPAM, the RCM and Trinity Laban. She presents her work at conferences and occasionally is
asked to appear in the media. Having a lifelong involvement and passion for the arts she loves doing work
which can make artists’ lives better.
PARTICIPANTS: £18
55
July - September 2014 Programme
How to Get a Better Headshot
Paul Cawley
September 20
10.30-13.30
Course: AD15
Keywords: HEADSHOTS | MARKETING | IMAGE | PREPARATION | Q&A
It should be easy – go to a professional photographer, have your photo taken, choose the one you like the best, job
done. So why isn't it? It's because we haven't taken control of the process and we don't know what we are doing
when we are supposed to be ourselves. By looking at this from the actor’s point of view, this workshop will demystify this process by taking you through the stages of having your photos taken. Topics covered include: why are
you having your photo taken; how to choose a photographer; what to wear; how to manage the session – and the
photographer; how to choose your photos from the contacts sheets. This workshop is for actors at the beginning
of their career, or if you feel that you just aren't getting it right. Please bring a photo of yourself that you either like
or loathe. We'll also take some photos during the workshop to highlight various points along the way.
→ Paul’s 25 year career has encompassed a variety of theatre from Greek tragedy and Restoration comedy to modern
classics and new writing in venues as varied as The National, Chichester, The Gate and The Finborough, as well as
appearances in the West End. On screen he began in children’s TV and has since appeared in comedies, dramas and
soaps, not to mention commercials. He has taught at the Actors Centre, City Lit and Drama Studio and he has been
one of the Equity/Skillset Careers Advisors since 2005.
PARTICIPANTS: £18
Networking: Online and Offline
Samantha from Penguin in the Room
September 22
10.30-13.30
Course: AD13
Keywords: NETWORKING | SOCIAL MEDIA | IMPACT | OPPORTUNITIES
We have heard it spouted a million times: it's all about who you know! So make sure you are making the right
first impression when you meet them! A workshop in networking: both in person and online led by arts
marketing guru Samantha from Penguin in the Room.
→ Samantha is an award-winning actress and creator of Penguin in the Room, an award-winning arts
marketing business specialising in online presence and social media for creative people. Working with people
across the arts sector, Penguin in the Room is committed to helping you achieve your full potential. With years
of experience in the arts spanning comedy, art, literature, charity, theatre and film, Samantha understands the
arts industries and their online marketing needs. As an actress herself Samantha is all about creatives helping
each other and aims to help proactive actors penguin-step their way to marketing success.
PARTICIPANTS: £18 (Associate Members can participate in this workshop)
The Voiceover CD
Marina Caldarone
September 22
10.30-13.30
Course: RV4
Keywords: VOICEOVERS | HOW TO | PRACTICAL | ADVICE
Based on her experience as a radio drama producer, recipient of unsolicited CDs, drama director of a voiceover
production company and researcher in the field on behalf of The Stage newspaper, Marina will lead a practical
workshop on the voiceover CD. She will make clear what the CD is and the voice clip for Spotlight – what needs to be
on it, what left off, what the relevant markets are, how copyright operates and how to define your voice in this sector.
You will need to bring a piece of narrative fiction that you think best exemplifies your natural voice. Marina offers a
free recording track to anyone who has done a workshop with her if the actor makes their CD at Crying Out Loud.
→ Marina is a freelance theatre and radio drama director who has been actively involved in actor training for the last
25 years and is Drama Director for Crying Out Loud, a voiceover CD Production Company. She also compiles collections
for Nick Hern Books, Methuen/A&C Black and is the co-author of the best-selling Actions – An Actor’s Thesaurus.
PARTICIPANTS: £18
56
July - September 2014 Programme
Auditions Made Easy
Simone Reynolds
September 28
10.30-17.30
Course: CA11
Keywords: FILM & TV | THEATRE CASTINGS | PREPARATION | FEEDBACK | CONFIDENCE
How can I get that part? How do I work on the sides? What do I wear? Who am I meeting? What do I say when
I walk into the room? Casting Director, Simone, will help you answer these questions and many more in this
workshop which is designed to give you practical knowledge and increase your confidence in screen and
theatre auditions.
→ Simone’s casting credits include Chariots of Fire (4 Academy Awards), The Long Good Friday (Evening
Standard Award), The Vicar of Dibley (British Comedy/National Television/Golden Rose/RTS Awards) and The
Politician’s Wife (BAFTA/Emmy Awards). Her theatre credits include The 39 Steps, Criterion Theatre
(Olivier/Tony Awards).
PARTICIPANTS: £55
Sounding Good
Maggie Ollerenshaw
September 29
10.30-17.30
Course: RV5
Keywords: AUDIO BOOKS | PRACTICAL | VOICE | CAREER | ADVICE
The audio book market is a growing one, but it’s a difficult area to break into. It requires particular skills in stamina,
vocal dexterity and the ability to create a world of different characters. In this workshop you’ll learn about the
audio book process – what happens, how it’s done, what works and what doesn’t. You will see if you have the
potential to work in this area if you are new to it, or hone your skills if you already have some experience.
→ As an actress Maggie is chiefly known as Wavy Mavis in the iconic television comedy series Open All Hours
and has been BAFTA nominated for best comedy performance in Last of the Summer Wine and as best
supporting actress in the film Pierrepoint. She has recorded numerous audio books ranging from Mrs Gaskell's
Mary Barton to Lynda La Plante's Prime Suspect series and from the gritty crime novels of Peter Lovesey and
the Liverpool sagas of Maureen Lee to books by Susan Hill and Jane Gardam.
PARTICIPANTS: £30
Auditions – Confidence with Scenes and Sides
Sarah Hughes
September 30
10.30-17.30
Course: CA13
Keywords: AUDITION PREPARATION | TECHNIQUE | STANISLAVSKI | CREATIVITY
When we are presented with isolated scenes and sides (or given particular scene or page numbers to prepare)
for auditions, sometimes we don’t know where to start in presenting a clear sense of character and an
understanding of the text – and also are haunted by the often-heard edict “make bold choices”! This workshop
is about having a systematic plan to analyse our audition scenes by way of a series of questions we may
recognise from a Stanislavski approach and then – having established the clear basics – to be freed up to add
our own creative, distinctive and confident flavour to auditions.
→ Sarah has been Alan Ayckbourn's casting director since 1991, casting his plays at the SJT, in the West End, the
NT and on Broadway, as well as many other productions at the SJT. Since 2000 she has also freelanced for the BBC;
series include Jonathan Creek, Grass, Love Soup, Parents of the Band, 2 Pints, Pulling, Rock & Chips, The Old Guys,
Freedom and The Great Outdoors. Freelance theatre work includes plays for West Yorks, Birmingham Rep, Theatre
Royal Northampton and Frantic Assembly, including 2014’s The Believers. She was a Senior Cast Co-ordinator for
the London 2012 Olympic & Paralympic opening/closing ceremonies, leading on the Paralympic Opening. In 2013,
she cast Slings and Arrows for the BBC and recent projects include world premieres of Godber's Muddy Cows and
Ayckbourn's Arrivals and Departures, revivals of Time of My Life and Sugar Daddies at the ACT Theatre in Seattle.
PARTICIPANTS: £30
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July - September 2014 Programme
Your First Headshot
Kit Shah
Date: to be confirmed
Code: AD16
Keywords: PHOTO SESSION | HEADSHOT SELECTION | CONSULTATION
Kit Shah runs HCK Photography, which specialises in actor headshots and publicity shots. Kit understands that
it can be costly when starting up so he has teamed up with the Actors Centre and created a great offer for
Standard Members and those who have recently completed an Introduction to/Get Into Acting course. These
one-to-one hour-long sessions will include a photo shoot followed by a consultation to select suitable images.
You will receive professional, high quality images in colour and B&W for the two main headshots selected – a
theatrical image and a commercial image. These images will be both print quality and web only quality. These
sessions will take place at the Actors Centre at the discounted price of £60. Date and time to be confirmed. If
you are interested in booking a session please register with reception@actorscentre.co.uk.
→ Kit Shah is an experienced London-based photographer with over 12 years experience. He has taken photos
of many film actors and actresses. He is well respected in the world of photography as he is a co-founder of the
London Photo Festival and the London Photo Gallery. For more information visit www.hckphotography.co.uk.
PARTICIPANTS: £60
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July - September 2014 Programme
Industry – WEEKLY, FORTNIGHTLY AND MONTHLY WORKSHOPS
You may attend as many or as few of these regular workshops as you wish, although a regular commitment
to each discipline is more beneficial.
Audition Doctor
Tilly Blackwood
Every other Monday (see website or call reception for dates)
10.30-13.30
Course: PA1
Keywords: FORTNIGHTLY 1-2-1 | AUDITION | SKILLS DEVELOPMENT | BESPOKE | CONFIDENCE
Audition Doctor is a fortnightly fixture and a must for all your audition concerns. These totally unpressurised,
45-minute private surgeries are a focused, pro-active way to hone your auditioning skills and pieces. This
bespoke method of working will focus on your individual needs in order to nail your next job. Ideally, bring a
piece to work on and be prepared to re-ignite your confidence and find a fresh approach to your work.
→ Tilly is an actress who has worked extensively in theatre including the National Theatre, the RSC and West
End, where she gave her Helena to Dawn French's Bottom in A Midsummer Night's Dream. Her TV credits are
numerous, including her stint as the resident “It Girl”, Lady Candida de Dennison Bender in Absolutely
Fabulous. For more information visit www.auditiondoctor.co.uk.
PARTICIPANTS: £34
Audition Practice on Camera
John Melainey
Tuesdays
14.00-17.00
Course: TV1
Keywords: WEEKLY | AUDITION | SCREEN ACTING | PRACTICE | REFRESH | PRACTICAL
Weekly on-camera workshops to learn, practise and review TV and film auditioning and sightreading skills.
Practice makes perfect – but practise between auditions, not during them when a mistake can lose you work.
Please bring a DVD RW.
→ Over the past 20 years John has, on behalf of Hubbard Casting, auditioned and directed thousands of actors
whilst running casting sessions for TV, film and commercials. He has combined this experience with 30 years of
acting work to refine and teach the solutions to the problems faced by actors during the audition process.
PARTICIPANTS: £20 / OBSERVERS: £10
One-to-One Voiceover Sessions
Lara Parmiani
Wednesdays July 9, 23, August 6, September 10, 24
14.00-17.00
Course: RV1
Keywords: FORTNIGHTLY 1-2-1 | VOICEOVER | ADVICE | CAREER | PRACTICAL | WEB MARKETING
Would you like to work in voiceovers but don't know where to start? Do you really have the numbers to break
into this lucrative business? Would you like to practise microphone technique and discover how to approach a
voiceover script? Whether you're planning to record/revamp a voicereel, improve your technique, or simply
discover whether you've got what it takes, Lara will be happy to help. In these 45-minute private sessions,
you'll be given advice on how to start a career in voiceovers, how to market your voice and how to produce a
successful demo with tips on advertising yourself on the internet. You'll practise in front of a microphone on
real voiceover scripts (from commercials and corporates, to video games and radio dramas), get constructive
critique on your current material and advice on how to put together a new voicereel. Feel free to bring
previous demos on CD, MP3, laptop or iPod. (If bringing a CD burned at home make sure it's readable by CD
players to avoid disappointment).
→ Lara is a voiceover actress who in 1997 won the Paola Tovaglia Award for best female voiceover artiste. Her
international experience includes work for MTV, Discovery, Paramount, Channel 4 and BBC Worldwide.
PARTICIPANTS: £34
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July - September 2014 Programme
Pain Free Tax Surgery – Monthly Sessions
Mark Carr
Wednesdays July 2, August 27, September 24
14.00-17.00
Course: AD20
Keywords: 1-2-1 | TAX ADVICE | FREE
These private, 30-minute sessions offer individual, free advice and information from qualified certified
accountants. We will cover bookkeeping advice (both computerised and manual), advice on how to keep and
store your accounting records, taking the right steps for your tax affairs and what role the VAT man should
play in your life. The Pain Free Tax Surgery does not allow for a detailed study of individual records and the
advice given cannot therefore be comprehensive. If you book an appointment and fail to attend, or do not
cancel by noon the previous working day, you will be charged £10. These sessions are also open to Associate
Members.
→ Mark Carr and Company are chartered certified accountants and registered auditors specialising in the
entertainment industry.
PARTICIPANTS: £FREE (Associate Members can participate in this workshop)
Mentorship Surgery
Neil Rawlinson
Keywords: EMERGING | RETURNING | ALL LEVELS | MENTORSHIP | PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN
Not got a professional development plan? We can make one. These FREE one-to-one, 30-minute sessions are
open to all Actor and Associate Members and give you an opportunity to discuss your professional
development options with regards to the Actors Centre programme and to align it with your larger
professional development plan/targets for your wider work as an actor. NOTE: Standard Members must sign
up for a Mentorship Surgery session within 3 months of joining the Actors Centre, with a follow up in month 10
or 11 of your first year’s membership.
→ Neil trained at Central and is an acting coach/mentor & director. He was Associate Director of DNA
Performance Resource in Manchester before moving to London. His ongoing professional experience lies as a
director, agent, casting director and work with numerous production companies. As a performer and director
he has worked with companies such as Punchdrunk, ATG, ENO, The Think Collective, Tom Spindler Presents
and Stand-By. As an acting coach/mentor and project manager, Neil has worked with companies such as Arts
Ed, The Brit School, Shena Simon College of Performing Arts, Point Blank London as well as the UK
Government. He specialises in the development of emotion and truth in performance and professional
practice/development of the actor. Neil is the Membership & Creative Projects Manager of the Actors Centre.
PARTICIPANTS: £FREE
BESPOKE COACHING
In addition to our regular programme of workshops, the Actors Centre is now providing a unique range of oneto-one consultations offering specialist advice, training and tuition. You decide on what you need and we will
aim to put it together for you! These consultations are facilitated by leading practitioners and are tailored to
your specific requirements and at a time that suits you. They will include consultations such as preparation for
performance, voicereel preparation, audition presentation and technique, public speaking, self-marketing,
financial advice, career strategy and advice.
If you would like to find out more, or have any specific requirements please contact Cathy Hammond on
members@actorscentre.co.uk.
All sessions take place at the Actors Centre or by Skype if applicable.
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OTHER IN-HOUSE OPPORTUNITIES
GREEN ROOM PROGRAMME
Every Wednesday evening, from approx. 7.30pm, there is free exciting entertainment in the Green Room Café
& Bar.
This will feature Comedy with stellar acts including Brydie Lee-Kennedy previewing their excellent Edinburgh
Fringe shows. We will be presenting regular New Writing nights, working with the Writers Group and the
cream of London’s upcoming writers. There will be work-in-progress performances and read-throughs. We will
also have some of London’s top-notch Storytellers and theatre works, with an exciting variety of small scale
and immersive performances.
These events are un-ticketed and absolutely free, so just turn up, support your fellow actors and artists and
enjoy with a drink!
If you’re interested finding out more about ways of being part of it, as a performer, a writer or a storyteller,
get in touch with Heather on operations@actorscentre.co.uk. Phone 020 7632 8012. Members will get priority
consideration.
MEMBERS EVENTS COMMITTEE
The Actors Centre Members Events Committee is a group of Actors Centre members who are enthusiastic
about organising events in order to bring Actors Centre members together and facilitate networking. Past
events have included BFI film screenings, members short film screenings, comedy/improv nights, pub quizzes,
Halloween events and the annual Actors Centre Members Christmas Party.
We are passionate about fostering a community and would like for Actors Centre members to feel that the
Actors Centre is a place where, in addition to progressing their training, they can also socialise with their fellow
actors. The Committee is always looking for new core members or event volunteers. Event volunteers assist
with organising specific events on an ad-hoc basis. Core members commit to regular monthly Committee
meetings and become fully-fledged committee members. If you’re interested in joining, please email
members@actorscentre.co.uk.
THE WRITERS GROUP
The Actors Centre supports the Writers Group in a variety of ways including opportunities to undertake an
annual play reading, involvement in the monthly Green Room Programme and input into film project, along
with the potential to create short response pieces to main-house shows in the Tristan Bates Theatre. The
Writers Group meets on the last Friday of every month at 6.30pm, costs £10 and is facilitated by playwright
Stewart Permutt. All welcome. For further information see page 43
THE POETRY GROUP
Performing poetry is the perfect way to develop your craft as an actor, improve your sight reading skills and
engage with language in its most brilliant and varied forms – extending the range of your voice as well as your
imagination. The Poetry Group is a company of actors, meeting on a regular basis to develop their skills in live
reading and forming a professional ensemble that will tailor selections of work for special events, fundraisers
and one-off gigs. For further information on poetry workshops see page 4
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SUPPORTED COMPANIES
This season we are also hosting, supporting and collaborating with the following groups:
THE MONO BOX
Joan Iyiola and Polly Bennett
These monthly events led by Joan Iyiola and Polly Bennett offer a valuable resource for actors preparing for
auditions and showcases. Each month there will be the opportunity to increase your knowledge of plays and
the parts available to you as well as participate in speech surgeries, prepare for showcases and improve
audition technique. At the heart of the Mono Box is an extensive collection of plays that have been donated
entirely by established directors, producers, playwrights and actors. Many donors will be involved in future
events. Places are limited so we do advise booking early. For upcoming dates and to find out more visit:
www.themonobox.co.uk or email hello@themonobox.co.uk.
ACTORS RE-CHOIRED
Vivacious, versatile and vocal! A choir for hire in the heart of the West End – for television, theatre and
corporate projects. Supported by the Actors Centre, Actors Re-Choired meet every Friday. Find out more at
www.actorsrechoired.com.
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COURSES FOR NON – MEMBERS
Get Into Acting
July course dates
July 5, 6, 12, 13, 19, 20, 26, 27, 10.30-17.30
Course: XIA1
Summer Intensive course dates
July 28, 29, 30, 31, August 5, 6, 7, 8, 10.30-17.30
Course: XIA1
September course dates
September 6, 7, 13, 14, 20, 21, 27, 28, 10.30-17.30
Course: XIA1
Have you ever dreamt of becoming an actor? If so, our Get Into Acting course is perfect for those who are both
inquisitive and serious about a future career in acting. These courses act as both a taster of drama school
training and as a broad and basic introduction to the craft of acting, for anyone who is interested in becoming
an actor.
Get Into Acting is aimed at those currently outside the industry. Each course lasts a month, running over 4
weekends. The course will cover key elements of actor training including voice, movement, character, scene
and text work (classical and contemporary), improvisation and audition technique. The course culminates in an
informal performance of work to invited guests. All workshops will be taught by tutors from the Actors
Centre's regular programme for professional actors.
Visit www.actorscentre.co.uk for details on how to apply or contact members@actorscentre.co.uk.
PARTICIPANTS: £500
Audition Bootcamp – supported by Spotlight
August 18, 19, 20, 21, 22
10.00-17.30
Course: BC1
This intensive five-day course is for anyone considering a career in acting who wants to prepare and hone their
audition technique in preparation for drama school auditions. The week will offer a range of workshops giving
an invaluable grounding in vital skills required for auditions and ongoing training. Working with experienced
tutors, directors and performers you will develop a practical understanding of text and character, basic vocal
and movement skills, the art of improvisation and at the end of the week you will walk away armed for
auditions with two polished monologues; one classical and one contemporary and plenty of tips and
techniques to keep you relaxed in audition situations. The course will end with a mock audition and the
opportunity to showcase your polished pieces and presentation skills in front of a panel. For full information
and details on how to apply visit www.actorscentre.co.uk/classes_nonmembers.asp or contact the Bookings
Office on 020 7632 8002.
PARTICIPANTS: £400
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July - September 2014 Programme
Get Into TV Presenting
Kathryn Wolfe
September 6, 7
10.30-17.30
Course: XIP1
There are over 420 digital TV channels in the UK. There are a similar number of radio stations nationwide. This
course will give you the tools to work across different presenting mediums and sharpen your appetite for a
career in front of the mic or camera. This two day course, with camera and autocue, will give you the
confidence and skills to audition for a wide variety of presenting jobs. You will use professional scripts and
cover presenting to camera, talking to time, interviewing guests, reading autocue, demos, audition technique,
how to find a TV presenting job and presenting CVs. The course will include plenty of on-camera practical work
and you will be given a DVD of your work at the end of the course with the unedited material from both days.
→ Kathryn is a Senior Lecturer in TV Production & Media Performance at University of Bedfordshire. Her
experience includes over 25 years as a TV director on mainstream broadcast programmes for BBC, ITV, SKY,
TVS & HTV. BBC trained, Kathryn has made programmes in virtually every genre. Kathryn is a guest director at
Brook Lapping Productions making educational programmes for TEACHERS' TV. Kathryn is known
internationally for training TV presenters and has launched the careers of several new and up and coming TV
presenters on a variety of mainstream, digital and broadband screens. She also wrote So You Want to be a TV
Presenter? (Nick Hern Books). Visit www.actorscentre.co.uk for more information or contact Reception.
PARTICIPANTS: £300
Get Into Screen Acting
Week One
July 21, 22, 23, 24, 25
10.30-17.30
Course: XIS1
Week Two
August 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
10.30-17.30
Course: XIS2
This new five-day course, launched with great success in August 2013, offers young performers (aged 16-30)
an exciting, dynamic and creative introduction to acting and auditioning for camera. You will gain experience
of the technical demands of acting on film, explore the differences between stage and screen acting and
develop techniques that will help you produce powerful on-screen performances. Working in a small group we
will look at camera shots, characterisation, hitting marks, technical jargon, close-ups, movement and
continuity. You will have maximum time on-screen to develop your technique and performance in a supportive
environment with feedback and guidance from the workshop tutors and the rest of the group. You will explore
auditioning on camera, focussing on presentation, technique, focus, taking direction, confidence and dealing
with nerves. We will also discuss casting types and branding and you will get the chance to try out mockauditions with a top Casting Director followed by feedback, advice and a casting Q&A. You will also have the
opportunity to look at what happens next! Through entertaining and informative discussions you will find out
how the Actors Centre can help you develop as performers, followed by a career advice session and Q&A.
At the end of the course we will put your footage onto DVD and forward to you.
PARTICIPANTS: £400
Drama School Audition Intensive
Dates to be confirmed
10:30-17:30
Course: DSA1
This new one-day workshop offers young performers an invaluable grounding in the vital skills needed to
succeed in the Drama School Audition process. This will be an opportunity to: polish your speeches to the
highest standard; gain tips and techniques to remain relaxed and confident; understand how it all works; learn
how to prepare; learn how to best present yourself.
Participants should bring at least one 2-minute speech, off-book. You may wish to bring two – one classical and
one contemporary. Participants wishing to enter the Drama School Audition Process next year may also
attend – bring lesser prepared speeches and get advice on how to choose the best speech for you.
PARTICIPANTS: £60
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How to book

Online: www.actorscentre.co.uk

Telephone: 020 7632 8002

In person: Monday – Saturday, 10am – 6pm and Sunday 11am – 4pm.
Please bear in mind that the Bookings Office can be very busy. We deal with urgent bookings as quickly as
possible. However, if you have not heard from the Bookings Office within 3 working days, please contact us
again.
For full details of our bookings and refund policies please refer to the terms and conditions of membership
which you would have received when you joined. They can also be found on our website
www.actorscentre.co.uk/membership_terms.asp.
Renewing your Membership
To access our Professional Development Programme you must be an active member of the Actors Centre.
There are also a number of courses for Non-Members, please see pages 63-64.
Renewing your membership is easy. Simply drop by and renew at Reception or call 020 7632 8003/8002 and
renew over the phone. If you pay to renew before your membership expires you will get a £10 credit bonus! If
you renew early for 1 year you’ll also get 2 months extra free!
Recommend a Member
If you enjoy your time at the Centre, benefit from your membership and know other professionals who might
like to get involved, send them our way and ask them to quote your name and membership number on their
application. If they successfully become a member, we'll put £15 workshop credit in your account!
Keep us updated
If any of your personal details change, please do let us know as soon as possible so you don’t miss any exciting
opportunities. Please send your details to members@actorscentre.co.uk.
Keep informed
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