We have led workshops on devising, Shakespeare and interactive theatre around the country, and we want to share our practice more. Between us we have taught at some of the UK's most prestigious drama schools, including Oxford School of Drama, East 15, Rose Bruford and Fourth Monkey. With our pool of expert practitioners, we can cater to all ages and abilities. Have a browse through our example workshop sessions, or get in touch to arrange a bespoke package.

WE HAVE TAUGHT AT...

SHAKESPEARE

Alongside our acclaimed Shakespeare adaptations Macbeth: A Tale of Sound & Fury and Hamlet: Rotten States, we have developed a comprehensive range of workshops that can help you unlock so much more from the Bard.

The Language of Shakespeare

In this in-depth workshop we explore Shakespeare's language. Participants will get comfortable speaking in verse, and we'll look at the rhythmic differences throughout his characters. We'll look at prose vs verse, and get to grips with complex imagery. Participants will learn to identify the thoughts in sections of text, and how to play with line endings and irregular rhythms.

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Playing with Style

This workshop explores how we use multiple styles and forms within the same show to serve different moments of the narrative. It is a fast-paced workshop crammed full of the various elements we use to create our shows. We play with puppetry, object manipulation, storytelling, silent movies, parody and audience interaction. We'll explore how we make dark comedy from tragedy, and how we justify these choices while maintaining truthful performances.

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Reworking the Text: Many Characters, Few Actors

This workshop looks at how the text can be reworked to create moments of theatrical ingenuity. We get the participants to see how flexible they can be with the text whilst still respecting the language. We look at example soliloquies and explore how they might be performed with more than one actor. We consider how the limitation of having only three actors affects how the text is handled, and opens us up to theatrical invention. We ask the participants to produce a scene where there are far more characters than actors and we explore the various techniques that can be used.

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Physical Approach to Shakespeare

A workshop that puts the text to one side for a moment and gets the participants exploring Shakespeare physically. We look at battle scenes, sword fights, apparitions, spells and murders and get the bodies working with their bodies to create moments that are visually arresting and entertaining. We use the work of Lecoq, Laban and Michael Chekhov to help the participants be precise, detailed and disciplined with their physicality. We will also encourage them to let go and create moments of wild, chaotic abandon.

DEVISING

We have written and devised a wide range of shows and entertainments in a vast array of forms and styles. From walkabout pieces, intricate installations, static street theatre shows and interactive family performances, to surreal tragi-comic adventures and semi-autobiographical extravaganzas, these workshops explore how we make shows from scratch.

DEVISING INTERACTIVE THEATRE

We bring our wealth of experience creating interactive and immersive theatre to this workshop. From partnering with Dank Parish on large scale immersive worlds, to our own anarchic brand of interactive festival & family shows, this workshop will be incredibly useful for anyone looking to create their own interactive show, or for performers/directors/creatives that want to get more comfortable with audience participation and manipulation. We explore connection with the audience, how to build a new world, and how to engineer your performance to cater to varying levels of engagement. We look at the scales of engagement, from one-to-one performances, to huge moments of mass participation. We use improvisation and clowning to get performers comfortable leaping into the unknown and responding to unpredictable audiences. We look at how simple structures and gameplay mechanisms can help you orchestrate wild and cathartic entertainment.

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DREAMWEAVING: OUR APPROACH TO DEVISING

This workshop shares some of the tools we use when devising. We begin with "dreamweaving", our signature technique for quickly generating surreal ensemble sequences. From here we use improvisation, clowning, storytelling and physical play to expand and develop the material. Each participant will learn how to create their own alter-ego. For us, it is our stock gypsy-witch characters that have unlocked so much play and theatricality. The participants will explore how they can generate a wealth of material and completely reframe narratives with their own rich and distinct alter-ego.

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PAGE TO STAGE: OUR APPROACH TO WRITING

This workshop explores our methods for writing and the highly editorial approach we take both to new works and to looking at old classics. Coming from a background in creating extraordinary and fantastical theatre, we look in detail at dramatic structure, form and world-building. We consider how to establish the rules and logic of a world early on. We explore stories within stories, comic structure and the mythos and language you have to create when presenting a new world or concept. We also look at how to write in collaboration, and the varied approaches you can take. The workshop also looks at how we can begin by mining ourselves for rich and endlessly fascinating autobiographical material.

PRICES AND MORE INFO...

Prices depend on length of workshop and number of practitioners required. All the above workshops are flexible and can be adapted for different groups. As a rough guide, please refer to the example below:

Length: 3 hours
No of practitioners: 2
Guide price: £350 + travel (if outside of London)

Our workshops are particularly suited to GCSE/A Level/BTEC students looking to devise work, university students looking to extend their understanding of key areas, and professionals wanting to extend their practice. Please get in touch to discuss your group's needs, access requirements and any other queries you have.