We offer play-making and poetry workshops that help to develop literacy and oracy skills through a physical and collaborative process.
We also create plays-in-a-day with whole classes (sometimes the year-group) to reinforce particular curriculum areas.
A one or two hour-long workshop that helps pupils find and sustain the drama in a situation; develops their understanding of the physical and visual aspects of theatre-making and leaves them with a model for creating their own scripts.
For older children this will be reinforcing their understanding of dramatic elements, developing character and narrative and using cliff-hangers.
We also provide customised workshops that respond to a particular brief - given time to prepare!
This hour-long workshop explores a variety of ways of playing with words and bringing poetry alive in front of an audience in order to develops an understanding of why certain kinds of poetic writing particularly lend themselves to performance.
We help children to develop their enjoyment of words and their confidence in delivering them as we play with rhyme, rhythm, repetition and sound.
A custom built play-making workshop day around a topic/theme of your choice that helps knit together a number of learning objectives in a dynamic and memorable way.
We start with three simple questions:
We have worked regularly with a number of different year groups at New Bradwell (from years 2–6) making up a play together around their current topic/theme eg water, Easter, dinosaurs, dark and light, the Titanic and The Greeks – to name but a few! At the end of the day parents/grown-ups are invited along to see what we’ve created. The work we do also sometimes acts as a stimulus for further creative writing for the classes.
“The purpose of the workshop was to provide opportunities for the children to improve their confidence in speaking, listening and performing in front of an audience. All the activities were excellent – involving all the children and pitched at exactly the right level. We thoroughly enjoyed the experience – it absolutely fulfilled our expectations.”
The headteacher asked us to work with a challenging group of year 5 children who had not ‘gelled’ as a class and had low self -esteem issues. Over the course of 2 days we worked through a number of team-building exercises around the subject area of the Greek myth Theseus and the Minotaur. Working as a whole group we shared ways of re-telling the story trying to capture both its drama and the viewpoints of other characters in the story. In this way we established a way of looking at issues from all sides and, in sharing our finished version with the rest of school at the end of the two days, the class were hugely and rightly proud of their joint achievement.
“The structure of the workshop was such that all children and their ideas were used in the performance. The children felt valued and were able to take ownership of the piece. In addition, there were activities that allowed the children to enhance their levels of speaking and listening and extend their use of imagery. An emphasis was placed on working collaboratively; allowing children to discuss ideas, respond to each other and in some instances use controlled movement to construct stage props such as a tunnel, and a ship. Activities were used in the initial stages which were then built upon and fed into the performance. A great two days!”
The head-teacher asked us to use the environment around the school to explore stories about Giants with their children. Over the course of a day we used different environments to tell a number of Giant stories to 4 different classes. The classes then found ways within that environment to animate that story. At the end of the day the school came to together and the stories were shared.
Skills used: listening, sharing ideas, imaginative response to the environment, re-telling of a story though participating with other.
“The workshops were tailor made to fit with our curriculum. The sessions provided fantastic opportunities for whole class collaborative participation which teachers can now develop and extend. Each session was appropriately challenging and enjoyable for the different age ranges and produced an outcome that was shared with an audience. Using the outside environment allowed children to be creative, uninhibited and use space in a different way. The stories captivated the children and Bill and Gill facilitated great outcomes with the children in a short time.”
We offer a range of theatre-skills workshops for secondary schools and colleges that include physical theatre, devising, vocal work and approaches to acting centred around Stanislavski, Brecht and Artaud.
The super-objective is to find a personal connection between the system and the student - an individualised emotional memory of Stan the Man! We take a physical approach to kick-starting character development allied to a close examination of the text. We generally use extracts from Uncle Vanya to work on but are more than happy to work on specific texts that students are studying if this is helpful.
Students explore Brecht's techniques for achieving maximum clarity and impact - the actor as an effective demonstrator. We start with Brecht's description of witnessing a road accident in order to examine in a practical manner Brecht's notions of the actor as demonstrator. We explore techniques for actioning the text in order to clarify not only the results of actions that are taken but also the result of actions not taken.
A physical approach to disturbing the audience - reaching those parts that text-based theatre can often leave untouched. We use warm-up exercises as a way into looking at elements of ritual and disjunction. And we use passages from Ubu Roi - a seminal work for Artaud - to animate ideas about provoking the audience to experience theatre in a more visceral way.
Physical, imaginative and intellectual approaches are all valid pathways to creating character - finding the hooks that work best for each of us. We marry a number of approaches associated with particular practitioners - Stanislavski, Brecht, Artaud - in a practical approach to acting that reflects the mixture of intuition and technique that marks out the British approach. We are very happy to relate the work to specific texts or projects if this is appropriate.
Exercises that focus the actor's energy - encouraging the performer to respond to ideas in a visceral way. We pass on a series of exercises that we use in our own training. They are designed to sensitise the body. They also require a certain amount of physical courage that often transfers into a more profound emotional courage - vital for effective acting. And we look at how we can use some of the physical work to create compelling drama.
This workshop originally accompanied Medea but we have also applied it to other texts. It examines themes and styles of classical Greek Theatre, exploring their relevance to today's theatre practise. We look at the basic dynamics of argument and counter-argument. We examine how the mythic context informs the debate and the drama. We look at how chorus, mask and formal physicality heighten the drama and their place in a contemporary piece of theatre.
Developing and structuring ideas to maximum effect - squeezing the most drama out of every situation. We combine illustrative extracts from contemporary plays - focussing particularly on what theatre can do that film and television can't - with practical work on developing a dramatic scenario through pressures of time and place. The workshop will be of use to groups devising work as well as to individual writers.
Working through the physical, emotional and intellectual blocks that impede effective communication - releasing the easy, authentic voice that we all possess. We use a primarily physical approach to enjoy the sensuality of language and the full-body experience of using our voices. If you wish we can relate the work to specific texts.
Exploring Shakespeare's text as a guide for the actor - characterisation through the verse form and emotional resonance through the music and muscle of the words. An extension of the Voice Workshop, locating sounds and emotional responses within the body before taking on the muscle of Shakespeare's verse. We're more than happy to relate the work to particular texts but can also look at the general principles, using sonnets as well as extracts from the plays.
a preferred maximum of 30
£100 for an hour session, £140 per two hour session - other prices on request
In the workshop that followed, the children began to find the potential of their own imaginations and drama skills. multi story is very experienced at working in schools; they know the day-to-day pressures and plan their work and manner appropriately. We recommend this company unreservedly.
The pupils really enjoyed the challenge of the physical movements. One girl, in particular, conquered her demons while more acrobatic pupils found a new outlet for skills they already possessed. Your encouragement to all abilities was greatly appreciated by the pupils who commented on the way you helped them believe they could do these movements. Absolutely everyone came out feeling exhilarated and good about him of herself. Thank you!
I was amazed at how well it succeeded. I think that Gill's encouragement and leadership were hugely important in giving us confidence but I also thought that Bill was vital in providing a male role model - so many boys think that "drama's for girls". All the initial whole group work was crucial. I think that all teachers (and TAs) should have to join in - it's very scary but HUGELY rewarding! THANK YOU.
We deliver tailor-made projects ranging from play-in-a-day sessions in Primary Schools to week long residencies in Secondary Schools, Colleges and Universities with a mix of performance and workshops.
We created five re-workings of Shakespeare plays with 90 young people aged between 10 and 21 in association with North Devon Theatres.
We worked with Warwick Arts Centre (WAC) over a number of years on a variety of drama projects in Primary Schools in Coventry.
For twelve years, we ran a week-long summer school for 10-15 year olds at the Queen's Hall Arts Centre in Hexham.