METAMORPHOSIS: A TWO DAY ACTOR’S WORKSHOP

ACT I

We will use vocal chants and rhythms from around the world to explore your voice. 

Thoughts are the language of the brain. Feelings are the language of the body. And sound vibrates through every cell in our bodies.This work will serve to open up your channels of expression.   

This will prepare you to take on the visceral, explosive, high voltage language of classical theatre: Greek drama, the tragedies and comedies of Shakespeare and the fables and epic narratives of African literature. 

With these texts as an accompaniment you will learn how to mine a story to locate the emotional core of the narrative and the character you’ve been cast to play.

This work will guide you to bring a heart centred authenticity to your work. You will be shown how to unpack the structure of the material and investigate themes, story, character arcs, plot and structure. You will sharpen your craft as you learn to unpack the authenticity within yourself. 

You will learn:

• How to create a character from the inside out.  
• How to deepen your awareness of your instrument.
• How to find your connection. 
• How to release the thoughts and emotions in the text you speak and also from within your self.
• How to trust, let go and be in the moment. 
• How to discover your iyi-uwa.

In Igbo mythology the iyi-uwa is a precious stone that connects the soul to the earth and the spirit world. When the iyi-uwa is found, that force cannot die. In this workshop your iyi-uwa is that spark of genius that lights you up and reveals your magic. 

“We die. That may be the meaning of life. But we do language. That may be the measure of our lives.” Toni Morrison

ACT II

We go deeper. 

Building on the techniques from Day 1, and incorporating contemporary TV and film scripts into our palette of material, you will learn how to draw out and make visual the core issues in the narrative and the character. 

With sensitivity and articulacy you will be given the tools to peel away the layers, like on an onion skin, of the average, the easy, the safe and the performative in your work. And you will be led to discover the raw, honest, messy, funny, poignancy of truth. The essence that informs all of our relationships. And you will be shown how to bring that level of vulnerability to your work and the material.

This lab will hold space for you to work outside of your comfort zone where higher levels of performance await. 

This is embodied work. That requires that you go all in, ten toes deep, no faking, no hiding. Putting your shame in the game and daring to show up 1000%. 

You will learn:

• How to connect with yourself, the other actors in the room, and with the work. 
• How to go deeper and peel away the emotional depths within yourself and the character.
• How to tap into the vitality at the heart of storytelling and at the heart of your desire to be an actor. 
• How to experience a profound sense of connection to the material.
• How to unleash your authenticity, your superpower, and the creative fuel that will fire up every character that you play. 

Examples of this: Joaquin Phoenix, Viola Davis and Cate Blanchett. 

“Speak what we feel, not what we ought to say.” William Shakespeare, King Lear

ACT III

On this day you are on track to step into the vicinity of your okoro - your greatness. This workshop will empower you to dare to be epic. 

Over the course of the first two days you will have gained an insight into the relationship between connecting to a powerful truth within yourself and connecting to a truth in the scene. Allowing you to access a deeper emotional depth to your work. 

The techniques, discoveries and emotional breakthroughs over the last two days are brought together in act three. 

The Rehearsal Room becomes a performance space as we prepare to stage and show your work, at the end of the day, to an invited audience. That can include your friends, family and associates.

Note: Time permitting, a selected number of key scenes, moments and monologues will be captured on film in a well lit and shot shoot.

This is integrated learning. 

You will learn:

• How to translate the tools you have learnt, in Acts I & II, into performance.
• How to think fast, creatively and on the fly as you discover the aliveness of being in the moment. 

The goal is that you will leave this workshop with a set of tools empowering you to design your own methodology that best suits you and your approach to the work. And that this becomes a consistent practice upon which you can build your creative future.

“More life. The Great Work Begins.” Tony Kushner, Angels In America