Devised Theatre

(in the box below is the 200 word version) This seven-week course is an immersive introduction to ensemble-based theatre creation, culminating in the development of an original devised performance. Grounded in embodied practice, we will approach theatre-making as a process of discovery—beginning with the body, voice, image, memory, and play rather than a pre-existing script. Drawing from Jacques Lecoq's pedagogy, Viewpoints, object theatre, and contemporary devising practices, participants will develop a shared ensemble language while generating original performance material. Through training, improvisation, composition, and collaborative creation, we will explore how personal and collective experiences can be transformed into theatrical form. This course is open to performers and makers of all backgrounds—actors, dancers, writers, drag performers, musicians, filmmakers, visual artists, and anyone interested in exploring performance as a live, collaborative art form. Both beginners and experienced artists are welcome. Participants are welcome to join the course in its entirety or to attend on a module-by-module basis, engaging with specific areas of interest within the wider devising process. While the full arc of the course offers a cumulative journey toward the final ensemble performance, each module is designed to function as a focused area of training and exploration in its own right. Course Modules Ensemble Training (Lecoq-Based Practice) Building a foundation for collective creation through physical and vocal ensemble work. We will explore presence, responsiveness, collective rhythm, storytelling, and platform work as tools for generating theatrical material. Viewpoints & Durational Performance Developing awareness of time, space, architecture, movement, and relationship through Viewpoints training. We will investigate endurance, repetition, and duration as compositional strategies for performance. Intermodal Shifting: Movement, Image, and Text Exploring how ideas travel between artistic forms. Through movement, visual composition, writing, and improvisation, participants will discover new pathways for generating and developing material. Embodied Theatre-Making & The Poetic Body Working from physical images, gesture, sensation, and impulse to create stories, characters, and theatrical worlds. We will investigate the body's capacity to generate meaning beyond narrative and psychological realism. Physical Score Composition Creating repeatable structures of movement, action, and rhythm that serve as the building blocks of devised performance. Participants will learn methods for composing and refining physical material individually and collectively. Object Theatre, Theatre of Memory & Installation Using found objects, personal artifacts, memory, and spatial composition as sources for performance. We will explore how objects can hold stories, evoke worlds, and transform space into theatrical installation. Composition, Rehearsal & Outside Eye Our final module focuses on shaping generated material into performance. Participants will engage in structured rehearsal, composition, and editing processes while receiving outside-eye feedback and observation. Together, we will refine the dramaturgy, pacing, and theatrical language of the work, culminating in a sharing of the ensemble-created performance. Throughout the course, participants will develop original material that will be woven together into a final devised piece, drawing on the unique perspectives, disciplines, and creative practices of everyone in the room. No prior theatre experience is necessary—only curiosity, generosity, and a willingness to play.