Actor’s Gyms are a space for actors at all stages of experience to explore, play and grow.
Are you a performer looking for new ways to hone your creative impulses, and develop new skills so you can thrive in a devising theatre setting?
Join us for three unique Actors Gym sessions with Theatre Maker and Director Justin Teddy Cliffe.
Actively exploring the methodologies Justin uses to guide the creation of his work you’ll be introduced to an intuitive performance practice that uses movement and play to find new ways to tell stories.
As an actor it’s important to take time to focus on the development of your personal creativity, maintaining an adaptable skillset that enables you to be a confident collaborator in both your life and your work. This workshop is for people who are curious that there may be more than one way to tell a story, through three unique and connected workshops you’ll be supported to feel confident and comfortable whilst doing something new and interesting.
If you’re inspired by the work of the Emma Rice Company, Talking Birds, Frantic Assembly or Gecko then this workshop is a perfect way to explore performance disciplines shaped by these companies and their work.
You do not need to attend every session with Justin, but performers will get the most out of attending as much of the series as possible.
SESSION 2: Exploration and Process – An advanced session that positions the actor as an interpreter, contributor and co-creator within the creative process.
For This Session: We will be thinking and talking a lot whilst we invent stories and explore concepts and ideas. This will be followed by some physical creativity in which you’ll work in small groups with the aim of creating ‘something’. You might want to bring a bottle of water, a notepad and a snack. Wear comfortable clothing you can move in, that’s also layered (incase it’s too warm/cold).
Location: Theatr Clwyd
Director: Justin Teddy Cliffe
Sign-up deadline: Thursday 19 November, 5pm
Photo: Chris Lloyd
Justin is North East Wales based theatre-maker creating performance work that sits at the intersection of contemporary theatre and modern clowning. Exploring lived experiences through an absurdist, comedic and raucous philosophy he has developed and performed work in the UK and internationally, with companies like National Theatre Wales, Bristol Old Vic, Battersea Arts Centre, The Birmingham REP and CommonWealth. During the pandemic he produced digital performance work supported by BBC Arts, and was consequently nominated for the Evening Standard Future Theatre Makers award, for his work as a Director. Justin is a Creative Development funded artist, offering these workshops in part due to a grant from Arts Council Wales.
“The work I make is informed by my own experience of the world, explored through a mixture of research, impulsivity, pop-culture and play. I’m fixed on making work that feels really alive and in the room with people, focusing on the relationship between the performers and the audience. It’s my aim to use humour and humanity to adventure into the unknown, in the hopes we might find one small thing that can change the world”