The Fool Workshops

Weekend and Week Workshops

Explore the following questions:-

• How can I freely improvise in a deep and truthful way?


• How can I develop my relationship with my audience?


• This workshop explores the basic concepts of ‘the fool’, theatre and the audience.


An opportunity for players to improvise dance and play in ‘the empty space’

The ancient art of fooling has been with us as long as there have been audiences; the theatrical archetype of the fool is the starting point for this journey. A combination of physical awareness and improvisation exercises allows our various characters to come out and play in a safe and supportive environment.

Both performers and non-performers have benefited from discovering the fool within, by getting in touch with feelings, learning how to work with fear and gaining a natural self confidence and ability to communicate.

In these workshops participants are encouraged through playing to: –

• Find their ‘inner player’


• Explore the relationship between the player on the stage and the audience


• Create theatre from the multitude of inner dramas, past present and possible futures inherent within each person


• Learn simple rules and techniques to create a safe space for growth development and discovery as a community of players


• Discover ones own cast of characters that can be used to create archetypes for use in improvised and scripted performance


Workshops take the following format: –

• Workshops begin when all the players are present.


• Each ‘act’ (workshop session) tends to last about 3 hours although this time varies according to the needs of the group. Consequently finishing times are approximate.


• All work evolves around the principles of the circle, representing the zero, which is fundamental to the work. The cast sits in a sharing circle and the play and process evolve out of the players, consequently every workshop is different.


• Each workshop contains elements of bodywork, dance, movement, and voice work, speech, sound, using improvised/spontaneous choreography and text.


• A range of theatre games and movement awareness exercises are introduced when and where necessary to increase the skills of the player.


• Each player has the opportunity to experience playing as a group player and as a solo player.


• In order to fully understand theatre it is necessary to study the nature of the audience as much as one studies the player.


These workshops can be taken as a one off experience or combined as a programme of development towards professional performance .

One Week Workshops:- are an opportunity to deepen the work, take a journey into the inner world and replay the experience as performances many and varied.

A Fools Journey: is an opportunity to extend the journey over a year or more, working with the same group of players ….

Play Days: These are practice days for those participants who have been introduced to the work on at least a weekend. These are drop in sessions that happen once a month. Numbers are limited so it is necessary to check that there is space before coming.

Theme Days Single day workshops for regular attendees of Play Days, these days will be study days to explore a particular theme or way of working and are organised on an ad hoc basis according to participant availability.