These workshops are an opportunity for anyone from the trans community to get creative, meet new people, and explore the world of theatre-making in a safe and fun environment. All ability levels welcome! The sessions are about everyone improving at their own pace, and learning to work collaboratively. Trans Drama Ensemble is a welcoming group aimed at over-18’s who are trans, non-binary, gender-nonconforming, gender-questioning, etc. Nobody has their ‘trans card’ checked on the door!
Please wear comfortable clothing that you can move in, and flat soled shoes.
22 April: Movement and Music
This will be a 2-hr workshop looking at the basics of creating choreography from everyday movement, and then adding music to create an extra dimension. This is not a workshop about traditional dancing that you might see in Broadway musicals, and is instead about creating theatre that draws its beauty from the natural movement capabilities of the people in the room. This type of theatre may also be called physical theatre, or social choreography, and the primary inspiration for this workshop is the company Frantic Assembly. Please wear comfortable clothing that you can move in, and flat soled shoes!
Over the course of this workshop you will learn to
- Physically tune into, and respond to, a group of fellow performers, in the manner of an ensemble.
- Take ordinary movements from your own life, and turn them into building blocks for choreography, then work in partners and groups, to create collaborative choreography.
- Experiment with recorded music, and use it as a tool that complements movement, rather than controlling it.
20 May: Props and Play
Exploring the relationship between performers and props on stage, and how one prop may become hundreds of different props, costumes, or scenery. We will also look at how props can be a creative partner, and help us create theatre with other people.
Please wear comfortable clothing that you can move in, and flat soled shoes!
Over the course of this workshop, you will learn to
- Use principles of improvisation and play to free up your mind and get creative.
- Turn simple props like sheets, sticks and cardboard into a huge palette of creative possibilities to inspire theatre.
- Combine solo prop work with others to create more complex pieces of theatre.
- Work with a group, and props to retell a fairy story.
17 June: Light and Shadow
Not just shadow puppets! Creating theatre where stories and emotions are communicated or intensified using lights and darkness. The session will also include an introduction to the type of stage lights you typically find in a theatre, and how they are used by lighting designers and directors.
Over the course of this session you will:
- Learn how lighting designers use light and shadow to help tell a story.
- Get a close look at some real theatre lanterns and attachment, and learn about how they work in the auditorium.
- Work in pairs to make a simple lighting plot, for a miniature stage with scenery (model box).
- Work in groups to devise a simple piece of theatre where the performers use lights as part of the action.
15 July: Storytelling and Real People
In this session we will explore the process of interviewing people, or acquiring interviews and transcripts of real people speaking about their experiences, and turning these materials into performances. This is known as ‘verbatim theatre’ and has a long and rich history. The session will be inspired by practitioners such as Alecky Blythe, and ‘piss/CARNATION’.
Please wear comfortable clothing that you can move in, and flat soled shoes.
Over the course of this workshop you will:
- Look at some examples of verbatim theatre, and learn about the different forms it can take.
- Work in pairs to re-tell another person’s story, imitating their voice as closely as possible.
- Work in small groups to dramatize a real excerpt of a court transcript.
- Learn about the process of collecting interviews from real people, and how to do this in a respectful and ethical way.
- Work collaboratively and use an interview as the basis for a short piece of verbatim theatre.