Leeds Beckett University - City Campus,
Woodhouse Lane,
LS1 3HE
All the world’s a stage with Leeds Beckett ‘Playing with Shakespeare’ summer workshop
In honour of the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death in 2016, the Playing with Shakespeare Summer Performance workshop will take place from Tuesday 5 July to Sunday 17 July at Leeds Beckett’s Headingley Campus.
The course aims to bring together theatre artists and teachers from across the world to create, rehearse and perform a series of Shakespeare’s works under the direction of Teresa Brayshaw, professional theatre maker and senior performance academic at Leeds Beckett University.
Included within the course will be a programme of workshops delivered by a range of visiting artists and resident academics, including: Noel Witts, Visiting Professor of Performing Arts at Leeds Beckett; Jennifer Granville, Principal Lecturer at Leeds Beckett and co-author of ‘The Casting Handbook’; Third Angel, a performance company based in Sheffield; and Hannah Butterfield, a Leeds-based theatre maker and facilitator.
Participants will work with experts in voice, movement criticism, film and dramatic composition. There will also be visits to cultural organisations and theatres in the Leeds and Yorkshire region.
The final performance piece will be shown to an invited audience at the end of the course, taking place in the brand new Beckett Studio at the University’s Headingley Campus.
Teresa commented: “The course aims to develop skills and experience in making performance and will be invaluable for those developing new contexts of teaching and performance as well as supporting the ongoing development of professional portfolios. This year we already know we will be joined by a delegation of young Chinese theatre enthusiasts who are looking to develop their international experience of theatre-making and will work alongside students from partner academies in Bilbao, Croatia and Romania.
“Participants will learn: how to speak in a range of performance registers and voices; how to tune into and develop their own physical, vocal, compositional and creative skills and experience; how to create and devise theatre material which engages a contemporary audience; how to work effectively and collaboratively with an international ensemble of performers; how to work in site-specific contexts; how to play with themes, texts and relationships drawn from an exploration of Shakespeare’s legacy; and how to offer feedback using a range of different methods.”
The course has been created for drama, dance and performing arts students in higher education, graduates from theatre and performance degree programmes, emerging artists, and creative freelancers looking for an experience in performance-making in an internationally-diverse collaboration.
The cost of the 12-day workshop is £1,200, with bursaries available and the option of booking accommodation at Leeds Beckett’s Kirkstall Brewery site.
Photo by Oliver Bray