Actors Daily Practice Space

Labs

What Labs are there?

Masked & Unmasked Play (MP)

'I think that the mask does not hide the actor but rather the self. In fact, it hides nothing at all, it reveals. It’s a magnifying glass to the soul, an eye into the soul… (...) With the mask, suddenly, all the laws of theatre are there.'  
~ Arianne Mnouchkine

Discover the exciting, liberating and unpredictable world of masked play! Be transformed by the Mask and experience expressive capabilities you didn’t know you had. The Mask jolts to life, transporting the actor into their unique world and condition- their inner life, inner rhythm, a particular movement and vocal quality. Through improvised and structured play, you will have the opportunity to work with Half Character Masks made by Balinese Masters, and be taken on extraordinary adventures.

We then take this experience a step further and begin to create characters without the masks. We will study the intricacies of how a person’s inner life is reflected in the actor’s body, and how this awareness can benefit a performer when developing characters. (Intermediate Level)

‘Everything an actor does is seen and interpreted. The actor informs through his physicality: in silence or voice; in motion or stillness.’
~ Etienne Decroux

Physical Approaches to Theatre Making (PATM)

'Everything around us is asleep. The function of art is to awaken what is asleep. How do you awaken what is asleep? You turn it slightly until it awakens.'
~ Victor Schklovsky

This Lab is an introduction to devising and performing contemporary non-narrative based theatre. We will explore a range of physical pathways to create original compositions, using the performer’s body, objects, images, text, sound and more. You will also take part in physical training to prepare you for the ensuing work and build your retrieval skills so you can develop what you create. This Lab is suitable for actors, performers, theatre makers and directors. (Intermediate Level)

'Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it.' 
~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Conversations in Movement (CIM)

'Training is a form of mental conditioning as much as a way of exercising and investigating the means of expression.'
~ Eugenio Barba

These sessions are based on Eastern European practices for training actors. They focus on strengthening your physical and mental awareness as a performer, enabling you to repeat your performance night after night with the force of an improvised response.

This work involves training your whole ‘bodymind’ to have heightened physical and spatial awareness. It trains you to be alert and sensitive; to articulate your intentions through movement; to be totally present with your partner in action; and to train your intuitive body to listen and respond on impulse. This training is essential for all actors at any level; it is also beneficial for theatre makers.

'What is interesting is the exchange. The ‘acting’ doesn’t reside in the hands of each actor; it exists in the air between the two hands...As a result each time you ‘exchange’, something inside you changes in reaction. From moment to moment you alter and respond.'
~ Yoshi Oida

Voice / Body / Text (VBT)

'It's always a mistake for actors to begin their work with intellectual discussion, as the rational mind is not nearly as potent an instrument of discovery as the more secret faculties of intuition.'
~ Peter Brook

This Lab introduces a physical approach to investigating and embodying a dramatic text. This enables the actor to deepen their connection and understanding of a scene as well as discovering a greater range of interpretive and expressive possibilities. We also look at voice and body integration. Although separate ‘skills training’ is important, it is also vital that we reintegrate the voice, body, and mind in our training. How we train is reflected in our performance. In this lab we will be working on a scene from a contemporary play. (Intermediate Level)

'Emotional pumping is clearly felt by both spectator and actor instinctively as something unnatural. And it was clear to Stanislavski in the end of his life, and is clear to Grotowski, that emotions are not subject to our will. Don’t tamper with them. What we do, this is subject to our will.'
~ Thomas Richards

Physical Actions and Text (PA)

'The physical score is like the glass inside which a candle is burning. The glass is solid, it is there, you can depend on it. It contains and glides the flame. But it is not the flame. The flame is my inner process each night. The flame is what illuminates the score, what the spectators see through the score.'
~ Ryzard Cieslak

This work is a continuation of the ‘Voice, Body, Text’ Lab. It focuses on how you can create a physical score of a character’s intention, in each moment of a text. This physical score is constructed from a series of physical actions, discovered through a visceral exploration of a text, rather than an intellectual one. We also learn that the ‘body is memory’ and that it can act as a concrete pathway back to the essence of a moment, retrieving the layers of work the actor has explored in rehearsal. The work culminates in an in house showing of the scene of text we are working on. (Inter/Advanced Level)

'Physical action consists not of the bare fact of walking, which in itself is only an activity, but in the actor’s awareness of why and/or for whom they are walking.'
~ Jerzy Grotwoski

Actor Training for Beginners (ATB)

If you go to the porch, look up at the sky, and jump to the stars, you will just land in the mud. Often the stairs are forgotten. The stairs must be constructed.
~ Russian Proverb

Actor Training for Beginners is an introduction to the foundations of the training at ADPS. In a group workshop environment you will participate in physical, vocal and sensory investigations that develop responsiveness, sensitivity, and presence in the actor.

This workshop introduces you to a series of techniques that you can use when approaching a text and when exploring and developing characters. Under guidance you will experience the practical application of these techniques through the preparation of a character monologue from a dramatic text. (Beginner Level)

‘The actor is the athlete of the heart’
~ Antonin Artaud

Acting Diagnostics (AD)

These individual sessions are for actors seeking feedback on a monologue they are preparing for an audition. They also serve to identify the participant's individual process when working on a text and if required offer new pathways to discovering further detail and connection in each moment.

 

Who Are They For?

Absolute Beginner: 18+
This level is for budding young actors wanting to get serious about learning their craft. It is also for anyone, of any age and profession, wanting to try something new or revisit actor training after many years away from it.

Intermediate:
For actors, theatre makers, circus performers, cross disciplinary dancers and school teachers who have had some form of training. This could be in workshops, universities, short courses or through performing in shows. Intermediate level is also open to advanced actors wanting to revisit specific areas or try something new.

Advanced:
Professional actors and/or graduates from acting institutions with a 3 year skills training program

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Actors Daily Practice Space