people make theatre workshops
WORKSHOPS FOR EMERGING THEATRE MAKERS
At People Make Theatre, we're committed to the continuous development of our community.
Our workshops are designed to provide emerging artists with the practical skills they need to succeed in the industry. Led by experienced professionals, our sessions cover a wide range of essential topics, from scriptwriting and directing to technical skills and performance techniques.
Beyond learning, these workshops are a chance to connect with peers, share knowledge, and grow your professional network. We invite you to check our events and join us to sharpen your skills and take your craft to the next level.
Dive into intensive, professionally led, hands-on workshops designed specifically for emerging theatre makers. Focus on developing practical skills, exploring new techniques, and building the essential toolkit you need to create compelling, professional-level theatre.
Workshop bundle available!
Six for the recommended price of five!
All workshops are pay what you can! Recommended donation £10!
Conscious Contact for Performers
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Conscious Contact for Performers - Led by Zuza Kurko
This workshop will guide the participants through the basic principles of building a conscious connection, based in presence, breath and consensual touch. Zuza will introduce exercises that will set the foundation for performers to question their approach to contact and connection in performance and rehearsal process. The workshop is designed for performers but is suitable for any creatives working with bodies in the space and looking to deepen their understanding of the human relationships through contact. You do not need any previous experience in “mOVemeNt”, so if you are a director curious to expand your toolkit – pop in! All you need to participate is curiosity and willingness to move through the space with fellow human beings!
Please come in wearing comfortable clothes and note that work will be done in socks or in light trainers as the space has a carpeted floor (heavy boots, such as docs are discouraged for safety reasons). Please remember to bring some water and a snack. It is also advised that participants arrive 15 minutes early.
Please note that touch will be introduced in this workshop. If you’d like more information about the content of this workshop (or you’d just like to say hi!) please drop Zuza a message on her instagram (@zuza_kurko) or contact People Make Theatre. See you soon Glasgow!!
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Zuza Kurko (she/her) is a Polish movement artist and performer, searching for meaning through the abstract and the subliminal. She is interested in the honesty of the human connection through performance. Having trained as an actor, she is now completing her MFA in Movement at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama. The Conscious Contact workshop is a part of her research where Zuza is examining the perception of movement and the relationship of meaning-making between the performer and audience.
How to use Shakespeare's text to land the part
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Which Taken at the Flood, Leads on to Fortune: How to Use Shakespeare’s Text to Land the Part - Led by Allie Willison
This two hour workshop will tackle introductory fundamentals of Shakespeare’s text through tragic and comedic monologues to help you gain confidence in the audition room.
It will start with an overview on how to approach the text using the first folio. The goal: to be able to truly read the Bard’s words and the intentions built into the prose. From there we will dive into excerpts of text.
When you sign up, please let Allie know, via peoplemaketheatre@gmail.com, if you have a specific monologue you’d like to work with or if you’d like her to select one for you. By the end, you should emerge with a one minute monologue that will wow a casting panel and hopefully, a better understanding of the Bard’s words and world.
It is also advised that participants arrive 15 minutes early.
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Allie Willison (she/her) is a playwright, actress, and dramaturg originally from New York, USA. She received her BFA in Acting from Marymount Manhattan College in NYC and her Masters in Dramaturgy and Playwriting from the University of Glasgow. Some of her favorite credits include the Reverend in Witch, Please at the Pitt NYC and Ursula in Much Ado About Nothing with the Juneberry Collective. Her most recent credits include Not Our Crime, Still Our Sentence (Director) and Until the Next Wedding (Playwright/Actor) at Edinburgh Fringe with Under The Rug Theatre. She has participated in multiple scratch nights with both Under the Rug and Tired Horses, featuring her play Aqua Sorella and directing Storm In A Tea Cup. She also had a short play, Decay For Me, performed in NYC at Uncanny Valley, an Anti AI Birthday Show, with the Social Club Theatre Company this past April. Her upcoming projects include a staged reading of her play Aqua Sorella with People Make Theatre.
Idea generation
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Stuck in a creative rut?
Whether you're battling writer's block, searching for fresh inspiration, or struggling to jumpstart your next project, this high-energy, collaborative workshop is for you!
We'll dive into powerful, hands-on methods designed to shatter creative barriers and ignite your imagination. Learn practical techniques to generate compelling ideas and build a solid foundation for your next story or artistic endeavor.
Get ready to play, connect, and leave with a notebook full of exciting new possibilities!
It is also advised that participants arrive 15 minutes early.
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Mikael Phillips (he/they) is a playwright, director, and editor dedicated to innovative and collaborative art. A proud scheme boy from the East End of Glasgow, Mikael is the Creative Director of Under the Rug Theatre and the Artistic Producer & Magazine Editor at People Make Theatre.
Holding an MLitt (Distinction) in Playwriting & Dramaturgy, Mikael has completed residencies with The Old Vic and Citizens Theatre. Their work is focused on creating stories that reflect real issues of today, particularly for and with families affected by incarceration. Their acclaimed play, Not Our Crime, Still Our Sentence, debuted at the 2023 Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
Devising from stimuli
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This workshop will guide participants through a dynamic process of transforming external stimuli into compelling theatrical material. We'll begin by examining various forms of stimuli to uncover their inherent themes, images, and dramatic potential.
You will be introduced to practical, collaborative techniques for extracting core concepts and translating them directly into physical, verbal, and visual elements on stage. The focus will be on the journey from discovery to performance, equipping you with a versatile toolkit for generating original scenes, characters, and structures.
This workshop is ideal for actors, directors, playwrights, and all performance makers looking to expand their methods for generating new work. No prior experience in devising is necessary! Just bring your curiosity and a willingness to play, experiment, and collaborate with your fellow creatives.
It is also advised that participants arrive 15 minutes early.
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Clayton Travis (He/Him) is a theatre maker, facilitator and director. Clayton is a graduate of LIPA, completing a BA (Hons) in Applied Theatre and Community Drama. As a Liverpool native, he has a particular interest in creating theatre for social change. He is also creative director at Off Topic Theatre producing engaging productions with both community based artists and professionals alike.
Recent directing credits include: Treasure Island, Breezeblock Park, and The Tempest.
The Mask and the Heart: Storytelling, Emotion, and Identity in Performance
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This workshop explores how performers can channel truth through story, movement, and emotion beyond realism, beyond words. Drawing from both classical and contemporary theatre traditions, it invites participants to discover how love, loss, and identity can be performed through the body, voice, and imagination.
While inspired by storytelling methods found in South Asian theatre, European drama, and modern devised performance, the focus remains universal: how human emotion transforms into performance. -
THE POWER OF GREEK CHORUS
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Unlock the Power of the Greek Chorus: Dive into the dynamic world of the Greek Chorus, the original voice of theatrical conscience and community.
This intensive workshop will showcase the key elements of the ancient form, exploring its style, structure, and historical role from Ancient Athens to the contemporary stage. We will be taking a practical, embodied exploration, focusing on vocal texture, synchronized movement, and the physicalisation of shared text to create a unified, multi-voiced entity.
We will discuss how this powerful technique can be effectively utilised in modern works to amplify thematic meaning. Examining how contemporary playwrights and directors might harness the Chorus—whether as a symbolic device, the protagonist's inner monologue, or the unfiltered voice of society—to amplify political and emotional themes.
Whether you're an actor, director, or playwright, join us to develop vital ensemble skills and discover how this timeless theatrical tradition can infuse your own work with profound resonance and dramatic power.
It is also advised that participants arrive 15 minutes early.
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Joseph (he/him) is a Northern producer, performer, and playwright based in Scotland, with a passion for bringing ambitious new work to the stage. He holds extensive experience as a theatre maker, giving him an intimate understanding of the artistic process from the initial idea to the final curtain call.
Holding a degree in Theatre Studies and a Master's in Feminist Philosophy from the University of Glasgow, Joseph approaches producing with a unique blend of creative vision and critical analysis. This background allows him to champion projects that are not only theatrically engaging but also conceptually rich and socially relevant.
He is dedicated to cultivating a vibrant theatre scene by supporting emerging talent and nurturing artist-led projects, facilitating workshops, and providing a platform for compelling and thoughtful storytelling.
