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This workshop will explore the technical challenges and
physical demands of communicating Howard Barker texts, using discussion,
demonstration and practical work. The workshop will be led by an experienced
practitioner from The Wrestling School, together with actors from the
current company. The morning session will be devoted to an examination
of Barker's sound landscape and the dramatic function of articulacy in
his texts. Work will include vocal and small group work. We will then
explore how vocabulary and language structure informs characterisation
and look at the compulsion to speak that drives Barker's men and women. In the afternoon we will do scene work in which we will
seek to demonstrate how Barker's writing directs the actor. This will
include looking at how the text evokes and demands an awareness of the
space between actors and encourages playing across the space.The day will
end with a Q and A session with Howard Barker and Wrestling School actors.
Sat 13 November
2004 10.30am - 5pm £85 "This
was far beyond my expectation; working great text with the people who
know the work best in both theory and skill. Theory and skill utterly
aligned to culminate in practice. Perfect. The first time in my working
life I have experienced that…". We offer a range of workshops and study days on different aspects of Howard Barker's work and that of the company for theatre practitioners and all those interested in language-based drama. We aim to illuminate Barker's identity as a writer working in a classical tradition of language and explore the perceived problem of language in formal drama and its disconnection from contemporary forms of expression. Our work seeks to demonstrate the potency of the alliance between the dramatist and the actor/audience in which the gift of articulacy is recognised and not resisted. Other aspects of Barker's work we examine include scene structure, character as language, the breakdown of language and gesture and imagery.
Summer School July 2003
Howard Barker and The Wrestling School produce perhaps some of the most controversial theatre in the UK. These exhilarating but challenging works inspire hatred in some but passionate devotion in countless others. Why? What are the characteristics of this work? What are its
guiding principles and governing aesthetics? Why does this language inspire
so much pleasure and devotion among performers? How can this work be made
to resonate so powerfully in performance? Is the creative process transformed
by the writer as director? The School was led by experienced Barker practitioners, Melanie Jessop and Jane Bertish working with Howard Barker. Leading Barker writers, David Ian Rabey and Charles Lamb also contributed. All the feedback from the particpants was highly positive and we may
run another Summer School in the future. Watch this space for further
details. The Wrestling School
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A
practical one day workshop for intermediate practitioners (actors and
directors) exploring the practice of preparing and presenting Howard Barker
texts by the company.
A
four day residential Summer School exploring the practice of preparing
and presenting Howard Barker texts in performance took place in July 2003.
The venue
was Stoke Rochford Hall in Lincolnshire, an elegant Victorian mansion
set in 28 acres of beautiful formal gardens. It has a first class reputation
as a conference centre, excellent leisure facilities and a high standard
of cuisine. Stoke Rochford is easily accessible by train via Grantham
and by road from the A1.