A Level Drama Practitioner Workshop (AQA, Edexcel & OCR) - Steven Berkoff
Bring Berkoff’s physical expressionism to life through practical performance
This practical workshop introduces students to the distinctive theatrical style of Steven Berkoff, one of the key prescribed practitioners in A Level Drama and Theatre.
Through active participation, students explore physical expressionism, ensemble work, stylised movement and non-naturalistic performance techniques, gaining a clear understanding of how Berkoff’s theatre communicates meaning through the actor’s body, voice and space.
This workshop helps students:
✓ Understand Berkoff as a prescribed practitioner across A Level Drama specifications
✓ Explore physical expressionism and non-naturalistic performance styles
✓ Develop heightened physical and vocal performance techniques
✓ Analyse ensemble, chorus and direct address in performance
✓ Apply practical experience to written exam responses
✓ Build confidence using subject-specific theatrical terminology
✓ Make clear links between style, form and meaning in performance
Duration:
Half day / Full day
Online workshops can be delivered as 1 hour / 2 hours / 5 x 1 hour workshop series, tailored to your timetable. Joint school workshops are a popular, affordable option.
See prices and booking for guide costs.
Why study Berkoff practically?
Students can find it difficult to fully understand Berkoff’s highly stylised, physical and non-naturalistic style through written analysis alone. Through experiencing the precision, control and intensity of expressionist performance, students are able to form stronger analytical written responses and gain confidence through lived experience.
Ideal for
AQA A Level Drama and Theatre (Berkoff practitioner study)
Edexcel A Level Drama and Theatre practitioner work
OCR A Level Drama and Theatre physical theatre study
GCSE Drama (physical theatre and non-naturalistic performance)
Years 10, 11 or years 12, 13
Study of Metamorphosis, The Trial, Greek
Transposing stylistic features to other texts
Expressionist text study e.g. Machinal, Dr Faustus or Woyzeck.
Devised theatre work
Revision and exam preparation
Drama study days and enrichment programmes
Why Teachers Book This Workshop
Steven Berkoff’s theatre is highly stylised, anti-realism and exaggerated to an extreme scale, making it challenging to fully understand through text and written analysis alone.
This workshop allows students to experience the intensity, precision and control required in Berkoff’s performance style. By embodying the techniques, students gain a clearer understanding of how meaning is created through movement, ensemble and vocal expression, rather than realism.
This leads to stronger analytical writing, more precise use of terminology and greater confidence in both set text and practitioner questions.
What students will explore
Students will investigate:
Physical expressionism and its key principles
Stylised movement and exaggerated physicality
Vocal technique, rhythm and heightened delivery
Ensemble work and the use of chorus
Direct address and audience relationship
Minimalism and actor-created environments
The grotesque and comic distortion
Influences on Berkoff’s theatrical style
Application of Berkoff techniques to performance tasks or set text scenes
Learning outcomes
By the end of the workshop students will be able to:
Explain the key features of Berkoff’s performance style
Demonstrate understanding of physical expressionism in practice
Stretch and develop new performance skills to apply in practice
Analyse how performance choices communicate meaning
Apply practitioner knowledge to exam-style responses
Apply Berkoff’s techniques and stylistic features to own performance and portfolio work
Use precise theatrical terminology with confidence
“An excellent workshop that students will really benefit from. Cheryl was clearly knowledgable and experienced. I would have no hesitation to book her again”
Teacher Feedback
“The workshop provided by Cheryl was outstanding. Her specialist knowledge, passion and creativity ignited something in my students that I never could have!”
“It has been a privilege to work with such a dynamic and engaging practitioner. Cheryl’s skill and passion shone through in every aspect of the workshop – she was captivating.”
Workshop content in more detail
This is a highly practical, performance-led workshop where students learn through doing. Students will take part in:
Physical and vocal ensemble training exercises
Movement-based exploration of expressionist technique
Mime techniques and their application within Berkovian style performance
Exploration of language in all its musicality, colour and range, from poetry to profanity
Physicalisation and embodiment of heightened language
Status and power dynamics through the body, including the grotesque
Chorus work and unified ensemble performance
Direct address and breaking theatrical illusion
Creating stylised, non-naturalistic performance sequences
Exploring grotesque physicality and exaggeratio
Analysis of how physical choices create meaning for an audience
Vocabulary specific to Berkoff’s style and how to verbalise the physical creative process in words; this provides the language for students to then transpose their practical explorations to their analytical written work.
Workshop Leader
These workshops are led by Cheryl Stapleton, a qualified Drama teacher, performer and theatre practitioner with over 20 years’ teaching experience and more than 13 years delivering specialist A Level workshops in schools across the UK and internationally.
She has worked with over 500 schools worldwide and delivered training for organisations including RADA, Fourth Monkey, UCL, University of Birmingham and Circomedia, and is an ISTA Global Artist specialising in Commedia dell’Arte, physical theatre and performance training.
With over 30 years’ experience in theatre practice and education, Cheryl helps students experience performance traditions in action, bridging the gap between practical exploration and the analytical demands of A Level Drama specifications.