Practical, participatory online Commedia dell’Arte short course, ideal for teachers of drama. Equipping you with transferable knowledge, exercises and techniques to take back into the classroom for teaching Commedia, Devising, Shakespeare, Pantomime, Silent Movies, Slapstick, Melodrama or Clowning.
Day 1 focuses on context and ways into characters
Day 2 will dive into devising skills for Commedia.
3 hours across 2 days + stacks of resources & certificate.
Cost: £50
Book online now:
“I was blown away and am incredibly happy I signed up for the course. Very practical. Very clear. Very visual and engaging. So much useful information - going through the major stock characters the history, the poses, activity types, resources and live answer feed to our questions. Cheryl did an amazing job of it all and that was our first session. I highly recommend!”
“A terrific crash course in Commedia dell’arte. Cheryl provided the history of Commedia, clear descriptions of the characters, and detailed examples of their physical shapes, movements, and voices. She provided guidance on staging and blocking scenes, as well as insight into the relationship between Commedia and Shakespeare’s characters and plays. I would highly recommend this course to anyone considering including Commedia in their curriculum because it provides a wealth of ideas to utilise with students for in person or online learning.”
Re-invigorate your classroom with high energy physical theatre
In this 3 hour live, online course, taught across 2 sessions of an hour and a half each, you will develop a tool kit of techniques specific to Commedia dell’Arte, but transferable to so many other genres. together with resources, to take into the classroom.
Day 1:
Laying the foundations with the context and origins of the form, explored practically through the characters. This is a participatory session (so you’ll need a bit of space to move, if possible) taking you through the movement, gestures and voices of the Commedia dell’Arte four main stock character groupings: servants, masters, lovers and interlopers, including easy ways into them and drawing connections with other forms: Shakespeare, Melodrama, Clowning, Silent Movies and Pantomime.
Day 2:
We dive into ways of devising for commedia revealing an age-old methodology that laid the foundations for devised theatre today. We’ll explore storytelling through characters, physical gags (lazzi), using paralinguistic communication (grammelot) as a devising tool, improvisation exercises and developing a narrative outline (canovaccio).
“A precise and detailed workshop infused with positive energy. Very inspiring!”
Gain transferable skills for devising, teaching physical theatre and Shakespeare
Suitable for teachers, lecturers, student teachers of Drama, Dance or English, learning exercises adaptable for all ages - from primary to higher education.
This course will …
Awaken the physical performer inside you, gaining confidence to model physical theatre in class
Develop your range with transferable techniques for teaching any type of comedy
Deepen your historical knowledge of Commedia to feed into your teaching
Inspire you with new ideas for teaching Shakespeare, Melodrama, Comedy, Panto, Silent Movies and more.
Learning Through Commedia dell’Arte, your students will …
Gain confidence to be physically and vocally expressive, aiding any form of public speaking
Practise and refine their expressive capacity to communicate ideas and dramatic action
Work collaboratively, using effective communication and improvisation, to generate, develop and communicate ideas; devising narrative structures and developing storytelling skills
Access classical texts through the study of archetypes
Understand the theatrical conventions that emerged during the Renaissance and in turn, understand aspects of the social, cultural and historical context in which Shakespeare and his contemporaries were writing
Make artistic choices, considering the impact on an audience
Workshops will be delivered online. Participants will need access to a stable internet connection and a device with a camera and a microphone. It is not essential, but beneficial to have your camera on. You should dress for physical work and set up your device in a suitably spacious room so that you can move around. Registration for our online workshops and courses will close 24hrs before they are due to start. You will be sent a secure link and instructions on how to join prior to the event.
About Commedia dell’Arte:
Commedia dell’Arte is a 16th century comic style, born in Italy, featuring masked and unmasked characters. Known as the first ‘professional’ acting style, the influence of this important theatrical form can be traced through Elizabethan drama, French farce, opera, ballet, mime, silent movies and throughout the history of comedy. Commedia dell’Arte is taught in many drama schools as a movement foundation for all styles of acting. It is a brilliantly inclusive style that will stretch and challenge every student.
About the workshop leader:
This workshop will be led by Cheryl Stapleton. Cheryl trained in physical theatre and comedy at École Philippe Gaulier and in 1995, set up her first theatre company, Kabosh, devising and performing Commedia dell’Arte productions. Over the past twenty-five years, Cheryl has worked and trained with many leading mask and physical theatre practitioners, including Antonio Fava, Marcello Magni, John Rudlin, Olly Crick and Michael Chase. She is a qualified teacher and now runs Learning Through Theatre, performing and delivering workshops internationally with clients that include RADA, Fourth Monkey, UCL, University of Birmingham, Circomedia, The Actors’ Workshop, Loreto College Network and numerous international schools. Cheryl is also an ISTA artist, LAMDA teacher and Confidence & Communication Coach.