Workshop activities & exercises
In this section, we’ll take a look at what happens inside TSDC performance creation workshops. As we mentioned in the introduction, while this section may potentially be of interest to all readers, it’s primarily geared toward theatre practitioners who are considering facilitating a workshop series using TSDC’s creative approach.
As you read, we encourage you to keep in mind that though we’ve presented the material in this section in a particular order, in our experience, the process of creating a TSDC play is never linear. It’s better understood as a series of overlapping phases, or waves. While taking into account the ebb and flow of the phases, it’s also important that facilitators remember the project’s time limitations and goals.
Roughly speaking the workshop phases include:
- Gathering, where the focus is on getting to know one another and familiarizing the group with the kinds of activities and exercises that will be used throughout the workshops.
- Generating material and identifying themes using theatre-based exercises.
- Developing scenes and creating the performance script.
- Rehearsing and preparing for the performance.
During the initial phase of the performance creation workshop process the focus is getting to know one another, building trust, and developing a shared creative vocabulary.
Activities introduced during this phase include:
- Informal check-ins over food
- Story circles
- Physical warm-up activities
- Image Theatre exercises
- Group reflections
Most of these activities will be repeated weekly (in some form) throughout the performance creation process. In this way, they become an important part of the group’s ritual of being together while also introducing participants to the creative tools they will use to co-create the performance script as the workshop series progresses.
