In Person Workshop with Mike Alfreds…
Over six, 2-hour sessions, we will explore a range of techniques and skills for the individual performer to employ in telling stories, whether in a formal space like a theatre or one that is improvised. It is essentially the storyteller working alone in an empty space without props or any form of technology. It will deal with language, logic, gesture, movement, mime, the use of space, levels of characterisation, points of view and the performer as a multifaceted storyteller, not only as an actor but also as a host, narrator, commentator, designer, stagehand, musician, editor…
Mike is known for his award-winning work as a director and an adaptor of such works as Bleak House, Arabian Nights, Jude the Obscure, A Handful of Dust, The Black Dahlia…amongst many others.
WHen
Tuesday 8th April
Saturday 12th April
Tuesday 15th April
Saturday 19th April
Tuesday 22nd April
Saturday 29th April
10am - 12pm
where
Theatre Deli
107 Leadenhall Street
EC3A 4AF
There is an online option if you cannot make it in person. Please book as normal, and select the relevant tick box at checkout.
Preparation
Participants will be required to source the own copy of THEN WHAT HAPPENS.
Mike will send out preparation, including reading, and work ahead of the classes.
Price - £180 (Deposit £50)
To pay with deposit, please use code DEPOSIT at checkout.
If you are unable to pay the full price, please get in touch and let us know and we’ll see what we can do to support you onto the course.
ABOUT MIKE
Mike Alfreds was born in London and trained as a director at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. He lived in the USA for eight years during which he worked for MGM Studios in Hollywood, was Artistic Director of Theatre West, Tucson and them of the Cincinnati Playhouse-in-the-Park. For five years he worked in Israel where he became Artistic Director of the Jerusalem Khan Theatre. He has also worked in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Germany, Italy, Norway, China and Mongolia.
In the UK he was the Founder and Artistic Director of Shared Experience which he ran for thirteen years, He was Artistic Director of Cambridge Theatre Company, later renamed Method & Madness for ten years, and has directed for the Royal Shakespeare Company, Shakespeare’s Globe and the Royal National Theatre where he was an associate director, as well as for several regional repertory theatres. He has staged over two hundred productions, some of which have won awards both abroad and in the UK. He has adapted novels and stories for the stage, devised performances and translated the texts of several of his productions.
He maintains a parallel career as a teacher. He was a Senior Lecturer at Tel Aviv University, on the staff of LAMDA for five years and frequently gives courses on acting, directing, storytelling and dramaturgy. He has written two books, both published by Nick Hern Books and used in most drama schools and theatre departments: Different Every Night which describes his approach to theatre and his rehearsal processes when working on plays and Then What Happens? which describes his techiques when working on adaptations and storytelling.
Mike Alfreds discussing an overview of his process.