About

I grew up in Melbourne, but have spent most of my adult life abroad teaching Drama in England, Mexico, Singapore, and now in Thailand at Bangkok Patana School. In 1999 I completed my MA at the Central School of Speech and Drama, specialising in the use of drama therapy in anger management programmes with violent offenders in prisons and probation.  Now, as a teacher preparing students to enter a world where the greatest gift they can have is the power of creativity, I am driven to help students understand the power of play – playing games, playing with ideas, playing with their own limits. In my spare time I work for ISTA as an Artistic Director and Ensemble Leader as well as an examiner for the IB assessing the Research Presentation and the Extended Essay in Theatre.  I also teach a bit of TOK on the side.….just for fun!

Workshops

Workshop 1 – Put Some Effort Into It.

Total Time: 75 minutes

This workshop will introduce students to the art of creating characters based on Rudolph Laban’s 8 efforts of movement: punch, slash, float, glide, flick, dab, wring and press. This workshop will give you a quick and easy way to create an ‘onstage’ body and can be used either for a stylised or naturalistic approach to acting.

Workshop 3 – Devising from a stimulus using Berkovian techniques  

Total Time: 2 x 75 minutes

Using stylised gesture, chorus and body props, students will develop an introduction to a performance in the style of Steven Berkoff.

Workshop 4 – Unleash your inner clown

Total Time: 75 minutes x 2

What would happen if you could live your life loving to get in trouble? The red nose clown can be found inside all of us – it just needs an invitation to come out and play. Learn about the clowning commandments and how to unleash your inhibitions to become a wise fool.

Workshop 5 – The Gods of Anima.  

Total Time: 75 minutes

All objects have a life of their own if you know how to be a puppet whisperer. This life in puppetry is called anima. Learn how to bring a coat, a shoe or any object to life using precision, breath, weight and focus. We might even create a puppet obstacle course or a puppet ballet.