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    June workshops are dropping!

    This is a simple website to connect you to intense physical theatre training. Join the family of Melbourne performers who want to get gritty with their theatre.

     

    Joining the mailing list will keep you updated about classes.

  • Upcoming workshops...

    Larval Mask:

    Playfulness, articulation and naivety

    Lead teacher: Beth Twentyman

    Co-teacher: Daryl Pellizzer

    Produced by Melbourne Physical Theatre School

    Come and play in the larval mask world! A 3-day introductory workshop for people interested in mask characters and the poetic space they live in.

    What is a Larval Mask?

    Larval masks, derived from Basel carnival traditions, were adopted by Jacques Lecoq for actor training. They are simplified, unpainted white masks used to explore physical and emotional expression in the body calling for gestures before words. In the Lecoq pedagogy of mask, mime and movement theatre, these masks are central to making the students aware of physical expression and embodiment of character. They are a silent mask therefore the need for physicality is heightened.

    How to play in Larval Mask?

    Larval masks create a space of sensitivity and deep naivety. Beth Twentyman will guide participants through breath, movement and play exercises to activate subtle communication skills and gestural language. Through the amplification of movement the Larval mask will introduce participants to a world where characters really come to life. Students will see ‘the beginning’ of character expression, gesture and emotion. Inside all of this the group will learn techniques of playing masks eg. fixed point, mime, projecting space, action + reaction and sensitivity to the audience. Larval masks both tragic and comic, thus have an incredible power for storytelling.

    Who is it for?

    Performers, artists, physical theatre and movement practitioners. It is open to people with a little or a lot of theatre experience. Adults of all abilities are welcome. If you are a human interested in humanity you will probably like this work a lot!
    The work will cover:

    • Grounding into the body, space, the mask
    • Cultivating a balanced and energised physical movement preparation
    • Movement analysis - how does each mask move?
    • Creating characters through movement/embodiment
    • Mask playing techniques
    • Improvisational mime
    • Play/spontaneity in theatrical space
    • Non-verbal communication/action based theatre
    • Getting out of the head and into the body!

    When:

    Fri, Sat, Sun

    9.30am - 5.00pm

    June 27th, 28th, 29th

    **It is compulsory to attend all classes as this is a strict learning continuum aka one class leads into the next. Students will not be allowed to arrive late or leave early.

    Where:

    Donkey Wheelhouse, 673 Bourke St, Melbourne CBD, VIC, 3000
    Prices

    Super Early Bird Price (Full payment due by June 6th): $300.00

    Normal Price: $375.00

    Late Bird Price (If paid after June 23rd): $450.00

    **The fee contains a non-refundable deposit of $150.00 which is required within 3 days of being accepted into the course. The deposit secures your position in the course.

    Minimum participants: 8

    Maximum participants: 20

    **Minimum number of participants must be enrolled by June 13th for the workshop to go ahead.

    BOOK NOW

    Beth Twentyman - Lead Teacher

    Beth is a mask-maker, movement teacher and performance artist based in Melbourne. Physical communication skills, body language, creativity and play are foundational blocks that shape Beth’s work. Discovering Giovanni Fusetti’s approach to theatre and the therapeutic benefits of play, led her to study at Helikos International School of Theatre Creation, Italy in 2013. Alongside a rigorous training in physical theatre, movement and devising, she trained in mask-making with Matteo Destro and then Advanced Pedagogic Theatrical movement with Giovanni Fusetti and has continued to hone this craft ever since.

    Darryl Pellizer - Co-teacher

    Daryl is a performer of drama, dance and has trained in Ideokinesis and Aikido both of which he continues to incorporate into his work today. He has worked performing and creating theatre within Australia and toured internationally. As a teacher Daryl has worked in Australian primary and secondary schools, tertiary colleges and universities and in various community and arts contexts. His Interest in storytelling and physical theatre led him to workshops with Monika Pagneux and Phillippe Gaulier. In 2011 he intensified this training by enrolling in Helikos, International School of Theatre Creation with Giovanni Fusetti. He graduated in 2014 and continues the work with his colleague, Beth Twentyman.

    What’s in a Wig?

    A Character Devising Workshop

    Melbourne Physical Theatre School X PO PO MO CO

    Lead teacher: Kimberley Twiner

    A fun, short workshop where we will create characters from wigs!

    We can create characters from so many inspiration points. This workshop will use wigs as the starting point. Bring your own wig or use one of the many wigs from my collection. That wig of your choice will have a certain dynamic, a particular way of moving. We will do movement analysis of the wig and see how we can transform that dynamic into a heightened character or masked state.

    Participants will focus on:

    • Physical theatre and physical comedy through the Lecoq pedagogy of Mask, Mime and Movement theatre
    • Movement analysis aka Mimo Dynamiques
    • Humanizing abstract movement patterns into characters
    • Being consistent in a character
    • Performance skills and presence

    Date: June 10th

    Time: 10:00am - 5:00pm

    Location: Pascoe Vale South Uniting Church, 10 Cumberland Road, Pascoe Vale, 3044

    Cost: Prices start at $55.00

    *There must be a minimum of 10 participants enrolled by 1 week prior for this to go ahead

    BOOK NOW FOR WIG TIMES

    Slow Down/Play Fast:

    Learn how to improvise with each other

    Lead teacher: Kimberley Twiner

    It’s really, really easy to play together if we are working towards the same thing.

    This day-long workshop will share a whole bunch of 101’s on how to improvise together through the lens of physical comedy. We will draw on classic techniques and exercises that support people to drop in to play very quickly with each other. The work will be grounded in physical theatre and physical comedy through the Lecoq pedagogy of Mask, Mime and Movement theatre. The Lecoq pedagogy is a highly embodied method of devising for the Actor-Creator.

    Students will learn about:

    • Physicalizing a ‘yes’ energy
    • Performance skills that allow you to focus on the present
    • What to notice when working with a partner
    • Technique on crescendo aka developing a game/theme
    • Working emergently aka what is happening now rather than controlling or driving a scene
    • The roles present in us that can hijack our capacity to improvise

    Date: June 17th

    Time: 10:00am - 5:00pm

    Location: Pascoe Vale South Uniting Church, 10 Cumberland Road, Pascoe Vale, 3044

    Cost: Prices start at $55.00

    *There must be a minimum of 10 participants enrolled by 1 week prior for this to go ahead

    BOOK NOW FOR PLAY TIMES

    Silent Comedy:

    No words, big funnies

    Lead teacher: Kimberley Twiner

    SPEAKING IS BANNED!

    What happens when we ban spoken text from our improvising and our games? Most of the time we get seriously good physical comedy!


    This one day workshop will be a dive into physical comedy in all its purity. The participants are invited to not speak during the games and improvisations. During the day the teacher will speak to explain the exercises but once the participants are in they will play in silence.

    This workshop will be great for beginners who want an introduction to physical comedy and also great for experienced performers who want to return and refine the practice of playing non-verbally. Also, it will be great fun for any people interested in how humans can connect and play non-verbally.

    Participants will focus on:

    • Physical theatre and physical comedy through the Lecoq pedagogy of Mask, Mime and Movement theatre
    • Mime, gesture and clearly articulating the body
    • Projecting dramatic space
    • Finding ‘themes’ to play without words
    • Games and improvisations
    • Micro devising tasks both solo and ensemble
    • Presence and connection to stage partner and audience

    Date: June 24th

    Time: 10:00am - 5:00pm

    Location: Pascoe Vale South Uniting Church, 10 Cumberland Road, Pascoe Vale, 3044

    Cost: Prices start at $55.00

    *There must be a minimum of 10 participants enrolled by 1 week prior for this to go ahead

    BOOK NOW FOR SILENT TIMES

  • Past Workshops

    Autumn 2025

    Bouffon: Studies in Mockery, Satire and Grotesque (8 weeks) - by Kimberley Twiner

    Shakespeare's Voice (4 weeks) - by Rob Meldrum

    Summer 2024

    Pedagogic Supervision Group (2 days) - by Giovanni Fusetti

    The Greenhouse of Fools (5 days) - by Giovanni Fusetti

    The Politics of The Fool (5 days) - by Giovanni Fusetti

    Conversations with The Fool (5 days) - by Giovanni Fusetti

    Winter 2024

    Bouffon: Play Fuels the Fire (5 days) - by Kimberley Twiner

    A Clown is Born (5 days) - by Kimberley Twiner

    Summer 2023/24

    Australia Dell'Arte (2 weeks) - by Giovanni Fusetti

    Clowns Life (2 weeks) - by Giovanni Fusetti

    Winter 2023

    Melodrama: More is More (3 days) - by Kimberley Twiner

    Character: An Embodied Way In (3 days) - by Kimberley Twiner

    Physical Theatre Conditioning: Invigorating the Poetic Body - by Kimberley Twiner

    Mimodynamique Training: Animal Drives - by Kimberley Twiner

    Autumn 2023

    Physical Theatre Conditioning: Invigorating the Poetic Body - by Kimberley Twiner

    Mimodynamique Training: Animal Drives - by Kimberley Twiner

    Summer 2023

    Mimodynamique of The Colours - by Kimberley Twiner

    Bouffon (5 Days) - by Kimberley Twiner

    Summer 2022

    The 20 Movements - by Giovanni Fusetti

    The Red Nose Journey - by Giovanni Fusetti

    The Neutral Mask in Nature - by Giovanni Fusetti

    The Spirit of Commedia dell'Arte - by Giovanni Fusetti

    Winter 2021

    Abbotsford Convent Pivot Residency Project - by Kimberley Twiner

    Autumn 2021

    Bouffon 2 Day Workshop - by Kimberley Twiner

    Clown Play 2 Day Workshop - by Kimberley Twiner

    Flock Fit in the Park Series - by Kimberley Twiner

    Winter 2020

    Outdoor Physical Theatre Conditioning Series - by Kimberley Twiner

    Summer 2020

    From the Neutral Mask to Red Nose - by Giovanni Fusetti

    The Pedagogy of Bouffon - by Giovanni Fusetti

    Bouffon and the Ecstasy of Mocking - by Giovanni Fusetti

    Spring 2020

    Drag 101: Performing Skills - by Kimberley Twiner

    Character Charge Up - by Kimberley Twiner

  • The Blog

    Thoughts, musings and ruminations.

    January 21, 2025 · Bouffon,Lecoq,Physical Theatre,Mockery
    Bouffon is a satyrical, grotesque physical comedy grounded in mockery. As a formalized style of theatre, Bouffon can be traced to the Lecoq school of mask, mime and movement theatre in Paris. In the 1970s the pedagogic director, Jacques Lecoq, started to explore a core performance dynamic...
    As promised here is the article.   HERE  
    The movement doesn’t mean something, it is something. Mimo Dynamique training is a type of theatre training that is grounded in one key principle: observe the world then imitate it. It is a pillar of the Lecoq pedagogy of Mask, Mime and Movement Theatre and can create a really liberating state...
  • Creative Food

    Resources for the eyes and ears that capture something about the incapturable.

    Books

    Copeau: Texts on Theatre by Jacques Copeau

    The Archetypal Artist by Mary Antonia Wood

    A History of the Dance by Curt Sachs

    Society of the Spectacle by Guy Debord

    The Dance Cure by Dr Peter Lovatt

    Dancing in the Streets: A History of Collective Joy by Barbara Ehrenreich

    The Poetic Body (also known as The Moving Body) by Jacques Lecoq

    Women Who Run With The Wolves by Dr Clarissa Pinkola Estes

    The Empty Space by Peter Brook

    Why Is That So Funny? by John Wright

    True and False by David Mamet

    Every Little Movement by Ted Shawn

    Listenings

    Myths of the Family by James Hillman

    The Creative Fire by Dr Clarissa Pinkola Estes

    The Politics of Feeling by James Hillman

    Pagan Psychology by James Hillman

    Pink Madness by James Hillman

  • Mailing List

    Follow the impulse. Get in touch.