WRITING & STORYTELLING (group workshops or one-to-one tuition)
1) WRITING A PLAY
Writing a play is an extremely satisfying, creatively - as a playwright, you get to see your work brought to life in a living, breathing production. Alternatively, as an actor, it enables you to create a piece that showcases your skills and gives you something unique and exciting to work on.
In this workshop, you can learn how to:
– Make a start – find your inspiration and discover how to translate an initial idea into a working script
– Create the key elements of drama and plotting that will help you to shape your play
– Build characters and write dialogue, so the actions and words of your characters seem authentic
– Organize an informal workshopping session, so you can test your material at key stages of your writing process.
“As our Playwright in Residence, Sarah created enthralling and magical scripts that brought a new dimension - and a new audience - to our venue”
– Chris Searle, Manager of the Ripon Walled Garden Charitable Trust, North Yorkshire
2) STORYTELLING
From an article in the news, to a tv show, to a story told around a campfire… the whole world is made up of stories. But what makes a good story? And how can you deliver it in a way that keep your audience hooked?
In storytelling workshops, you can learn how to:
– Successfully employ the key elements that make up a brilliant story
– Structure those elements into a riveting plot
– Characterize your story, so you bring each of the characters alive for your audience
– Use physicality to build up the story and add to the drama
– Use your voice to delineate different characters and capture your audience, whether great or small
“Sarah Blake’s stories are generated by the characters, which is the hardest kind of storytelling. Watching, I felt quite envious.”
– Louis de Bernières, novelist & author of Captain Corelli’s Mandolin
3) DEVISING A SCRIPT
Devising is a technique where a writer works with others - a group of actors, a director, or other writers - to develop a story or play for performance. It gives you the opportunity to work on a unique and exciting project and is an excellent way to transform an idea into a fully-fledged stage work.
In devising workshops, you can learn how to:
– Work as part of a team to devise and create a script or story
– Use improvisation to invent new characters and situations
– Break through artistic blocks and build confidence in your ideas and skills.