What we do
Courses are led by professional working actors and experienced facilitators who offer participants the opportunity to explore their creativity in a safe, fun and non-competitive environment.
By training with the Drama Workhouse, you will also be contributing to a worthy cause. The Drama Workshop is a charitable organisation that thrives on the opportunity to share the exciting world of drama with varied groups, many of whom have never had access to drama before. By supporting our charity through our workshops, you can help us to help people change their lives in prisons, schools and with our other valuable community programs.
Our Workshops
You'll be glad to know that the Drama Workhouse isn't a Dickensian repository for hungry and overworked thespians. No. It is a place that offers drama workshops for adults and children led by professional actors who love the simple joy of acting. The Drama Workhouse is available to children and adults and provides an affordable course of drama aiming to develop:
The workshops offer a pressure–free and non–competitive environment in which to learn, and provide adults and children alike with an opportunity to develop their self–confidence, powers of self–expression and their creativity. Every individual is encouraged by friendly accredited performers who provide constructive feedback in a pressure free environment.
The Drama Workhouse offers short courses on an ongoing basis, with an emphasis on having fun while learning acting skills. Beginners are more than welcome, and fit in well with a diverse group. The time to act is now.
For children and young people (7 to 13+ years)
Have fun, make friends and learn how to be a star. Our sessions include work on improvisation, story telling, developing a character, poetry, devising and staging productions, rehearsing plays for performance. Our Workshops offer a fun environment for you to learn, develop self-confidence, and play with your powers of self-expression and creativity. Above all, the emphasis is on fun – we ensure that you are guaranteed to go home smiling.
Students will learn to express themselves in a safe environment - building self-confidence, self-awareness and self-esteem, as well as acting skills. Students will progress as individuals as well as part of a team - and all this while having fun! We also put on revues and shows for public performance.
Students study a range of workshops to become all round performers, while overcoming shyness or increasing social skills. Our class nembers are limited to ensure the optimum learning experience, developing confidence and growth.
We run short courses, roughly in line with school terms. Terms range between eleven and fourteen weeks. Contact us today for your free introductory workshop.
For children at heart (18 and over)
Playtime for grown-ups! Leave your inhibitions at the door and find your ‘inner child’ again! Each workshop will include a physical warm-up, a few games, a vocal warm-up, relaxation time, improvisation and drama games - followed by the theme of the workshop such as storytelling, monologues, duologues, character-work, and poetry. We also put on revues and shows for public performance.
Students study a range of workshops to become all round performers, while overcoming shyness or increasing social skills. Our class nembers are limited to ensure the optimum learning experience, developing confidence and growth.
We run short courses throughout the year. Contact us today for your free introductory workshop.
Our Community Projects
We offer much more than drama workshops. By igniting the spark of creativity and collaboration that comes naturally from participating in the Arts, we’ve seen shy children come out of their shells, corporate professionals communicate creatively, tough teenagers open up about their anger, young offenders in prison acknowledge their mistakes and new immigrants share their struggles and make new friends.
Corporate Training Projects
We have extended our workshops to include corporate training activities and team building workshops for companies in all sectors, seeking to improve communication, performance and group dynamics.
As each program is customised for your company’s particular needs, please contact us today for more information.
Community Projects
Getting involved in the community is what Drama Workhouse is all about. We thrive on the opportunity to share the exciting world of drama with varied groups, many of whom have never had access to drama before. More importantly, we are one of the few independent Arts organisations offering OCN accredited courses, which means that participants in our programmes receive a qualification for all the new skills that they learn.
Increasingly, we are undertaking work with local partners, such as local authorities, schools and other voluntary and charity organisations. We are proud to have been able to change the lives of people in prisons, schools and through our other valuable community programs.
School Projects
Drama education isn’t just about empowering students with the skills they need to reach their goals; it’s about giving them the courage and self-confidence to achieve them. The school projects we run are as varied as the children we teach.
Examples of recent projects with schools:
Prison Projects
Our prison projects are run using OCN accredited courses, with a 100% pass rate to date. The courses utilise a wide range of techniques and exercises to build self-confidence, self-awareness and self-esteem in a safe, fun and non-competitive environment. We can also use the courses to address rehabilitation issues.
Vulnerable Adults
For those who have experienced homelessness, addiction, alcohol misuse or have served time in prison, returning to ‘real life’ can feel like a daunting challenge. Our projects give participants confidence and self-esteem. We can also run this as an OCN Accredited course.
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