Training Opportunities
Drama Association of Wales is currently developing a programme of training events. We have some 
already lined up for January, February and March 2012 and will shortly be scheduling further workshops to take place beyond that. We currently have the following scheduled (just click the course title to see the full details):
Enhancing Festival Productions, Acting Skills, Health and Safety in the Theatre, Applying to Drama School, Building a Character.
You can book on any of these courses by completing and sending us the booking form which is available in both word and pdf formats.
Festival Workshops
DAW is working together with Wales Millennium Centre to provide a series of weekend workshops throughout Wales in January, February and March.
We will be running two day-long workshops in each of the festival areas: one on Acting Skills and a second on Enhancing Festival Productions. Our intention is to enable groups to enhance festival entries and their productions in general. However, the workshops will also be relevant to those who don't participate in festivals.
Established one-act festivals in Wales are: Anglesey, Conwy, Clwyd, Montgomeryshire, Gwent, Glamorgan and Pembrokeshire and we will be holding workshops in each of these areas.
We are working with Wales Millennium Centre to deliver these workshops.
Enhancing Festival Productions
This workshop will advise on the many aspects you will need to get right in order to achieve success in competitive festivals. It will include:
- the selection of plays
- set design
- directing
- production
- and advice on how to develop your creative teamwork
Tutor: Ben Humphrey (see below)
22 January 2012, Cardiff
19 February 2012, Conwy
4 March 2012, Holyhead
25 March 2012, Mold
1 April2012, Milford Haven
(further dates to be confirmed)
Cost: DAW Individual Members £20, Non-members £30
Acting Skills
This workshop will cover many aspects of performing including tips and "tricks of the trade" for performers which can be applied to all forms of acting: stage, screen and radio. It will also include a section on avoiding the pitfalls often seen made by performers in festivals.
Here's what some attendees had to say about the Cardiff Workshop in January.
- "I can't praise Ben enough. He got it just right!"
- "A good course wiith a very good tutor - very engaging."
- "It was very informative and helpful - very enlightening."
Tutor: Ben Humphrey will be leading both the Acting Skills and Enhancing Festival Productions workshops. Ben trained as an actor at the prestigious Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. Following successful touring jobs in both Stratford-Upon-Avon and London he returned to his home city of Worcester where he now works as an actor, writer, director and producer and is also Artistic Director of Youth Theatre at the Swan Theatre. Ben is also a full member of the Guild of Drama Adjudicators. He was adjudicator of the Wales regional one act festivals in 2011
21 January 2012, Cardiff
18 February 2012, Conwy
3 March 2012, Holyhead
24 March 2012, Mold
31 March 2012, Milford Haven
(further dates to be confirmed)
Cost: DAW Individual Members £20, Non-Members £30
Health and Safety in the Theatre
A one-day training course which will cover the essentials of working safely in a theatre. It will cover:
Risk Management
- What is a hazard?
- What is a risk?
- Common hazards in the theatre
- Carrying out a risk assessment
- Adequate controls for managing theatre risk
- Legal requirements
Production Management
- Planning of a production
- Communication of production process
- Dynamic risk assessing and production control
- Practical ideas to keep people safe
- Practical examples of working practices
Tutors: Neil Maidman is an IOSH Qualified Consultant. He has worked in the industry for nine years and has been involved in theatre for over twenty-five years, directing and acting for Blackwood Little Theatre.
Aneurin Brown has been involved in technical theatre since 2004. He has designed sound and lighting for eleven plays that have reached the Wales Final Festival of One Act Plays since 2004. He is a graduate in Technical Theatre and Television Production and has also been Stage Manager for the National Eisteddfod and the Urdd Eisteddfod. He has worked with Bryn Terfel, John Owen Jones, Rhod Gilbert and Peter Karrie.
25 February 2012, Theatr Twm o'r Nant, Denbigh
3 March 2012, Blackwood Little Theatre, Blackwood
Cost: DAW Individual members £70, Non-members £90
Applying to Drama School
A day-long workshop packed with advice, information and guidance to help you negotiate the process of applying to Drama School. The course will cover:
- Picking the best course for you
- The experience of Drama School
- The application process
- Putting together an Audition Tool Kit
- Audition Clinic
Tutor: Rebecca Hammond was trained in Central School of Speech and Drama and has worked extensively in theatre. She currently runs Hammerpuzzle Theatre Company and lectures in Drama Studies at Bath Spa University School of Music and Performing Arts.
10 March 2012, Cardiff
Cost: DAW Individual members £70, Non-members £90
Building a Character
This day-long workshop will equip you with practical tools, which can be applied to the creation of any character from any genre. The sessions will draw on the work of several practitioners to ensure there is something for everyone. It will help those already involved in drama to develop their skills while offering an excellent grounding to those interested in becoming involved in amateur theatre.
Session 1: All actors are good detectives!
Using the text as bases for building a character, concentrating on the Given Circumstances and their effect on the Actor's Tools (face and body).
Session 2: Creating a physicality
Following the basic principles of Grotowski's theory, this is a simple step by step guide to developing a physicality that can be sustained. Great for multi-role playing!
Session 3: Finding the character's energy
A practical exercise bases on Jaque LeCoq's "States of Being" - a useful versatile performance technique that can be used in real life as well as on stage.
Session 4: Playing Sub-text - the subtle side of character creation
A series of improvisation tasks that will help create a 'truth' within the character you want to portray.
Tutor: Vivienne Buckley trained at the Central School of Speech and Drama.
She has worked as a freelance director for a number of years and her work has been produced across the UK.
Viv is the Head of The Performing Arts Academy at Coleg Powys and the Artistic Director of West Glamorgan Youth Theatre Company and GradCo. Her teaching has included HE, community arts, stage schools and specialist vocational actor training.
28 January 2012, Brecon
Cost: DAW Individual members £30. Non-members £40
DAW organises a series of training opportunities through the year, across Wales.
The centrepiece of the training programme is the Summer School, which runs for a week in August each year, but there are also one-off workshops, including courses run in Welsh, usually in North Wales.
Sometimes, DAW collaborates with one of the area Amateur Theatre organisations to help them in the running of their own courses and training programmes. We can also provide advice on applying for external funding (e.g. Lottery funding) to support training activity.
We are always interested in hearing your ideas for future training courses. Please Contact Us if you have any suggestions either for Summer School themes, or any other training provision.
Like to join our mailing list to be kept informed of new training opportunities?
Drop us an email and we’ll let you know when new projects are in the pipeline. As we provide sessions in both English and Welsh, it would be really helpful to us if you could let us know which language you are interested in.
