Mentoring
I regularly mentor artists and companies both in person and online. How we work together varies depending on the artist or company’s specific needs and interests but it often involves dramaturgy, acting as an ‘outside eye’ for shows in development and looking at sustainability (both from a business perspective and in terms of well-being and creativity). Recently I’ve worked with Blink Dance Theatre, Tessa Parr, Lauren Vevers for Arc Stockton, Elgan Rhys for Theatr Iolo, Sian Armstrong, Lucy Harrington, Sarah Argent, This Egg, Selina Thompson, Amarah Spence and Jane English. I have mentored young theatre makers on Birmingham REP’s Foundry scheme and artists on China Plate’s The Dark Room residency at BAC.
“Caroline is endlessly friendly, supportive and encouraging to all the artists she worked with. She makes herself brilliantly available to them, even when she is incredibly busy herself, and always focuses, inspires and steadies them.” Tessa Walker, Associate director, Birmingham Rep
Workshops
I offer a variety of workshops about performance, writing and sustainability. I have recently led workshops for: Arvon; Told By An Idiot’s MA course at Rose Bruford; BBC Birmingham’s The Big Read; school groups in the UK and abroad alongside performances of Mess; theatre students at Birmingham University, Warwick University, Nottingham University, Queen Mary’s.
“I have invited Caroline to lead not one, but two acting workshops to university theatre students of mine. Her knowledge, passion, and playful delivery style make for a dynamic, informative, and active experience that my students thoroughly enjoyed!” Josh Chenard, Assistant Professor of Theatre & Head of Acting, New Mexico State University
“I had always been rather nervous of improv but she had such a welcoming, relaxed approach and essentially made it so much fun. She gave us all sorts of games to let ourselves shine through and I forgot to be all detrimentally inhibited!” Tamara Astor, workshop participant
“Caroline is able to be innovative, responsive and intimate with artists of any stage, no matter the context.” Amahra Spence. MAIA Creatives, Director.
Current workshops:
Turning personal stories into theatre
So you’ve interviewed people, read letters, listened to stories or have your own story to tell. This fun and challenging workshop explores techniques that might help turn a personal story into a beautiful piece of theatre.
Games and clowning
This workshop uses games to help performers improvise freely and keep their performance alive and in the moment. Clown teaches us to be brave, to fail again and again, to listen to our audience and share our inner idiot with them in all its big, generous humanity.
Bouffon
This workshop explores the anarchic, grotesque world of bouffon theatre through games and improvisation. Bouffon theatre is funny, visceral and foul – and since the bouffon’s role is to mock – is often deeply political.
Creating a solo show
This workshop explores techniques to create the world of a piece of theatre and the characters that inhabit it – alone. Using games, dressing up, design elements, music & post-it notes to begin generating material, through to ideas on how to sculpt a final piece.
Devising
This workshop explores how to get from the beginnings of an idea, however small to the final production. Using games and exercises to start generating material, we also look at how to keep a sense of freedom and live-ness in rehearsals and performance.
Getting the show on, the tour together and keeping on
An opportunity to share what I’ve learnt along the way about funding, touring, Arts Council Applications, marketing, strategies for surviving financially and personally.
For more details about workshops (including costs), drop me an an email.
I regularly speak at a variety of institutions and conferences and I’m open to new ways of collaborating with schools, universities and other organisations. I’m available to undertake residencies, and develop workshops for specific projects.