Dates and times for training sessions/playgroups can be found on our calendar.
Tightlaced has recently begun using a new technique developed by Aileen Gonsalves, an inspiring director and actor. Following a career which saw her working with companies like the RSC and the Young Vic, Aileen went on to develop a rehearsal technique which encourages actors to be responsive, affectable and to put their performances in each others’ hands to create theatre which is truly in the moment and different every time. She is now Head of MA Acting at Arts Ed and Artistic Director of Butterfly, and worked with Tightlaced’s Jen McGregor during her training at Mountview, prompting Jen to bring this technique back to Scotland under the name of Affectable Acting.
Affectable Acting evolved out of Meisner and retains the repetition exercise and many of the same principles. However, it differs drastically in its approach to text. While Affectable actors bring text in at a later stage in rehearsal than you’ll find in conventional methods, we consider exploring and understanding every word to be an essential part of the process. Whether the text is classical or newly-written, the actor will put it into his or her own words to become absolutely confident with the meaning of every line they say.
Affectable Acting creates engaging, vital, beautiful performances which are different every single time because they take place in the moment. Affectable Acting creates a rehearsal room full of creative equals, where everyone is expected to surrender their ego and put their trust and their performance in the hands of those around them. Actors are given freedom and ownership. Directors are given a chance to say ‘I don’t know’ and discover things organically. Writers are able to see all the many, many ways the scenes they created can play out.
So how exactly is it done? Come along and find out… Jen going to be running regular training sessions at Art’s Complex (Fort Tightlaced, Studio G21) for theatremakers who are interested in learning this new way of working. They’ll be free to attend and will take place three times a week. We are asking that people commit to attending at least one training session a fortnight – more if you like! Regularity will keep our skills sharp and helps to build up trust.
Sessions will run as follows:
Monday evenings, 7pm – 10pm.
Thursday mornings, 10am – 1pm
Saturday afternoons, 2pm – 5pm.
Alongside Affectable Acting training, these sessions will be used for Playgroups where people will be encouraged to share thoughts, skills, sensory discoveries and ways of creating theatrical experiences. It’s partly a holistic approach to performance, increasing your ability to look after yourself and extending your range of abilities and knowledge, partly an exploration of the boundaries between theatre and other art forms, and partly just a chance to play and let your brain wander at will.
By the end of 2012 Tightlaced plans to cast entirely from actors who use this method, so the Ensemble will be a pool of actors who know and trust one another and can work together swiftly to create thrilling performances in the moment. If you’re interested in being part of this (and in learning a technique which is entirely transferable to other rehearsal practices), all you need to do is contact Jen and arrange to come to a Beginners’ session.
