These are just some of the workshops that we have been involved in running recently. As no two groups of students are the same, we believe that each workshop should be tailor made for the needs and demands of any group we work with. We can dip in and out of a variety of different workshops, according to what is needed.

Using Risk, Focus and Multi-Tasking as a Music Theatre Performer
When your Director shouts at you to 'Focus!' or 'Concentrate!', what do they actually mean? Can you actually train your mind to be a better performer, like you might do with your body at a gym? How can you create theatre using a tube of Smarties? Come with an open mind, prepared to take big creative risks and let Thrift director Tim Godwin and composer Grant Olding lead you through the sometimes shocking world of risk, focus & multi-tasking.

Performing a Song, both as an Ensemble Member and as a Soloist
Singing in public is one of the biggest challenges that faces many performers. Suddenly that confidence you had in the shower and the funky poses that you worked out in front of the mirror with your hairbrush disappear, leaving you isolated and alone for 128 bars of hell. But fear not, because help is at hand! This workshop will look at ways in which you can develop a song on stage and how to engage your audience. You will need sheet music for a song that you would like to develop. If you do not have one, then do not worry, because there will be some well known ditties to hand on the day!

Using Music Theatre to Start your Devising Process
Making a new piece of theatre can be an exciting and challenging experience, but where do you start? In this workshop, Tim and Grant will be looking at a number of different ways in which music and song can be used in the early stages of a devising process. We will be looking at exploring character, themes and creating mood/atmosphere using a range of Music Theatre Techniques.

Artaud: Evoking the Ghost.
A practical exploration of Artaud and his theories for the stage. The session starts with a whistle-stop tour of the man, his life and influences, before launching into playing with many of his theories in smaller groups. Music is encouraged to always be at the heart of the work, as students challenge themselves to create sounds and music to establish mood/atmosphere towards effect. By the end of the workshop, students are left with a whole series of ideas to take into their own practice.

Brecht: Opera antics.
This workshop focuses on demonstrating key elements of Brechtian theory, initially through the exploration and creation of a piece of music theatre. Using exercises and improvisation, Thrift will enable students to understand tricky concepts by explicitly identifying them in their own workshop practice. This workshop can be run in many different ways, often according to the texts that the students are studying.

Respecting the silence: Using music to expose subtext.
Working with texts and within improvisation, students will look at how music can be used as powerful tool in making sub textual decisions clear for an audience. Useful for students who are developing texts for performance.

Writing a song for Music Theatre.
A look at the process of composition, and the contexts in which song can potentially be used in a piece of Theatre. This session will challenge students to reconsider what a song is, and will enable them to add another dimension to their Theatre making process.

Working as a Theatre practitioner.
An opportunity for students to discover what it is like to work as a Theatre practitioner. The session will develop an understanding of Theatre as an Industry, and will offer, through practical work, some answers to the many questions that the creative arts industry seems to pose. Particularly useful for students of vocational courses.