Play is more than a rehearsal exercise—it’s a way of thinking, creating and connecting. It allows us to take risks, respond instinctively and discover ideas we could never have planned.
Finding Play is an energetic physical theatre workshop for actors, performers, theatre makers, educators and anyone interested in creativity through performance. Through games, improvisation and ensemble exercises inspired by the traditions of Lecoq, Gaulier and contemporary devised theatre, participants explore how play can unlock creativity, deepen collaboration and build more confidence working in uncertainty.
Whether you’re an experienced performer or simply curious to discover a more playful approach, this workshop invites you to embrace uncertainty, trust your instincts and rediscover the joy of live performance.
Participants will
Making it Up as We Go Along (Devising)
Hidden Faces (Mask)
Bringing Things To Life (Puppetry)
Creating your own work is one of the most liberating, fulfilling things an actor can do, but also one of the most daunting. So how do you make a play? Play!
Making it Up as We Go Along is a highly practical physical theatre workshop for actors, performers, theatre makers, educators and anyone interested in creating their own work. Through a series of games, exercises and devising principles, participants explore how play becomes a practical tool for generating original theatrical ideas, making creative decisions and shaping devised performance.
Whether you’re an experienced performer or simply curious to discover a different approach, this workshop invites you to leap into the unknown and unlock your own creative voice.
Finding Play
Hidden Faces (Mask)
Bringing Things To Life (Puppetry)
Playing with Mask is a practical exploration of neutral and expressive mask inspired by the work of Jacques Lecoq and contemporary physical theatre. Through movement, improvisation and ensemble play, participants discover how mask encourages honesty, precision and imaginative storytelling.
Whether you’re new to mask or looking to deepen your physical performance practice, this workshop invites you to communicate with your whole body and discover how less can often express more.
Participants will:
Finding Play
Making it Up as We Go Along (Devising)
Bringing Things To Life (Puppetry)
Playing with Puppets explores the playful principles of bringing objects to life. Drawing on traditions of contemporary puppetry, physical theatre and ensemble performance, participants investigate focus, breath, rhythm and shared imagination to discover how simple objects can become compelling theatrical characters.
Suitable for performers, educators and theatre makers, this workshop celebrates the extraordinary storytelling potential hidden within everyday objects.
Participants will:
Finding Play
Making it Up as We Go Along (Devising)
Hidden Faces (Mask)
Theatre Lab is Bladder & String’s nomadic space for playful theatre-making.
Each session brings together actors, performers, theatre makers and curious people to explore games, improvisation, physical theatre and creative practice in an open, supportive environment.
There are no finished performances to make and no pressure to get it right. Instead, Theatre Lab is a place to experiment, take risks, fail brilliantly, learn from one another and discover where play might lead.
Every session takes place in a different location, with new provocations, new conversations and new opportunities to create together.
Whether you’re an experienced performer or simply curious to explore, you’ll find a generous room, a playful ensemble and permission to begin.
The collaboration with Barry Bermonge, which began in 1964, brought a diverse range of voices from across the country together into one of Delia’s most loved pieces. Giving a platform to under-heard voices on the radio, ‘Inventions for Radio’ was pioneering in showcasing the thoughts and lives of ordinary people and extraordinary subject matter.
‘Echoes of Invention’ explores Delia and Barry’s original work through the lives of people living in Derbyshire’s home city of Coventry today. In the first of the four themes, ‘Faith’, we hear from a range of perspectives as they describe their experiences of the divine, the indefinable and their deepest beliefs. Composed collaboratively by Caro C and Charles Craggs the music is inspired by Delian techniques. Limited to the voices of singer Amy Kakoura, who improvised around the note of A, and the interviewees, the composers used modern music technology to build the soundscape; keeping the piece fundamentally rooted in the human voice.
In early 2020 the esteemed Professor Anthony Roberts was given funding to create an entirely new lecture series that would, with the help of guest lecturers each week, explore the whole universe from atoms to stars and everything in between. Sadly the COVID-19 Corona virus changed these plans…
With his crack team of experts otherwise engaged on the pandemic Professor Roberts series was on the brink of collapse!
At the last minute, Bladder & String stepped in to fill the void and, with a team of enthusiastic artists, become guest lecturers on the series!
Released each week, we invite you to join us on a journey into everything…
Upcoming events
Play & Puppets from Flawed Mandrake Theatre Time: 19:00 - 21:00 Tickets: Free Venue: The LTB, Priory Visitor Centre, CV1 5EX
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