Commedia dell' Arte Related Workshops

with Pete Talbot

Teacher, Director and Writer

Artistic Director and founder of The Rude Mechanical Theatre Co

Pete Talbot is a director and teacher of physical theatre, specialising in the commedia dell'arte.

He trained at the 'Scuola Internazionale dell'Attore Comico', Reggio Emilia, Italy with Antonio Fava (former teacher at Le Coq, Paris, and maestro of the commedia dell'arte) and has a First Class Honours degree in English (University College, Cardiff) and an MA (Sussex University) in Language, Education & The Arts.

Pete can offer set piece workshops (described below), but also will do events either combining elements of the set workshops or designed specifically for the needs of the group.
Each workshop is tailor-made for the specific age and ability range of the group.
All of them are offered as 'tasters' (except 'Use your body!') in agreed programmes of several workshops to allow development and skill honing.

Use your body!

This 'one off' workshop is designed to give young or amateur actors the confidence to use their bodies with control and intention, rather than falling back on clichés of movement or performing 'neck up' only. It dips into the techniques of the commedia dell'arte and the development of character through analogy with animate and inanimate objects. It's taught in simple language as a fun event.

Age and ability ranges:

GCSE Drama, and Young Adult and Adult Drama Clubs (adapted to age)

Lazzi - including ‘Introducing the Battoccio’ (or slapstick)

Lazzi are pieces of clever comic business or clowning used in the commedia dell'arte and commonplace in the silent movies, Vaudeville and music hall to great comic and dramatic effect. This workshop introduces several traditional lazzi, the battoccio or 'slapstick', mock violence, illusions, pratfalls, and basic acrobatics (for non-acrobats), and simple techniques and rules for creating your own. Basic material for physical theatre and clowning.

Age and ability ranges:

The same material can be adapted for use with Young Adult and Adult Drama Clubs, 'A' level Theatre Studies or drama college students, or with trained actors.

Cats, Snakes & Birds

This workshop deals in some depth with the development of characters through analogy with animate and inanimate objects, and teaches the use of the spine and the body's kinetic energy around which to develop a vocabulary of movement. It references the characters of the commedia dell' arte, but concentrates on developing a personal practical method for creating characters which is entirely non-psychological or Stanislavskian. It is a very practical approach for actors who want to improve technique.

Age and ability ranges:

The same material can be adapted for use with Young Adult and Adult Drama Clubs, 'A' level Theatre Studies or drama college students, or with trained actors

Movement techniques of the Commedia dell' Arte

This workshop deals with the movement techniques of the commedia dell' arte, but specifically excludes masks so that the wealth of techniques in the tradition can be adapted for more mainstream physical theatre acting. It examines both the principle of the vertical axis and animal analogy as well as the movement 'rules' of traditional characters. It is intended for actors who want to use the tradition to develop new work or who want to understand the tradition.

Age and ability ranges:

'A' level Theatre Studies or drama college students, or trained actors.

Knots

This advanced workshop introduces techniques for developing the interaction of actors in space. An example of a 'knot' is the pas de deux where two performers share a common intention and interdependent movement. This principle is used to coordinate and exploit movement of pairs and larger groups to create harmonious and unharmonious, dramatic, comic and poetic visual effects. The work develops complicité (actors working together), the creation of crowd or other group movement, and the poetic possibilities of expressing relationships between characters through movement.