Theatre as Self-Discovery: For Actors. For Audiences.
At The Working Action Group, we bring together evidence-based psychology, creative process, and embodied practice to support actors, educators, and theatre-makers.
Our work helps performers build emotional agility, deepen their craft, and create theatre that matters—for themselves, their collaborators, and their audiences.
Whether you’re training, teaching, or making work, we believe psychological flexibility is the foundation of great acting—and meaningful theatre.
ACT for Acting is an ongoing research-led project that reexamines acting and actor training through the lens of contemporary psychology—specifically Acceptance and Commitment Therapy/Training (ACT).
This work explores how the core processes of psychological flexibility can support the development of emotionally agile, ethically grounded, and artistically empowered performers.
Over time, this exploration has led us to a broader question:
What happens when we apply 21st-century psychology not just to the actor, but to the art form itself?
We believe bringing evidence-based psychological models into acting and theatre can enhance—and even transform—our practice in three powerful ways:
Firstly, it can support actors as human beings—helping them navigate pressure, self-doubt, and emotional intensity with clarity and compassion. And helping trainers and employers create safer, more empowering rehearsal rooms and classrooms.
Secondly, it can offer new insights into character—moving beyond outdated models of selfhood and behaviour to embrace contemporary understandings of identity, agency, and psychological complexity.
Thirdly, it can inspire new forms of theatre—where actors pursue not only artistic excellence, but personal values and social change. It helps theatre to be a vital space for dialogue, inviting audiences to reflect on characters—and themselves—with renewed insight.
We’ve come to describe our work as unfolding in a 3-ACT structure:
* ACT 1: People
Supporting actors and acting students to develop psychological flexibility, emotional resilience, and sustainable creative practice.
* ACT 2: Process
Reimagining character interpretation through contemporary psychology—developing tools like the 5-ACT Formulation and other integrative methods.
* ACT 3: Performance
Creating work that uses theatre as a vehicle for psychology, public insight, and audience transformation.
We are currently developing work across each of these ACTs:
A practical framework introducing actors to the core skills of psychological flexibility. This work underpins all of our practice, including 1:1 coaching, institutional CPD offers, and staff training.
An integrative and experiential model of character analysis grounded in the same psychological processes taught in ACT for Acting. Currently in development as a rehearsal tool and for conservatoire-level workshops and teaching modules.
A theatre and education project that brings character psychology into bold, audience-facing performance. The first production, Lady M, explores Lady Macbeth through a psychological lens and is being developed in tandem with our actor training research.
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Feedback from participants in our courses and workshops:
“The method Ben has introduced is such a fulfilling way to approach acting and I would highly recommend it to anyone… I think it really represents the direction in which acting training and methodology should proceed.”
“ACT for Acting adds enormous value to the actor’s toolkit. Not only is it a wonderful technique to help 'map a character’ and explore options in the rehearsal room it is simultaneously a great person-centred tool that can help the actor move towards living their best professional and personal lives.”
“What this work achieves quite beautifully, I think, is it provides a space for one to be vulnerable and open whilst still maintaining healthy boundaries, which is something more drama schools should gain a better understanding of.”