The Working Action Group is excited to announce that in June we will be running free ACT for Acting workshops for graduates and final year students at Manchester School of Theatre.
 
The graduate workshop will run 6th-8th June, with workshops for final year students taking place the following week.
 
We can’t wait to share this work with a new generation of artists as we continue our mission to shape the future of actor training.
 
The workshops will be led by Dr. Benjamin Askew, director of The Working Action Group and the originator of the ACT for Acting project. Formerly a professional actor, with experience in the West End and with companies including Shakespeare’s Globe and Manchester Royal Exchange, Ben led the teaching of Theatre Analysis at Drama Centre for over six years, whilst also teaching acting, movement psychology and audition technique, and directing various projects. Now based in the north, he has directed several rehearsal projects at MST over the past two years and has recently been a guest practitioner at schools including LAMDA and the Oxford School of Drama. He received his PhD in 2017 and continues to develop his practice-led research through the projects and activities of The Working Action Group.  
 
Graduates who want to participate should get in touch to register their interest and secure a place. You can do that via the Contact page or by emailing [email protected]
 
 
What is ACT for Acting?
 
ACT for Acting is a pioneering new acting methodology that seeks to refresh and revitalise psychological approaches to character and put empathy, self-discovery and care for well-being at the heart of the creative process.
 
It does this by exploring a contemporary form of behavioural psychology called ACT, or Acceptance and Commitment Training, the aim of which is the development of psychological flexibility: the ability to “open up, be present and do what matters”.
 
Drawing on this model, ACT for Acting provides psychological skills-training for the actor, a new, twenty-first century approach to character analysis, and innovative techniques to invigorate rehearsal practice.
 
You can read more about ACT and the ACT for Acting project here: About - THE WORKING ACTION GROUP
 
 
The 3-Day Graduate Workshop
 
This intensive introduction to the ACT for Acting work is being offered exclusively to MST graduates and will run 10.00-17.00, Monday 6th – Wednesday 8th June 2022.
 
Over the course of the three days, you will explore all three ‘ACTS’ of the ACT for Acting project: People, Plays and Process.
 
You will begin to develop your own ACT Toolkit, learning skills and exercises that can help you, not only to “open up, be present and do what matters” in your work, but to find meaning, connection and a deeper sense of purpose as you navigate the challenges of a career in this industry.
 
You will discover innovative, accessible techniques for interpreting character that reflect a twenty-first century understanding of human psychology and behaviour. These tools can supplement your existing training and support you in developing empathic and insightful readings of characters and their actions.
 
Finally, you will explore the application of these principles through character exercises and rehearsal practice, using classical and contemporary speeches as the springboard for this process.    
 
By taking part in the workshop, you will not only be developing your own craft, you will be contributing to the wider development of this project, which we believe has the potential to make a meaningful difference to the future of actor training. Moreover, having gained a foundational understanding of the ACT for Acting process, you will have the opportunity to continue your journey in this work by getting involved in future workshops and projects run by The Working Action Group.
 
To find out more or to reserve your place, please email [email protected] or use the contact form on the website.
 
Participation is FREE but places may be limited to ensure that everyone has the time and opportunity to explore and experience this work.
 
We hope that you can join us.
 
 
Can’t commit to three days?
 
This graduate workshop is intended as an intensive three-day introduction. However, we are aware that for some people attendance over three days might be difficult. If you’d like to get involved but can’t commit to the full length of this workshop, please get in touch and we’ll see what we can do to accommodate you or to offer an alternative introduction to the project.
 
 
Want to know what other people have been saying?
 
Here are some comments from participants in previous ACT for Acting courses and workshops:
 
“Transformational, both personally and professionally”
 
“Incredibly exciting stuff, and incredibly accessible”
 
“It opened up the whole of the character’s world to me!”
 
“Such a fulfilling way to approach acting”
 
“The work feels so exciting and fresh and juicy”
 
“Adds enormous value to the actor’s toolkit”
 
“Exactly what is needed right now”
 
And you can read even more comments here:  Testimonials - THE WORKING ACTION GROUP
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Missed out on our January newsletter? You can access it here. It has free exercises, loads of information and details of our new Crowdcast channel:

The ACT for Acting Newsletter: January 2022 (mailchi.mp)

Subscribe to get future editions to your inbox!

The #ACTforActing New Year’s Revolution
 
New ways to open up, be present and do what matters with The Working Action Group!
 
There are lots of ways of describing the past year…
 
But whatever else it might have been, and whatever else might have been going on, 2021 was the first full year of operation for The Working Action Group and the first full year of growing the #ACTforActing project – using the principles of Acceptance and Commitment Training to bring character psychology into the twenty-first century and place psychological flexibility and care for well-being at the heart of the acting process.
 
We think we’ve achieved quite a lot in that time. We’ve run more than 150 hours of online sessions, finally got some in-person workshops under our belts and designed and delivered two cycles of our 8-week introduction course. In doing all of that, we’ve explored a range of exciting material, discovered some innovative new techniques and developed our own acceptance and commitment skills along the way. Throughout the year, we’ve managed to keep our feet moving in the direction of what we believe to be important and meaningful in our work.
 
However, as we look ahead to 2022, we want to go further. We want to take #ACTforActing to the next level and we want to share the ideas and processes of psychological flexibility – the ability to open up, be present and do what matters – with as many people as possible.    
 
That means not only continuing with what we’ve been doing but providing new and more accessible ways to engage with our work and develop your skills. We know that not everyone who wants to get involved can attend weekly sessions. Moreover, many of our regular members would like more opportunities to work on their ACT skills at times that suit them.
 
With this in mind, we’re now inviting you to join The Working Action Group’s #ACTforActing New Year’s Revolution! The aim of this new initiative is to give everyone the opportunity to develop their psychological flexibility and to learn basic #ACTforActing techniques in ways that are more… well… flexible.
 
So, what’s the plan?
 
Sign up for our newsletter and each month you’ll receive a free selection of audio and video recordings, reading materials, worksheets and links to other resources. You will also have the opportunity to track your progress and to contribute to our research projects by completing online quizzes and questionnaires.
 
In addition, you will be invited to regular online drop-in sessions. These will include:
 
The Psych-Flex Gymnasium: Sessions in which we will explore the core processes of psychological flexibility through a range of experiential exercises.
 
ACT Matrix Movie Nights: Opportunities to deepen your understanding of ACT processes by seeing how they play out in the characters and narratives of popular movies. We’ll pick a different film each time and we’ll be open to your suggestions.
 
Sorting Shakespeare: Close readings of Shakespearean text, using the ACT Matrix to ‘map’ and interpret the thought processes in some of the most famous – and complex – soliloquies found in those plays. Again, we’ll be taking requests.
 
These sessions will all run on a pay-what-you-can basis and, if you can’t attend live, you will be able to access the recordings for a nominal fee.
 
And that’s not all!
 
In 2022, we plan to supplement our regular classes and courses by offering intensive one-day training workshops at various points throughout the year. These will focus on specific aspects of the #ACTforActing work, operating both as standalone courses and as opportunities for those who have taken part in other workshops to hone their skills and deepen their understanding.
 
These will include:
 
Meeting the Matrix: An Actor’s Guide to Psychological Flexibility
Psychological flexibility is at the heart of ACT. This one-day course will introduce one of our most important tools – the ACT Matrix – and explore it in relation to the ‘3-ACT’ structure of the #ACTforActing project: its use for developing the psychological flexibility of the actor (ACT 1), its use for the analysis of character (ACT 2) and its use as practical tool in the rehearsal room (ACT 3).
 
Human Behaviour, WTF? An Actor’s Guide to Functional Analysis
‘Actioning’ is one of the core techniques taught in UK drama schools, but many acting students find it difficult to ‘action’ texts effectively and to implement such analysis in their work. This one-day course will introduce actors to the concepts, tools and techniques of contemporary functional analysis – a coherent, credible and evidence-based methodology for interpreting human behaviour. By asking “what’s the function?”, we will explore how these principles can be applied to scripts and demonstrate ways in which such an approach can enhance and simplify established methods of text analysis.
 
And
 
ACTing Shakespeare: Speeches, Soliloquies and the ACT of Self-Discovery
An intensive one-day workshop investigating how #ACTforActing principles can be applied to the interpretation and performance of Shakespearean text. We will also examine how the study and analysis of such texts can also lead to a fuller understanding of the psychological processes that play out in our own lives and experiences.
 
We’ll be announcing details of these workshops – and others – in due course.
 
And that’s STILL not all!  
 
Alongside all of that, we’ll continue to run both online and in-person development workshops with our regular members and to work towards showings, sharings and performances of our practice-based research projects.
 
Projects we aim to develop in 2022 include:
 
Self-taped: ACT and the Actor
This is a project drawing on the practice of Character Analysis at Drama Centre London. Through the creation of devised and self-authored monologues (or scenarios), we will explore flexible and inflexible ACT processes by examining their impact on the lives of professional actors. These pieces will stand as artistic works in their own right, whilst also serving the psychoeducational aims of The Working Action Group and the #ACTforActing project.
 
The ACT of Love: Eros and the Psyche
This is a project drawing on the practice of Theatre Analysis at Drama Centre London. By juxtaposing texts from different cultures and periods, and combining them with devised material and original writing, we will examine popular narratives, attitudes and concepts concerning the nature of romantic love and explore how they influence our efforts to forge meaningful relationships and our attempts to lead purposeful lives.
 
Siege Mentalities: Troy and the ACT of War
In this long-term project, we aim to create multiple pieces and performances that respond to narratives and characters associated with the Trojan War. By exploring both classical and contemporary texts and harnessing the results of these explorations in the creation of new adaptations and original material, we hope to offer fresh perspectives on these ancient, awe-inspiring and influential stories.
 
To become a regular member of the group and to have the opportunity to get involved in these projects, you can either complete our introduction course or gain a grounding in the #ACTforActing work by attending the drop-in sessions over a period that suits you.
 
If any of that sounds interesting, please sign up and we’ll be in touch with more information.