Perceptions

The Theatre of Life - training and educational programmes

We live upon an extremely versatile and theatrical planet with an extraordinary range of expression and drama going on every day about us. Amongst the vast range of organic life that inhabits the planet, we are undoubtedly the most spontaneous, artful and theatrical of all, and yet modern culture inhibits and places limitations upon how much we can access our greater potential.

The programmes designed by Perceptions are all created to enhance personal expression, to improve our ability to perform in different circumstances in our life, to gain new skills, and to encourage personal development in areas such as spontaneity, versatility, inner quiet, energy use and understanding self and others.

The following extract is from the recent publication,The Human Performer, and offers a small sense of some background notions within the work.

The Present Moment

Theatre is not to do with buildings, nor with texts, actors, styles or forms. The essence of theatre is with a mystery called the present moment.
Peter Brook

Our body lives always within the present. It senses, processes, experiences and maintains itself in a continuing state of activity, with each second involving millions of micro-processes, the majority of which we are unaware. Our mind, on the other hand, is often racing from the past to the future and back again, rarely participating fully within the present moment. Our minds freely fly in a thousand different directions through time, one moment reflecting upon an earlier experience, the next anticipating a forthcoming event. It very rarely stays still and abides.

An actor in the Nõ theatre can sometimes walk from one side of the stage to the other, taking perhaps two or three minutes to cross - and it is compelling viewing to the audience. If a western-trained actor was to do the same, it is probable that they would not be able to bring the same qualities to bear in this act and the audience would soon become restless. The mystery of the presence of the Nõ actor lies not simply in the command he has of his body, which is certainly a part, but in his ability to bring his mind into the action or, in other words, to have presence of mind. We have all experienced at some time in our life being compelled to watch someone utterly absorbed in what they are doing - perhaps a craftsman carving wood or a child playing with a toy - where they have become so completely lost in what they are doing that they do not notice themselves being observed. We have also probably all experienced being absorbed ourselves in this way, when we lose any sense of the temperature in the room, the time of day or the fact that the daylight has gone.

It is important not to confuse the brain and the mind. The brain can be likened to the most sophisticated computer that can exist, capable of billions of calculations and measurements in each second. The mind, more enigmatic and difficult to define, is like a field of highly rarefied energy which can live either nearby or at distance from us; and what determines this distance is the degree to which it is interested in what we are doing and our level of interest and focus about what we are doing. One of the principal arts of any performance and theatre, be it dance, music or working, is to be able to cause the mind to be a participant in the action or performance - but this is not as simple or straightforward as it seems. It is one thing to bring the brain into the action, quite another to draw the mind into play. From another perspective, the mind is like a cup containing a thousand ball bearings which, when dropped, scatters the content in all directions; and a combination of the constant and rigorous demands from living today with a lack of fundamental training, means that our minds are dispersed and fragmented. The first part, therefore, of any training is to begin to learn how to harness the mind and to re-gather it to a better potency and concentration.

That which creates seed and blossom of the full range of Nõ is the mind playing through the whole person. Just as the emptiness of crystal gives forth fire and water... the accomplished master creates all the colours and forms of his art out of the intention of his mind... Many are the adornments of this noble art; many are the natural beauties that grace it. The mind that gives forth all things, even to the four season's flowers and leaves, snows and moon, mountains and seas - yes, even to all beings, sentient and insentient - that mind is heaven and earth.
Zeami

Continued...
Extract from: The Human Performer 2007

Theatre Programme and Workshops

The following is a sample of theatre-based workshops and programmes that have been run over the last few years. Each of the programmes can be modified according to the age, nationality and commitment of the participants.

Personal Theatre and the Power of the Mind

Understanding and more effectively harnessing the mind into how we perform in our daily life or on the stage.

The Theatre of the Human Face and Masks

Exploring and engaging our three faces, and understanding why and how masks have been used throughout history

The Non-Verbal Performer

Understanding the world of body language, posture, movement and expression and how to be a more effective performer in everyday life.

World Theatre

A practical exploration of different facets of world theatre, visiting some of the vitamins and wonders of human performance in the world through different ages, and showing how we can bring them into a modern relevancy.

The Undiscovered Self

We are much more than we mostly discover. There is a great and unknown potential we can find if we are prepared to look with new eyes. The workshop/course is about self-discovery and the exploration of our unknown talents and capabilities.