Your Handy Companion to Devising and Physical Theatre

An introduction for those who are interested in using physical theatre in their work as students or teachers and who would like to enthuse others about using this kind of style. This book has been included in the Recommended Reading list for the EdExcel Level 3 Advanced GCE in Drama and Theatre Studies and the OCR Level 3 Cambridge Technical Cert/Diploma in Performing Arts.

Our imagination is boundless. When creating a piece of theatre, we don’t need to limit ourselves to those situations we encounter in real life. Our characters can exist in dreams and other surreal places; we can even travel through time. As humans we crave stories that will take us away from our ordinary world and physical theatre is the perfect form to meet this need.

“Your Handy Companion to Devising and Physical Theatre” is particularly useful for those studying for a post-16 drama qualification and for teachers who encourage their students to be as theatrical as possible when creating their own work.

The book includes:
An advocacy chapter on the joys of physical theatre and ensemble work.
A simple outline on structuring the devising process.
Exercises for building the ensemble, creating characters, developing the story and using theatrical devices.

This second edition includes advice on working towards a post-16 qualification and how to use 'Five Plays to Play With' in the classroom.

"The material focusing on the actual creation of text – always the most challenging aspect of devising physical theatre performances – is the most useful, dealing with the incorporation of more stylised dialogue and narration through the use of poetic text."
Teachind Drama magazine