A chance to brush up on stage skills (From Tewkesbury Admag)

A chance to brush up on stage skills

NUMBER 8 arts centre at Pershore is running a series of day workshops for anyone interested in bringing theatre to life. There are three workshops through their winter/spring season including Directing for Theatre, Stage Make-Up and Auditions Skills.

The first course, Directing for Theatre, is on Saturday, January 21, and will be of benefit to anyone working in amateur dramatics or who has set their sights on working in this field professionally.

This short workshop will introduce you to the basics of directing for theatre. Both theory and practice are covered in this practical masterclass on bringing text to life, from read-through to performance.

The third course in the series is Audition Skills on Saturday, April 8. This one-day session gives actors the chance to experience the audition process from both sides of the fence. All that is required is energy, enthusiasm, and an audition piece or two - preferably one classical and one modern.

Both course are led by Lynn Davies, a trained actor, professional scriptwriter and experienced director for theatre, film and video.

Handy hints and anecdotes will be on the menu in a fun and informative session; participants are invited to take along a short scene for the directors' course to put performers through their paces. Lynn Davies has worked with Number 8 before in the successful six-week course Introduction to Screenwriting.

Making up the trilogy is stage effects company Maximum Effect. On Saturday, February 25 they will be teaching a range of techniques from character make-up to popular and dramatic casualty effects.

All workshops run from 10am to 4pm and are £30 (£25 concessions). Call the Number 8 box office on 01386 555488 to book.