Workshops & Ensembles

Ted Miltenberger (Rep) has worked in Theatre Education for more than thirty-five years, most of them in Europe. He has directed theatre programs in Wisconsin, Milan, Italy and Paris France. A founding member of ISTA, he has served on the Executive Council and as staff for ISTA festivals, teacher workshops and symposiums. He is a founder of the Encore! summer theatre program in the South of France, where he co-ordinates Michigan State's Graduate Studies in Education Overseas (GSEO) summer program and teaches the use of Ensemble Theatre techniques to classroom teachers.

Pete Benson (AD) is an experienced performer, playwright and theatre director has been a freelance teacher for many years. He has worked in the film medium as an actor and technician, he is the nasty half of the clowning duo, Custard and Mr. Nasty. Pete has written pantomimes, musicals, comedies and dramas – from Wood, a black comedy about a man who shares a flat with a philosophical wood louse to Crossing the Line, a brutal drama where a gang of young children come across a wounded killer on the run. Pete runs his own theatre company, Drama Whirrks, which has worked closely with the Prince’s Trust touring drugs awareness theatre programmes. As a lover of technology, he is also well-versed in the technical aspects of film and theatre. Currently he makes documentaries and training films. If it’s broken he’ll take it apart and might be able to put it together again but what the hey! – it was broken anyway. He believes in the philosophy of the performer as creator and the pursuit of imagination. “Drama taught me the best lessons at school, it set me free. Thank you, thank you, thank you, a million times for that”

Nikoleta Sekulovic is a professional actor and is currently based in Madrid, Spain. Nikoleta was trained in acting and performing arts at the Exeter University, UK, and later at the Cours Simon in Paris. Her experience includes; performances in multiple languages, writing and producing her own work, and the opportunity to work with Keith Johnston in one of his Impro. Workshops. During her two years in New York she was guiding theater workshops for actors. Recently, in Madrid, Nikoleta starred in a full-time role in the television series “Paco y Veva”, produced by the National Spanish Television (TVE). Presently she is working on a new production that will be directed by Gina Piccirilli. Nikoleta also sings jazz professionally and is performing regularly in various jazz clubs in Madrid and will soon release her first CD. Nikoleta thanks her multi-cultural background, her energy and her passion, for enabling her to gain invaluable professional and personal experience from living and working in many countries. This provides her with a broad-minded approach towards the acting world, it’s skills and techniques, it’s realities and mysteries.

David Lightbody is an independent theatre producer and director and also a consultant in management strategy, innovation and leadership. He ran his own theatre company in Scotland for seven years, producing Shakespeare and the modern classics both in site specific productions and on tour throughout the UK and Ireland. He is the artistic director for the Encore! International Theatre program in Nice, France and has been an ISTA staff member since 1997, he was appointed as a Trustee for ISTA in 2004. David’s most recent work has been as a lecturer and instructor at London Business School where his work has focussed on developing programs for utilising theatrical technique in management and leadership training. David has a BA Hon. in Drama and Theatre studies from Royal Holloway College, University of London and an MBA from London Business School.

Becky Patterson is a senior lecturer at Manchester Metropolitan where she teaches Drama and Drama in Education. She has recently become a ‘crusty academic’ after spending seven years at Poynton High School and Performing Arts College in Cheshire firstly as a drama teacher/Head of Drama then as Community Arts Officer. After working in Theatre and Theatre in Education for a number of years Becky went on to study Law. She decided against a career as a Lawyer in favour of the bright lights of the school drama studio. Whilst working in Cheshire she was able to pursue her interests in the broader field of drama in education and as well as working with ISTA, Becky directed Cheshire Youth Theatre productions (Alkestis by Dinos Aristidou 2000, A Midsummer Night’s Dream 2001 and ‘Frankenstein’ adapted by Helen Newall 2003. She has also directed Community Theatre projects including ‘Wise Monkey Theatre Co’s production of ‘The Time Walk’. She occasionally runs workshops at The Lowry Theatre in Salford as part of their education and access team and is very much involved in working with young people with disabilities encouraging joint projects with mainstream educational institutions and volunteers. Becky is also doing an MA in Performance Practice at Chester University.

Sam Yates is currently a student at Cambridge University studying English with Education Studies. He has been heavily involved with theatre at Cambridge, acting in ‘Romeo and Juliet’, ‘The Street of Crocodiles’ and ‘Roberto Zucco’ amongst other plays, and directing ‘The Tempest’. He has worked as a leader and practitioner in numerous youth theatres, including Northern Kids Theatre Summer School, and Poynton College of Performing Arts’ youth theatre, while also working with GCSE and AS-Level students at his former school. He co-directed a community theatre project ‘Time Walk’ with Wise Monkey theatre company, and co-founded Blank Theatre Company at Cambridge, a theatre in education company dedicated to reinvigorating the plays of William Shakespeare for students and audiences everywhere, combining the original verse with a new form of ‘total theatre’. Particular interests include physical theatre and the body, music and rhythm in the theatre, and Shakespeare. He is directing ‘Macbeth’ at the Edinburgh Fringe this year.

WORKSHOPS

Who's in Charge...& Why – Ted Miltenberger

Let's explore Dominance and Subservience, any good actor has to because she's going to play roles that require her to present both effectively. Find out where 'you' are most comfortable on the Dominance/Subservience scale, explore being more dominant or more subservient. See what happens to improvisations when we change the dominant and subservient roles.

The Invisible Wall – Pete Benson

A workshop about physical comedy using mime and sound effect techniques. We will attempt to recreate the “anything can happen”‚ world of the Warner brother cartoon universe. Some people are on a journey when they come across an invisible barrier. How do they get beyond it? Their only tool is imagination. Their only enemy the perverse inverted rules of a universe out to get them.

Pre Weeping – David Lightbody

The drama of action is obvious, the fight, the scream, the death, the embrace - the moment action occurs is what we usually think of as dramatic – but what about the drama of the moment before. This acting workshop examines the power and the possibilities of the moment before the punch, the moment before the scream, the moment before the kiss, the moment before the tear. How as an actor do you control it and create it and why is the moment before more important than the moment itself.

Stage Presence – Nikoleta Sekulovic

What is it? How can we work towards it? Starting with a short warm-up and theory, most of the class will involve a selection of games and exercises that will help liberate the performer hidden inside you.

To experiment is to foray into the unknown – Becky Petterson

There is a place I like to visit whenever I can, but it is always different, never the same place twice. So I would like to invite you to accompany me on a journey into the unknown just to see what we might find there. Whilst experimenting with dramatic techniques we will explore ways of creating exciting theatre by suspending our disbelief and delving into the depths of our imaginations.

"How can dramatic language
                           and music be used in creating theatre?" – Sam Yates

This
                           workshop will explore dramatic language and sound, and how text can be used in devising theatre. Imagery and rhythm within
                           a piece of poetry will be explored. The group will work to present a series of images or sequences, or indeed a story, inspired
                           by the varying meanings, sounds and rhythms within the chosen poem.

Local Staff

Stephan Jürgens is a free-lance choreographer and Contemporary Dance teacher resident in Lisbon, Portugal. He holds a Masters Degree (Contemporary Performing Arts) from Bretton Hall/University of Leeds, U.K.

Stephan has been working as a dancer with several national and international choreographers touring in Germany, Netherlands, U.S. and Portugal. For the past five years Stephan has been intensively collaborating with animators, video artists, Djs, fine artists and performance artists to develop a unique and experimental approach to live performance situations.

As a teacher and lecturer Stephan has been developing curriculum (Performance Art, Digital Performance, Dance for Actors and Creative Strategies for Multimedia students) at ESAD (Escola Superior das Artes e Design, Caldas da Rainha, Portugal) and taught a variety of workshops exploring Dance & Technology in several institutions. He has been frequently invited to teach company classes both for dance companies and theatre groups.