From Page to Stage: workshops about performance poetry

Page to Stage is a series of 5 workshops designed to help writers or aspiring writers take their poetry off the page and onto the stage using a variety of performance skills and confidence-boosting activities. Each session will be run by a different trained performer who will focus on the key elements you’ll need to take your performance to the next level.

Sessions will take place at The Community Works (21 Park End St, Oxford, OX1 1HU), at 1pm-3.30pm on the last Saturday of the month from April - August. Participants must book each session individually and are invited to book for all five sessions, or just the one or ones which are of interest to them.

After the workshop series has ended, all participants will have the chance to show off their finely honed performance skills and perform alongside the workshop leaders in our September showcase event! Further details and dates to follow.

Tickets are sold on three tiers, based on means: £10 is the general admission price, with a £15 tickets for those wishing to pay a bit more, but there are a limited numbers of tickets sold for £5 for those on a lower income. We emphasize that there are a limited number of these lower-cost tickets, so please only register for this lower-cost option if you need it. There is also one free ticket per session available for anyone who would benefit from these sessions, but for whom the ticket price is prohibitive. Please email us at oxfordpoetrylibrary@gmail.com if you would like to request this free ticket.

The building is accessible, but if you have any specific access needs, please drop us an email at oxfordpoetrylibrary@gmail.com beforehand.

Full details of the individual sessions are as follows:

27 April: Comedy in Performance with Tina Sederholm

You might not believe it but, everyone is funny and funny stuff is happening all around us all the time that we can utilize. Humour is a serious business, because finding the humour in a situation is how we survive even the worst set of circumstances.

In this workshop, you will find your own particular brand of ‘funny’, and how you can use it either your own poetry, or in links or as an improvisation technique on stage. We will touch on various different ways to trigger each participant’s ability to find humour, including improvisation exercises (to build confidence on stage), how to connect to self, and therefore engender audience connection, and a short exploration of physical comedy and satire. Ideally, poets will bring pieces they have already written, but I will also include a short writing time, to come up with an 8-12 line poem which can then be used as a practice piece for each of the different comedic elements.

By the end of the session, each participant will leave with a greater sense of their particular way ofbeing funny and with tools to increase their ability to use that humour on stage.

Tina Sederholm is a performance poet and theatre maker. Veteran of seven Edinburgh Fringes, and creator of five solo shows, including Till Debt Us Do Part and Everything Wrong With You Is Beautiful, she has performed everywhere from the Royal Albert Hall to an aquarium. Her latest show is called Everything’s Working Out Poetically and will debut at Fringe Theatrefest this summer.

25 May: Storytelling and Performance Poetry with Lorna Burchell

At the heart of storytelling is the idea that you are co-creating the performance with the audience. Like a pilot, you are taking them on a journey with you. In this workshop you will learn how to captain this journey skillfully and safely. Lorna will help you incorporate a variety of techniques used by trained storytellers to bring your performance poetry to life on stage.

We’ll cover how to begin and end your performance with confidence, use the senses in your work; explore and perform different characters; use ‘the 4 elements’ in your voice and language to vary mood and tone; use silence, pace and stress to create variety and strengthen imagery. There will also be time for you to get on our stage for some ‘live coaching’ and feedback on the techniques we have learned.

Please bring a poem of your own to perform if you have one, but one will be provided if you don’t.

Lorna Burchell is a trained storyteller, performance poet and Oxford-based aspiring comedian who has graced stages both locally and afar. Her work combines her love of the narrative arts with the playfulness and rhythm of spoken word. She has trained at the International School of Storytelling in East Sussex and with various talented mentors along the way.

29 June: Voicework and Poetry with Yasmin Jenkins

In this workshop we will be using acting training techniques to boost your performance skills. Learn how to use the instrument of the voice in the most effective way, as well as learning how to protect your voice from damage when frequently performing. Knowing how to add variety into your vocal delivery is a simple way to elevate your performance, so we will also explore different ways to connect the voice to the words.

By the end of the session, you will have a list of tools and exercises to start developing your own voice practice. You will get to explore a short piece of text and apply the techniques you enjoyed the most, with a final showing at the end.

We'll cover:

- Projecting safely and controlling breath

- How to warm up the voice and body

- How to rehearse, including diction work

- How to use tone, pitch and other techniques to add variety into the vocal performance

Yasmin Jenkins is an actor, spoken word poet and writer originally from Oxford. She studied acting at the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts, where she discovered her love for writing and performing poetry. After graduating she went on to host her own monthly spoken word evening in Liverpool, 'Words Words Words' (with Competent Productions).

27 July: Acting Techniques in Poetry with Gommie

A relaxed, non judgemental environment where you are invited to discover a deeper connection with your own text and a richer relationship with your audience through methods founded by legendary theatre practitioners such as Stanislavski, Sanford Meisner, Rudolf Laban and David Mamet.

“Don’t get better, go deeper”

The key phrase for this session will be “action” or want in poetry. In this workshop Gommie will give a brief introduction to Stanislavski’s method and then perform two contrasting poems for the group. We will discuss how he implements Stanislavski's technique, breaking the poem down into units and transitive verbs. Gommie will then invite the students to perform, offering one-on-one coaching.

This will very much function as an acting coaching session so I ask poets to bring work they wish to develop and put in-front of an audience: the more ambitious the better. This is a safe space for poets and performers to work on material they wish to take to the next level.

Gommie is a performance artist who uses poetry as a vehicle to express himself. He trained for three years at The Drama Centre London before working as an actor for ten years, performing with the Royal Exchange Theatre, The National Theatre and The BBC. He then moved into the visual arts and performance art working with prestigious galleries such as Bohnams, Hauser and Wirth and Messums.

31 August: Playing with Performance with Orlando

In this relaxed and welcoming session, Orlando will help you build the confidence and flexibility that comes with getting your writing off the page and out onto the stage. This workshop will explore the question: what would happen if I dared put down the paper? How much fun could I have if my hands were free? Through a series of playful exercises and live coaching, Orlando will help you find your own individual performance style and encourage you to approach your work from a variety of different playful angles. By the end of the session you will be able to approach the microphone with confidence, and bring the audience into your poetry through more than just your words.

Since picking up the mic in 2017 in a whirlwind of peer pressure and wine, Orlando has featured on the London poetry scene for events such as the Farrago Poetry Slam, Speak Equal, and Big Trouble. Having received national acclaim in both Canada and the UK National Poetry slams, Orlando speaks with passion and ease born of a deep love of words, captivating and moving audiences in the most exquisitely powerful way.