Workshop with Kate Ellis at the Wheeler Centre/ Writers Victoria

Sun 13 October 2024 – 10:00 AM to Sun 13 October 2024 – 4:00 PM

Character Development Through an Actors Lens

Great characters lift off the page and come to life. We empathise, champion and sometimes even despise them; but they always become a part of our daily lives when the writing urges us to invest.

Details

In this workshop, you’ll use an actor’s lens to breathe life into your characters, literally. Drawing from a variety of acting practices, you’ll finish the day with an extensive toolkit for the creation of full-bodied, nuanced characters, learning to capture the vulnerabilities and complexities of individual characters through speech, body language and adjective selection. 

You Will Learn:

  • ‘The world of the word’ – finding robust and nuanced ways to describe your characters 

  • Stillness and silence – honoring beats and intimacy between characters  

  • Empathy – coming to understand and empathise with your characters   

  • Full-bodied characters – knowing your characters in a full-bodied way  

  • Writing on your feet…literally (a phrasing borrowed from theatre director, Anne Bogart)

  • FUN – approaching the written word in a fun, playful, experimental way as to reinvigorate your own body and creativity alongside all those days by the computer. 

About the Tutor:

Kate Ellis is first and foremost an acting coach. Kate has taught actors in Wicked, Rent, Hamilton, Godfather of Harlem, That’s Not Me and Safe Home. She has taught at acting schools such as 16th Street Actors studio as well as the University of Melbourne, TAFTA and schools all over Victoria through initiatives by Drama Victoria and the DET. She has hosted panel discussions for MPavilion, the Victorian Arts Learning Festival and Abbotsford Convent’s Open Spaces.