Ensemble Theatre Making: A Practical Guide

Ensemble Theatre Making: A Practical Guideis the first comprehensive diagnostic handbook for building, caring for and maintaining ensemble. Successful ensembles don't happen by chance: they can be created, nurtured and maintained through specific actions taken by ensemble leaders and members. Ensemble Theatre Makingprovides a thorough step-by-step process for consistently achieving the collaborative dynamic that leads to the group trust, commitment and sacrifice, necessary for achieving common goals, in rehearsal and performance. This conversational, straightforward guide considers: How to plan and prepare for ensemble work; The essential building-blocks of ensemble; How to identify ensemble behaviours; Techniques for responding to those behaviour. Throughout, it presents tools, techniques and recipes for rethinking ensemble as a grounded practice, rather than a question of luck. Above all, this important study brings decades of experience to the sometimes mystifying questions of what creates ensemble bonds, how to protect them, and how to fix them when they break.