Book Club

Living Pictures Book Clubs are workshops that mine the ideas and exercises from a theatre book in a practical environment.

A group of directors and actors meet monthly and spend a weekend together, working practically to understand how the ideas in a given text can be applied to scenes from a play. These workshops are practical, peer-led and designed to test the ideas of a book rather than your own practice. Directors prepare a section of the book each and lead a session with the group which tests the ideas in that chapter. Actors learn a scene from a particular play (this year we are working on The Seagull and As You Like It, last year we worked on Three Sisters) and come with an open mind to explore the ideas that the directors introduce.

Book Clubs are a fantastic opportunity to inform your process with the ideas of leading theatre practitioners, having gained a genuine understanding in an unpressurised rehearsal room environment. Book clubs also provide a forum for networking in a situation where focus is on gaining a shared understanding, rather than talking up your CV. They are an opportunity to work with new directors/ actors and establish a common language with which we can talk about theatre.

Dan Barnard and Ben Webb continue to lead Book Club (London). Book Club is proving a great success and we are very grateful for the Jerwood Space's continued support of this venture. If you want to be a part of Book Club please do send an email with a few paragraphs about why it appeals to you and what you could bring to the programme to: lpbookclub@yahoo.co.uk

Feedback from previous book clubs has included:

Book clubs have really altered the way I direct

As an actor it is good to be constantly trying different ways of working: book club gives an opportunity to apply all the books that you read at drama school to a text and see if they work for you.

An opportunity to try ideas out in practice without the pressure of a production situation, as well as being able to watch and interact with other directors - both are invaluable and rare.