From Page to Stage: Acting Techniques in 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.

The theme for this session is…

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.