Theatre Workshop held by the Central Academy of Drama, China

On the morning of October 21st, 2017, a theatre workshop was held by the Central Academy of Drama, China at the Thrust Stage Theatre in Changping Campus of the Central Academy of Drama (CAD). The workshop conductor was Mr. Fu Weifeng, teacher of Acting Department of CAD. He led the participants to experience the preparation state in training actors, which is “preparation for creative work”, including the formation of a unique psycho-physical feeling and self-perception, the stimulation of actors' imagination as well as the incentive of actors’ creative potential.

This workshop training focused on the training of the actors’ physical actions & feelings, the freedom of muscles, breathing, attention, energy, uninterrupted inner needs, rhythm, body as well as imagination.

At the beginning of the workshop training, the conductor asked the participants to relax themselves by continuously patting muscles. The muscles gradually broke the physical confinement and released more energy and emotion. The tension and relaxation training of body muscles is beneficial for actors to achieve different emotional states. The "electric shock" training fully mobilized every part of the body. The use of a prop stick is able to enhance actors’ attention and their ability to control, such as control of body energy, breath control and control of thinking. In the process of training, the actors can constantly explore their own body mechanism so as to find a better way to perform correctly and naturally.

The conductor also let everyone release their emotions in the dim light. The words in actors’ inner mind were read by thems with different emotions on their faces, from whispered, soliloquized to screamed emotion. Different emotional levels were demonstrated in the process of training. Every participant would shimmer with charm when they cast their social identity aside. The conductor/director tried his best to make the participants feel their body limitations by rhythm controlling and state continuation. Everyone returned their previous state when they released their energy and fell down on the floor with huge gasps.

With warm atmosphere, the participants were very engaged in the workshop. After the workshop training, the Japanese participants said that such a training method was every helpful to them.