Come & play, create, improvise & learn. Work with a practitioner specializing in play, movement & ensemble building. Aimed at ages 55+

This session will be led by Dr. Natalie Diddams and is an Introduction to Trestle Masks. Trestle masks are lightweight, handcrafted full and half-face theatre masks created by the UK-based Trestle theatre company. The masks are lightweight, handcrafted full and half-face. Designed for physical theatre, actor training, and education, they allow performers to communicate complex emotions, narrative, and character exclusively through body language, posture, and spatial awareness without speaking.

This workshop invites you into the world of embodied performance. You'll learn the fundamentals of putting on a mask and discover how to bring a character to life through the body alone - no voice, no facial expression, just movement, breath and instinct. Stripped of the tools we usually rely on when acting, many participants find the xperience surprisingly liberating, opening up new ways of expressing and understanding character.

Natalie is currently an Assistant Professor in Theatre and Performance Studies at the University of Warwick, and has years of experience in mask, clown and comedy, so we are delighted she will be running this session for us.

We will meet at the door to the 53two Studio at around 1:50pm, or a bit earluier for a coffee at Tabitha's - the cafe next door to the studio - and the session will start 2pm. Full directions will be emailed shortly before the event.

The venue is close to Deansgate station.

The venue is accessible with lift access to the studio on the 3rd floor.

Description supplied by the event organiser.