Teaching Philosophy

Luscious

The Grotowski and Decroux based training I’ve done works from the principle of respect for all (including ourselves!) I believe people can take the biggest risks when working from within a safe ensemble, and that because we are seeking to accomplish nothing less than human transformation (in class and on stage), it benefits us to make that as welcoming, enjoyable and in fact, luscious an experience as possible.

Visceral

I love theatre that is visceral. That is rooted in the body, and allows our minds to step beyond literal reality into connection with deeper truths. Some of the best theatre I’ve seen has been ‘dance’, or ‘voice work’. Lorca said “A play is like a poem standing up”; it is the metaphorical and imaginative capacity inherent in theatre that fascinates me most. Film can tell ‘realistic’ stories best; it seems to me that theatre has a different role to fill.

Primal

Artaud said theatre is a place to cultivate our primal connection to ourselves and one another. I’m very interested in renovating the standard audience role: you sit in the dark (in an uncomfortable chair), you remain quiet, you clap, and go home. All of my work in theatre - as actor, director,  creator, and teacher, has been and continues to be an experiment in grounding and freeing my own body and the bodies of fellow performers in order to have us share a deep and rich human experience with our audience.

  • I have been teaching for over 25 years, specializing in physical theatre, acting, directing, movement, play creation/ensemble devising, play analysis, and Shakespeare. I have taught at universities, colleges, professional theatre schools, and arts organizations in Canada, with a focus on embodied practice and creative exploration.

  • Douglas College

    • Theatre 1110 – Acting for the Stage — First-Year Training, Theatre Program (2018, 2019, 2020)

    • Theatre 2480 – Play Production IV — Second-Year Performance, Theatre Program (2013, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2023, 2024)

    • Performing and Fine Arts 2220 – Acting for the Stage II (2018)

    • Performing and Fine Arts 3020 – Directing for the Stage — Five-time Guest Lecturer on Grotowski

    Capilano University

    • ASAS 261 – Acting for Stage & Screen, Directing Program — Guest Lecturer on Lion in the Streets (2018)

    • English 103 – Contemporary Fiction — Guest Lecturer on Blood Relations and Lion in the Streets from a director's perspective

    University of British Columbia

    • Theatre 120 – Introduction to Theatre — Teaching Assistant to Jerry Wasserman (2014) and Julia Henderson (2016)

    • Theatre 360 – Styles in Acting — Substitute Teacher for Kathleen Weiss (2000)

    • Ibsen — Guest Lecturer on Hedda Gabler for Errol Durbach (2000)

    University of Alberta

    • Drama 353 – Scene Study Acting — Three terms (1998–1999)

    • Drama 102 – Play Analysis — One term (2000)

    University of British Columbia – Okanagan

    • Performance Practice Workshop – Grotowski-Based Technique (2014)

  • Tooba Physical Theatre Centre

    • Full-Time Program Principal Acting Instructor & Director of Educational Programming (2003–2007)

    • Playmaking / Creation Lab (2002–2003, 2003–2004, Fall 2006)

    • Part-Time Acting, Introduction to Physical Theatre & Summer Intensives (2001–2007)

    • Assistant Acting Teacher (2001–2003)

    Cor Departure Theatre Ensemble

    • Shakespeare in Schools Workshop Leader for secondary school English and Drama classes, including Macbeth, Julius Caesar, A Midsummer Night's Dream, and Romeo and Juliet (2002–2006)

  • April 2-4, 2027 Grotowski Assembly, NYC

    • A training session in Relational Performance Pedagogy co-taught with Daniel Lomas: my cocktail of Grotowski and Decroux based techniques distilled and combined through the work of Linda Putnam, Dean Fogal, Kathleen Weiss and David MacMurray Smith.  Performer training for presence and relationality in all directions. 

    Lester B. Pearson United World College of the Pacific

    • Theatre Program Guest Workshop — Performance Training, Creativity & Wellbeing (2019)

    Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama

    • Physical Shakespeare Workshops for second-year classes (2005)

    • “Shakespeare in Canada” — Faculty Talk (2005)

    Nakai Theatre, Whitehorse

    • Text Analysis Workshop (2001)

    • Advanced Acting Workshop (2001)

    Grotowski Workshop: East Meets West, Heart in Centre

    • Nine-day intensive with master teachers Linda Putnam and Stephen Wangh

    • Guest teacher alongside Raïna von Waldenburg, David MacMurray Smith, and Gabriella Minnes-Brandes (2014)

    • 2026 Canadian Association of Theatre Research, UVic – Relational Performance Pedagogy as Multi-generational Creative Inheritance

    • 2019 Canadian Association of Theatre Research, UBC – Circles of Wellbeing: Decroux and Grotowski-based Practitioners Debate What Makes a Safe Workspace in Performer Training

    • 2017 PhDs Go Public, UBC Public Scholars – Geography of the Imagination: Physical Theatre and the Masters of the Studio Floor

    • 2016 Tri-Universities Colloquium, UBC – Moderator: Commemorating Asian Culture Through Theatre, Festival and Ritual

    • 2015 Inaugural Tri-Universities Colloquium, UVic – Grotowski’s Theatre of Transformation: An Antidote to Totalitarianism