Creating and Performing Verbatim Theatre
Short Courses – 10 Week
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Overview
This intensive ten-week course for people age 16+ aims to develop the specific theatre making skills required to create and perform verbatim theatre.
Each session will give participants practical experience of an aspect of verbatim theatre including conducting research, devising using verbatim material, and verbatim performance technique. The course will culminate in a sharing of work for an invited audience.
Led by an RCS graduate theatre-maker who has worked on a range of verbatim theatre projects in the UK and overseas, this hands-on course is ideal for prospective professional theatre-makers who might want to develop their own work in the future, as well as actors who are interested in gaining an in-depth understanding of verbatim performance technique.
By the end of the course, you will have practical experience of all the essential skills needed to create verbatim theatre and you will have created and performed in a short verbatim theatre piece.
What is Verbatim Theatre?
Verbatim theatre is a form of documentary theatre. It is an innovative approach to theatre-making that involves finding or capturing lived experiences about a subject or an event and editing the material together for a performance. Famous examples include Gregory Burke’s Black Watch, Gary McNair’s Locker Room Talk and Alecky Blythe’s London Road. To find out move about verbatim theatre you can watch this video.
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Contact us
If you have any questions about this course before you book it, please get in touch with us at shortcourses@rcs.ac.uk.
FAQs
Please see our FAQs for more information about all aspects of choosing, booking and attending your course.
The important details
Age:
16+
Cost:
£230
Date:
16 April - 18 June 2025
Time:
Wednesdays, 6pm - 9pm
Venue:
Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, 100 Renfrew Street, Glasgow, G2 3DB
Course Information
No previous experience is required. The course is designed so that motivated students will benefit from the training. We expect you to undertake a certain amount of self-directed study and preparation out with class times.
Students should be open, honest, generous, respectful, hard-working and willing to work as part of a team.
Each session will begin with a warm-up to prepare you for the creative and physical work of the day. We will then engage in a range of practical exercises related to verbatim theatre.
Working individually and in groups, you will experiment with various methodologies and technologies, and think about your own practice as a verbatim theatre practitioner.
Between each session you will be asked to do your own research to bring to the group. Together we will discuss and reflect on each activity, and you will be encouraged to share your work and your reflections with other participants.
Some of the specific areas we will focus on include:
- Methods for verbatim performance (e.g. recorded delivery)
- Approaches to verbatim research (e.g. interview technique)
- Transcribing recorded audio
- Collating and editing verbatim material
- Creating, recreating, and reinventing characters
- Verbatim research ethics
- Please bring a pair of headphones and a device that records audio (e.g. a mobile phone).*
- Plan and prepare to attend all classes.
- Dress comfortably in clothes which are suitable for the activity you are taking part in.
- Bring a notepad and pen/pencil in case you wish to make notes.
- Please bring a bottle of water to stay hydrated during your class.
- It would also be useful to have access to a computer between sessions
*If you aren’t able to bring your own equipment, we may be able to provide some for you if you let us know in advance.
This course will run in person on Wednesday evenings for 10-weeks from 16 April – 18 June 2025, 6pm – 9pm.
The course fee is £230 which is the equivalent to £23 per session, and can be paid in full or in instalments before the course end date.
Further Information
We want to ensure as many children, young people and adult learners as possible can access the performing and production arts education that is offered through Short Courses at RCS. Financial support options available for Short Courses include:
Agnes Allan Bursary
Agnes Allan was a teacher, passionate about inclusion, and this bursary scheme exists to offer support to students to participate in the performing or production arts.
The Agnes Allan Bursary provides some support to students who may require financial assistance to take part in a short course in dance, drama, music, production or screen.
Anyone who wishes to take part in our Short Courses and faces a financial barrier can apply for bursary support to help meet the cost of tuition fees.
James McAvoy Drama Scholarships
BAFTA-winning and Golden Globe nominated actor James McAvoy is committed to nurturing the creative potential of young Scots who experience barriers to access and participate in drama at RCS Short Courses.
James is a graduate of the BA Acting programme at RCS and Patron of the Junior Conservatoire of Drama. The Glasgow-born actor has funded the new James McAvoy Drama Scholarships to enable young people to experience the world-class drama training at RCS as he did.
The scholarship aims to support applicants who would otherwise find meeting the cost of tuition fees at RCS a barrier to accessing pre-Higher Education drama training at the Royal Conservatoire.
You can find more information about these funds on our Financial Support page.
We run various promotional offers for our Short Courses and Summer Schools. You can view our current offers on our Promotional Offers page.
You should contact us at shortcourses@rcs.ac.uk to request your discount code before booking a course.
Please note, only one promotional offer can be applied per course and should be used at the time of booking as we are unable to apply a discounts retrospectively.
Please see our Short Course FAQs for more information about all aspects of choosing, booking and attending your course.
Please see our Short Courses – Terms and Conditions for more information about your contract with Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, and Cancellation and Refund policies.
Sign up to our mailing list to receive the latest updates of courses, offers and news from Short Courses. You can do this by completing this short online form found here.
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