Chris Tomlinson
Chris Tomlinson - A freelance theatre director, workshop facilitator, teacher and also is co artistic director of Turntable Theatre
Turntable is an immersive company with an electronic heartbeat. Their first production, Four To The Floor, detailed the history of dance music from the late 70’s to now by blurring the lines between theatre and a rave. This was a major site specific piece using the entire Invisible Wind Factory.
Since then Turntable have created an immersive project with refugee and displaced people in the north west and also collaborating with drama schools (The Arden, Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts) on devised projects.
Previous to this he was an associate director for the Liverpool Everyman & Playhouse theatres during their rep seasons; Fiddler on the Roof, Romeo & Juliet, The Story Giant, A Clockwork Orange and The Sum.
He then became the director for the award winning Young Everyman Playhouse (YEP).
He led weekly acting sessions for young people aged 14-22 and delivered a directing course for ten years launching the careers of some of todays leading national directing talent.
He specialises in devising and adaptation as well as being very experienced workshop practitioner, facilitator and outreach worker.
For the last 17 years he has toured as an actor, director and stage manager both nationally and internationally. His work has taken him to all the far flung reaches of the British Isles including his own caravan for six months touring with Gifford’s Circus.
As a visiting professional to the Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts his directing credits include: Mary Barton an adaptation of Elizabeth Gaskell’s novel by Rona Munro, Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing & Richard III and Luigis Pirandello’s Six Characters in Search of an Author.
Most recently Chris has directed an open air touring production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream and he was the visiting European artist to an arts festival in Porto. Notably Chris was the assistant director at the Globe Theatre on Loves Labours Lost in the Sam Wannamaker as part of Michelle Terry’s first season.
Directing Credits include:
Crowd, The Radicalisation of Bradley Manning, The Wonderful World of Dissocia and Illyria. Liverpool Playhouse. Frankenstein, The Grid, Until They Kick Us Out! The Bacchae, The Environmentalists, The Establishment, City & The Value of Things, Animal Farm Liverpool Everyman. Wind in the Willows, Croxteth Country House, Intimate, Papertown. Camp & Furnace, Cartoonopolis. National Tour. Mary Barton, Much Ado About Nothing, Richard III Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts. Jason and the Argonauts, The Musketeers, Zorro, A Comedy of Errors, A Midsummer Nights Dream. Off The Ground Theatre, UK & Ireland Open Air Tour. Next! God’s Official. Unity Theatre.
Session: (How to) Direct Plays
A must attend course for students wanting to build skills and confidence in creating well-crafted plays on stage. This course focuses on both how to get the best out of actors and how to translate text into something that will engage and inspire your audience.
During the week students will:
- work in and on a variety of genres as a director.
- find ways of creating worlds of the play, unlocking characters and aiming for breakthroughs.
- gain insight into how pre rehearsal room work for the director can enhance theatre making and how to structure rehearsals.
- explore the journey from the rehearsal room to the stage, working through tech and into production.
- build skills in having a vision for the show and creating harmony between creative teams and company in realising the vision.
- draw learning and experience from established theatre makers and directors to find their own way of working, deepening and strengthening their skill in artistic leadership.
- develop skills in positive and healthy communication.
This directing course will have an emphasis on doing rather than talking about doing and students should expect to both act and direct so you can see the process from both sides