Chris (Tomo) 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: Acting for Absolute Beginners
A course that takes you regardless of your age all the way to the beginning of how to act on stage – whether that be in musical theatre, plays or both. Starting from scratch this course will take you through the basics of acting technique and how to apply it to bringing a text to life. You will have a fun, practical week full of doing, learning and focussed work, allowing you to feel more confident to put yourself forward next time round.
During the week you will:
-
Explore a wide selection of scenes working individually and with scene partners to best understand the world of the scene
-
You will have a go at creating a character using voice and physicality and bring that to life from the page
-
Work on some ways to put objectives in place and find the obstacles that are creating the drama
-
Learn how to make bold choices and not just feel like your reading lines with no meaning
-
Have a ridiculous amount of fun within a rehearsal environment where 'getting it wrong' is half the point!
-
Learn from those around you in a safe workshop environment
This is a course for students who have lacked the confidence and experience to get up on stage and play a character but wish they could.