Navigating Trauma in the Rehearsal Room: A Course for Theatre Professionals

What unfolds when dramatherapy practices offer a lens to the important decisions theatre directors have to make?

How do you safeguard the actor’s process when working with traumatic themes in the rehearsal room and how does this enrich the outcome?

What does it mean to be informed by the group dynamics in the rehearsal space and how do both director and cast benefit from this?

This intensive short course for theatre professionals will explore how dramatherapy techniques can be used to inform your approach and establish a safe, creative and productive rehearsal room.

The course will focus on:

Group dynamics: Establishing a secure relationship between director, cast and text.
Exploring methods for working with actors when rehearsing controversial and difficult themes such as the consultation process for roles involving: suicide, homelessness, homophobia, child abuse, physical abuse, sexism, domestic violence, racism, loss and murder.
Attunement and de-roling: Learning practical dramatherapy techniques to help navigate unconscious processes when working with traumatic or sensitive texts.
Effectively safeguarding the members of the cast, crew and audience.

During this 7-day course participants will:

Explore the unconscious processes of the director’s journey (with reference to Carl Jung).
Collaborate with a drama-therapist to interpret and analyse a script to discover subliminal connections and meanings.
Engage with drama-therapy techniques to explore ways to work with sensitive and difficult material in a rehearsal room.
Learn techniques to help safeguard the cast in rehearsals.
Prepare and rehearse a ‘difficult’ script with actors, putting in place some of the techniques learnt to help explore controversial themes.
Reflect on their learning experience with a drama-therapist.

The course will be taught by Nikkita Da’Silva, a qualified drama-therapist who works across both clinical and artistic disciplines. She has worked with both specialist groups and theatre professionals for over 10 years, supporting directors in navigating complexities within production teams and providing psychological treatment to clients in clinical settings.

Course Dates

Coming soon, Autumn 2024| Register your interest

This course is designed for

Theatre directors with at least three years professional experience.

We would also be interested to see applications from:

Professional actors who are seriously considering directing.
Actor trainers who work with actors in professional training.
Other professionals who responsible for creating and running a rehearsal space e.g. Producers, designers, movement directors, voice coaches, fight directors etc.
Facilitators working in applied theatre settings.

Days	Various. The course consists of 9 sessions in total and is delivered over 5 weeks.
Times	All times listed are either GMT or GMT +1 (depending on the time of year). If you’re joining from overseas, please use a timezone convertor before booking to establish what the local time will be for you.
Age	The minimum age is 18 on the first day of the course. There is no upper age limit.
Max. class size	14 students
Course Delivery	All sessions take place onsite at our Swiss Cottage campus in London.
International students	We welcome International Students to our courses, however please ensure you are on the correct visa. As our short courses are classed as part-time, non-accredited courses they are not eligible for a Tier 4 Student Visa however you may be eligible for a Short Term Study Visa.
Language requirements	Applicants must be confident speaking and reading English to a conversational level (IELTS score of 7.0 or equivalent). You may be expected to read texts/scripts that have advanced vocabulary.
Attendance	Due to the structure and the collaborative nature of the courses, full attendance is requested.
Refunds	We are able to offer a full refund up until 14 days before the course begins. After this, the course will become fully non-refundable.
Cancellations	Central reserves the right to cancel this course if we do not meet the minimum number of participants. In this instance, a full refund will be made to you. We are unable to refund any other costs you may have incurred.

We have a limited number of bursary places available.

We will prioritise bursary applications from students who meet one or more of the following criteria:

Are from a low income household (below £35,000)
Are care experienced or in the care of a local authority
Have a disability
Have caring responsibilities
Are a refugee/asylum seeker
Are from the global majority

When available, please complete the main application before completing the bursary application form and sending it to short.courses@cssd.ac.uk.

A member of the team will be in touch with the outcome 2 weeks prior to the start of the course.

We also offer payment plans, if you would prefer to pay for the course in installments. For more information, please contact short.courses@cssd.ac.uk.

Alumni of undergraduate, postgraduate and diploma courses are eligible for 10% off this Artist Development course.

You will be able to claim the discount when offered a place on the course, by contacting short.courses@cssd.ac.uk.

Course Tutor

Nikkita Da'Silva

I am a sesame-trained qualified dramatherapist. I work across both clinical and artistic disciplines. I have worked with both specialist groups/individuals and theatre professionals for over ten years, supporting directors and actors in navigating complexities within production teams and providing psychological treatment to groups/individuals in clinical settings.