Physical Theatre Professional Training

How does presence arise on stage? And what happens when the body itself becomes the starting point for theatre? In this module, we explore the foundations of transdisciplinary Physical Theatre, inspired by the working methods of Jerzy Grotowski and Peter Brook. Movement, embodied perception, and creative play become the ground for expression, communication, and performance.

The module includes:

• Physical training: working with movement qualities, impulses, and expressive power
• The “empty space”: experiencing presence in the relationship between body, space, and audience
• Psychophysical training: accessing inner impulse and organic expression
• Play and improvisation: developing spontaneity and a sense of aliveness on stage
• Non-verbal communication: expression through physical exchange

In these modules, working with emotion is at the centre — not as representation, but as a physically experienced practice. You explore how emotions arise in the moment, how they express themselves through the body, and how they are communicated and become tangible beyond words. In the process, you develop the ability to perceive them with greater nuance and shape them consciously.

Samuel has dedicated himself to this research for over thirty years and has developed his own techniques for working with real emotions as a precise tool in the artistic process.

The modules include:

• Physiology of emotion: the interplay of body, nervous system, hormones, and perception
• Basic and complex emotions: recognizing, differentiating, and using them with intention
• Acting technique according to Konstantin Stanislavski: inner impulse, emotional authenticity, and physical presence
• Emotional states in theatre according to Antonin Artaud: emotional induction
• Samuel’s techniques and tools: mirror technique, Body Telling, oppositions, Emotional Grounding, and working in flow
• Dramaturgical work with emotion: shaping scenes and guiding emotional impact
• Subtlety in expression: micro-expressions, minimalism, and working with stillness, emptiness, and emotional neutrality
• Regulation and exit: consciously ending emotional states and returning to balance

What happens when silence becomes a creative instrument? In this module, we dive into the subtle dimensions of presence, energy, and embodied perception.

Silence is not understood as absence here, but as an active state from which movement, action, and authentic expression can arise. In this way, it becomes a powerful access point to one’s own creative source.

The module includes:

• Energy work and the perception of subtle states: sensing and working with attention, presence, and energetic qualities
• Silence and movement: experiencing meditation in movement and flow states
• Peter Brook's “empty space”: presence and perception in the interplay of body, space, and attention
• Silence and emptiness: experiencing different qualities of presence
• The creative instrument: experiencing one’s whole being as the foundation for artistic creation
• Communication and composition in space: allowing relationships between performer, space, and action to emerge from the moment

In this module, we explore movement itself as a poetic and compositional force. Inner experience, imagination, and physical expression come together to create a layered form of communication — a language of its own.

The module includes:

• Impulses, qualities, weight, and counterforces: exploring dynamics, inner drives, and physical tension through practice
• Movement as sign and symbol: how movement carries meaning and becomes readable
• Butoh: working with permeability, opposites, and inner images
• Continuous movement and flow: perceiving transitions and staying in motion
• Translation into movement: bringing texts, ideas, and emotions into physical form
• Dramaturgy and composition: structuring movement in space and time
• Interconnectivity: individual and collective resonance within a shared movement space
• Physical actions according to Jerzy Grotowski: concrete actions as a starting point for presence

In this module, you work with objects as active elements of expression. You explore how meaning changes when an object is not simply used, but brought into play — and how relationship emerges between you, the object, and the space.

The module includes:

• Object play: improvisation and movement with objects in space
• The object as a counterpart: experiencing the weight, autonomy, and inner logic of objects in performance
• Transformation: how everyday things become characters and take on meaning
• Dramaturgy with objects: developing scenes from the material itself
• Performer–object relationship: closeness, distance, and dialogue in play
• Emotion in object work: transferring feelings onto objects and making them visible

In this module, we work with voice, body, and vibration as forms of non-verbal communication. Sound is approached as something physical and spatial — and as rich material for artistic work.

The module includes:

• Work with sound, movement, and vibration inspired by Jerzy Grotowski: connecting physical action and sound
• The voice as a whole-body instrument: using the body as a space of resonance and a source of sound
• Voice and respiration: exploring the connection between breathing, body, and sound
• The breath as a basis for sound and presence
• Resonance and vocal colours: exploring sound quality, vibration, and variation in the voice
• Soundscapes and atmospheres: letting voice and sound shape the space
• Dramaturgy of sound, vibration, and movement: developing scenes without words

In this module, you encounter theatre in its ritual dimensions. You engage with practices from different cultures and historical periods — and work with them through your own body. Ritual is not approached as a fixed form, but as an action that creates an effect.

The module includes:

• Theatre anthropology: body, ritual, and performance in cultural and historical context
• Pre-expressive work inspired by Eugenio Barba's anthropological research: exploring energy, balance, and presence
• Surrealism and inner image worlds: working with imagination and unconscious imagery
• Shamanic practices: drawing from ritual gestures, images, and intention as sources of performance material
• “Teatro Pánico” and psychomagic according to Alejandro Jodorowsky: radical, poetic, and symbolic interventions
• Poetic act: condensing body, image, and meaning in the moment
• Ritual in the performing arts: creative action as a transformative act

How does a character emerge beyond surface and form? What happens when working on a role involves the body, the text, and inner experience in equal measure? In this module, we work with contemporary approaches to role development at the intersection of Physical Theatre and psychological character work.

The module includes:

• Text work: developing approaches to text through structure, meaning, and subtext
• Field research: observing reality and translating it into physically embodied characters
• Body-centred role development: building characters through posture, movement, and physical presence
• Biographical and psychological work: designing inner motivations and emotional landscapes
• Integral role work in Physical Theatre: bringing together physical expression, scene work, and psychological approaches
• Beyond technique: being the role instead of playing it

How does the body itself become an image, a sign, an event? And what emerges when space becomes the artistic statement? In this module, body, space, and concept become starting points for creation. The work moves between concrete and abstract forms, between symbolic meaning and immediate experience.

What emerges is work that is not only shown, but experienced.

The module includes:

• Conceptual work: developing your own artistic questions and approaches
• Aesthetics and composition: shaping the interplay of body, space, image, and action
• Poetics and semiotics: working with sign, symbol, metaphor, and layers of meaning
• Constructing space: working with space as an active element of perception and composition
• Body Art: the body as material, expression, and point of reference
• Installation: developing spatial situations and immersive works
• Communication with the audience: shaping perception, relationship, and attention
• Beyond form and concept: allowing space for the unpredictable within the artistic process

How does an artistic concept become a living performance? And what does it take, as a performer, to carry a piece from preparation through to presentation? Once a year, a production is created with the whole group under Samuel’s direction. In a compact and intensive working phase, the skills developed in the course are brought into direct artistic practice — leading to a concrete piece for performance.

The module includes:

• Planning and preparation: shaping artistic ideas into a performable form
• Rehearsal process: working in space and translating concepts into concrete scenes
• Integration: bringing physical, performative, and conceptual tools into play together
• Working as a group: collaboration within a shared artistic process
• Stage practice: strengthening presence, embodying performative roles, and presenting work before an audience