Perform Write

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Neil Gaiman reads 'A Christmas Carol'

Hear ye, hear ye! I’m presenting a workshop at the South Australian Writers Centre on February 7th from 2-5pm, drawing on all that I’ve learnt about performance in the past 25 years (Lordy, has it been that long?!) From my acting days at the Hayman Theatre, Perth in the nineties all the way through to my being recent producer and mc of Spineless Wonders Presents at Adelaide’s Wheatsheaf Hotel, I’ve picked up some tricks that I’m going to share. I guarantee they will induce in you a state of euphoric calm, smooth the creases of your stage fright, have you raring to go and wowing your audience at your very first performance gig!

Yeah?

No.

But I do know how nerve-wracking it is for many writers to have to read their own work aloud to an audience. We’re not all Neil Gaiman, right? (Though I suspect even he started somewhere in the land of nerves). A writer is used to using her mind but what the hell does she do with this body she’s lugged up on stage? All of a sudden the mind, voice and body seem like 3 separate entities, so disconnected from each other they might as well be in different galaxies. ‘Just relax,’ they say, ‘breathe.’ But how the hell do you do that, exactly? The good news is this is a common response and you can do something about it.

Really?

Yes.

In the workshop on Feb 7th I will show you how to prepare yourself (and your work) for performance. There’ll be notes to take away so that you can refer to them when next performance time comes around and you have the heebie-jeebies so bad you can barely croak ‘once upon a time…’

You might laugh, or chuckle, or at least titter. Any or all of which are very good at helping you relax.

SO - South Australian Writers Centre/ Feb 7th/ 2-5pm. Here’s the link to register: Hell yeah, sign me up!

C x

ps Special Treat: Neil Gaiman reading Dickens 'A Christmas Carol' (hint: Gaiman starts reading at approx the 10 minute mark)

Think: How does Gaiman begin this reading that immediately endears him to the audience?