with Hugh Rose
Time: Fri 10th, 11:30 am – 1:00 pm
Labels: Workshops and Activities , Wellness and Community Action
Location: Nourish Tent
During ‘Stand Up Speak Out’, we look at what stories we tell ourselves (and others) about who we are, and how that affects our lives. I aim to create a space where participants feel able to voice themselves more freely, giving them tools to overcome inhibitions. The workshop uses the power of group work to tap into something deeply personal – our identity – and comprises a series of exercises which balance introspection, creativity and fun.
It’s a lot to cope with, living in the modern age. Amid all the shouting and tweeting, it is easy to lose a sense of who we are. And who’s listening anyway? Establishing an individual idea of self can at times feel overwhelming, let alone an identity as a united community. But what stories should we be telling ourselves, and each other, if we are to create a world in which all can thrive? And how do we go about telling them?
This workshop will explore verbal self-expression, a basic human need and right, and yet one that is so often denied for one reason or another. By gathering together, we can engage hearts and minds to express our stories and see how they might offer a deeper understanding of ourselves and others. Through the simple acts of speaking and listening, we can become more human. The session will focus on meeting the need to bring ourselves to the world head on. We will spend time addressing the barriers that obstruct us from speaking out authentically, exploring physical and emotional techniques to grow confidence in who we are and how to give voice to that. Using a variety of games and exercises, we will build an atmosphere of trust and safety in which there is room for us, every one of us, with all our oddities and eccentricities. Finally, we will look at how to take this renewed self-belief and trust in the value of our unique life story into the outside world. If public speaking is a challenge for you; if you believe your life story irrelevant to the big picture; if you feel drowned out by the noise and chaos of today’s world, then do, please, join us.
Hugh Rose
Hugh trained as an actor at The Guildhall School of Music and Drama, where he learnt improvisation, physical theatre, group work, voice and public speaking amongst other disciplines. However, he left drama school with a strong sense of the vacuity of the commercial film and theatre industry, and has since focused on using theatre to bring people together and spread positive messages.
In this vein, he has written and directed a walkabout family pantomime entitled ‘Tom Ato & The Village Growing Pains’, led storytelling workshops in primary schools and home education groups, and told stories at spoken word events and in old people’s homes. Most recently he piloted a new workshop, ‘Storytelling for Change’, at Hamilton House in Bristol as part of Activate Bristol, an event comprising of a series of workshops and performances themed around the creation of a better, fairer world. He is a lover of words and people, and believes that telling stories can pave the way towards peace and unity.
He is part of the editorial and creative team for The Hedge – a magazine which aims to inspire people to reconnect with the seasons and form a closer relationship with land. An enthusiastic writer, his pen scrawls out musings on a variety of themes, from political satire to ecological activism to his inability to grow facial hair, which he has performed at a range of different gatherings and happenings.