Liverpool’s Tmesis Theatre and Physical Fest are back for 2015.

This year’s festival runs from Fri 22nd – Sun 31st May 2014, and will feature 8 days of fantastic workshops, led by world class performers and practitioners throughout the main body of the festival.

There will also be a weekend of free family friendly workshops throughout The Young Fest which will be held prior to the main festival on Sat 2nd & Sun 3rd May.

The full programme for the festival will be announced in due course, but organisers are delighted to reveal details of this year’s workshops.

The first workshop of Physical Fest 2015 is Actor – Chorus – Text with Moon Fool, led by director Anna-Helena McLean, drawing on her experience as a former member of Poland’s Gardzienice Centre for Theatre Practices.

In a day long introduction to the Actor – Chorus – Text (ACT) practice, held on Saturday 23rd May, participants will use breath & rhythm to awaken the ensemble. Partner and gesture work, including counterbalance and basic acrobatics will help individuals to connect with one another. Playful vocal exercises will be brought to life in polyphonic choral singing of indigenous world music.

The second day long workshop comes from A Ship of Fools. On Sunday 24th May in a workshop entitled Die Laughing, they will delve into the art of the Bouffon Clown.

This workshop involves playing with fun and sensitivity, working with parody and the grotesque. Explore the world of the Bouffon in a playful way through game, exercise and provocation.

This workshop is Ideal for anyone wishing to use humour as a weapon in their performance to create powerful, visceral theatre that engages, shocks and provokes its audience.

Experiment with yourself and discover your inner beast on Monday 25th May with Animal Religion from Spain, teaching you to be curious, explore new experiences on stage and communicate with your body. From handstands to acrobatics, this high energy workshop will push you to the maximum through circus, theatre, dance and performance.

Tuesday 26th May brings us back to humanity with Physical Lab. Led by Yorgos Karamalegos this international theatre lab trains young, emerging and established artists to ground themselves in realism – a skill that particularly applies to theatre and film.

Through durational practices, performers open up physically, energetically and vocally to discover the authentic self – moving, improvising and performing become impulsive, enjoyable and effortless. Yorgos himself is an international performer, director and teacher, co-founder of Tmesis Theatre and Physical Fest, as well as founder of Physical Lab.

The Organic Body on Wednesday 27th and Thursday 28th May focuses on the organic quality of the body and voice, overcoming the limits blocking energy flows and learning techniques to improve their scenic presence.

The physical and vocal training, including action and reaction dynamics, rhythm and space exercises, acrobatics, text and voice, and creative process, is led by Instabili Vaganti, an experimental theatre company based in Italy.

The final workshop will also run for two days, on Friday 29th and Saturday 30th May. Vivien Wood will be focusing on fundamental components in performers work such as co-operation, precision, presence, movement dynamics, reaction and responses.

The sessions will involve movement and text improvisation through devised tasks. Wood has performed worldwide with internationally acclaimed choreographers including DV8 Physical Theatre, Wendy Houstoun, Rui Horta and Michael Clark.

Physical Fest has become one of the key international events in Liverpool’s cultural programme, bringing the world’s best local, national and international movement and physical theatre artists to Liverpool in an exciting programme of events, workshops, taster classes and performances.

With an exciting and diverse line-up, 2015 promises to deliver the exceptional class of entertainment this festival has become renowned for.

Visit www.physicalfest.com for further information.