FPAC Artistic Director is thrilled to announce a rare opportunity: Suzuki & Viewpoints Training Together at the University of Kent.

A rare opportunity for actors, directors and performers to experience two of the world’s most influential contemporary performance training methods together will take place at the University of Kent on 13–14 June 2026.

The intensive weekend workshop will unite Suzuki Training and the Viewpoints — a collaboration seldom offered in the UK despite the two practices being internationally recognized as foundational to the work of the legendary SITI Company in the United States.

While Suzuki Training is more widely associated with Japan and the work of renowned director Tadashi Suzuki, Viewpoints became widely known through American experimental theatre practice and the work of Anne Bogart. The convergence of these two approaches has had a profound influence on actor training internationally, yet opportunities to study them side by side in Britain remain exceptionally rare.

The free workshop will be led collaboratively by theatre practitioners Jingsheng Gu and Matthew Hahn. Registration is required.

Gu, a graduate of the Shanghai Theatre Academy and current PhD researcher at the University of Kent, has trained and worked regularly in Toga, Japan, with artists affiliated with the Suzuki Company of Toga and the international Suzuki community since 2011. His work explores physical actor training, cross-cultural performance practice and the international transmission of the Suzuki Method. In recent years, Gu has led Suzuki-based workshops and training sessions at the University of Kent, Arts Educational School London, Royal Central School of Speech and Drama and the International Platform for Performer Training.

The Suzuki Method of Actor Training was developed by Tadashi Suzuki as a rigorous physical discipline focusing on breath, balance, concentration, rhythm and the actor’s relationship to space and the ground. Through demanding physical exercises including stomping, slow walking and controlled stillness, performers develop heightened awareness, ensemble sensitivity and expressive power.

Participants will also explore the Viewpoints with Matthew Hahn, an award-winning international theatre director, playwright and theatre-for-development facilitator. Hahn trained with the SITI Company in New York City and with Anne Bogart in Dublin, Ireland. Hahn, Artistic Director of the Folkestone Performing Arts Company, has led Viewpoints workshops at institutions including Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and Goldsmiths, University of London.

Emerging from the postmodern dance world through the work of choreographer Mary Overlie, Viewpoints was adapted and expanded for theatre by Anne Bogart. The method provides performers with a physical and vocal vocabulary for improvisation, ensemble awareness and spontaneous composition.

The taster workshop is open to theatre makers of all backgrounds who are available for both days. No previous experience in Suzuki or Viewpoints training is required — only curiosity, openness and a willingness to collaborate physically and creatively.

For many UK-based performers, the event represents a unique chance to engage directly with two internationally respected methodologies that are rarely taught together outside the United States.

To register your interest, please email your CV and contact details to Matthew at folkestonepac@gmail.com.