Two practitioner workshops for facilitators, teachers and people who work with groups.
A two-day weekend of in-person workshops at The Lowry, Salford.
Saturday is a full-day workshop on the creative conditions that make genuine group work possible — when experimentation feels real, when play is taken seriously, and when the energy in the room works with the process rather than against it. Sunday focuses on the other side of that work: reading the moment, making timely decisions, and moving from open exploration toward concrete outcomes.
You’re welcome to attend either day on its own, or both. The days stand alone, but they also speak to each other.
You set up the conditions. The session begins. People engage.
And yet something stays cautious, safe, predictable. Ideas are offered and accepted but not really explored. Play is available in theory but nobody quite takes it up. The work is cooperative without being genuinely creative.
Creativity in groups is not about generating lots of ideas or creating an atmosphere of performative spontaneity. It is a shift in the quality of engagement – when participants stop trying to get it right and start genuinely exploring; when play becomes serious without becoming heavy; when the work surprises the people making it.
The problem is rarely a lack of exercises or techniques. It is knowing how to read the energy in a room, how to create conditions where experimentation feels genuinely possible, and how to sustain that quality of engagement without letting it drift into chaos or collapse back into compliance.
This day works directly with that capacity.
The work is practical and embodied. Ideas are explored through doing, not just talking.
This workshop is for practitioners who want to develop the craft of creating genuine creative conditions in their work. You might be a facilitator, a drama teacher, a community artist, or a project leader – anyone who works with groups and wants the creative work to feel real rather than performed.
You do not need to be a “creative” practitioner. You do need to care about the quality of group engagement and be ready to do practical, grounded professional development.
Book Saturday · £150Action is not about productivity. It is not about ticking boxes, hitting targets, or filling time with busyness.
Action is the capacity to move between exploration and completion – reading when a group is ready, when momentum needs building, when something needs to be made concrete. It involves tactical decision-making, attention to time, and the willingness to commit to a direction while staying responsive to what is actually happening in the room.
Most facilitators are good at opening things up. The harder craft is knowing when and how to bring things to a close – moving from open exploration toward something tangible and shared, without losing the group or flattening the work in the process.
This workshop is for practitioners who want to develop the craft of making things happen in sessions – moving from open exploration to concrete outcomes without losing the group or flattening the work. You might be a facilitator who wants to get better at turning good energy into tangible results; a director interested in how rehearsal exploration becomes performance-ready material; or a project leader looking to bring creative processes to purposeful conclusions.
Book Sunday · £95The Lowry
Pier 8, The Quays
Salford, M50 3AZ
Full refunds available up to 28 days before the workshop. After this point, refunds are not available. You may transfer your booking to another person by notifying us in writing at least 7 days before the event.
If you’re unsure whether this weekend is right for you, or have any other questions, feel free to get in touch before booking.