We believe Drama School training should expose young actors to the world of Research and Development. Earlier this year, our second-year students had the opportunity to work with our Associate Artist, Nazli Tabatabai-Khatambakhsh, on a newly introduced Research and Development module. This module is designed to encourage students to explore the process of creating new work, a skill that is becoming increasingly important as the industry evolves. Nazli, in collaboration with Movement tutor Gabriel H Zonana, delivered this module, creating a working environment that promoted collaboration and freedom to explore, fail, and play, all with the audience in mind. As well as giving our students precious experience in the research and development process.
The Fixed and The Free
The work focused on exploring the horror genre by creating a 20-minute live performance in response to the album Murder Ballads by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds. When approaching a research and development project, it can be incredibly useful to set structures and suggest stimuli to respond to. Creation has a sort of paradox at its centre; although it may feel like total freedom is the ideal, often, creativity is most fruitful when structures are in place. This is an idea that performer, director, and workshop facilitator Chris Johnston explores in his book House of Games (1998). In the book, Johnston talks about a set of rules he called ‘The Six Polarities’, which seem in opposition to each other but are, in his opinion, necessary for collaborative creation. One set of polarities is The Fixed and The Free.
Johnston argues that certain fixed ideas and standards must exist when entering a rehearsal space or development period. Only through the awareness of these fixed elements can those in the space ‘move towards creative freedom and experience its power’. Imagine trying to fill a bottle of water from an energetically running tap. If you interrupt the water flow directly with the bottle, the water will get all over the bottle, the countertop, and possibly your clothes, and you’ll have to clean up after yourself. If you instead place a funnel under the tap before you turn it on, the water will flow freely into your bottle without creating a mess that requires a break in your attention to the bottle. The funnel is Fixed, and the water is Free; the bottle is your finished product. If you set yourself certain fixed parameters, then your creativity can flow freely, safe in the knowledge you’re creating with purpose. So, by setting the parameter of Horror and the stimuli of Murder Ballads, Nazli and Gabriel instilled a clear ‘fixed’ element before the freedom of the development process began.
Our students loved taking part in this module; we believe that every actor should have a working understanding of dramaturgy and the process of development before they enter professional spaces that may require them to work in ways you wouldn’t ordinarily in a more traditional rehearsal space. This is one of the many things that stand our actors apart from others.
OSD Drama School Training
Training at OSD gives you, the actor, experience of the entire creative process. If you read our Blog about the London Season, you will know that Research and Development features as a key part of the final term at OSD. Modules like the one Nazli and Gabriel led this year are a way to prepare for these professional workshops. We know this approach works, and feedback from industry professionals who have worked with our students in London always highlights the OSD actor as one who is imaginative, bold, and open in the development process. One industry professional commented “I have done many R and D weeks at Drama Schools, and never have I found students so welcoming, receptive and professional. It really was an absolute pleasure to work with them – they were impressive in every sense, hungry for knowledge and experience and extremely kind and thoughtful…” – what an impression to leave on an industry professional!
Exploring and developing your skills as a creator in the nurturing environment of our Oxfordshire home enables you to have confidence in your ability to work collaboratively, one part of a larger picture. We don’t just train the individual actor; we train a company, as proven by the fact that many of our students go on to form Theatre Companies together after they leave us here. If you’re thinking about training with us, be sure to sign up for our newsletter to get notified when our applications open up for September 2025 entry and of our upcoming Open Days.
If you want to see our students’ collaborative skills in action, why not check out Love and Information at the Camden Fringe this August. Out of Pocket Theatre is a company formed entirely of OSD students, so book your ticket and get a taste of the collaborative, imaginative, and passionate energy that OSD actors bring to their work.
