Suzuki Method workshop

About the coach:

Gábor Viktor Kozma graduated at the University of Arts in Tîrgu-Mureș, Romania. Recently he is researching psychophysical actor training methods as a part of his doctorate studies there. He is a member of The International Suzuki Company of Toga. He has the scholarship position in the Scholarship Program 2018-2021 of the Hungarian Academy of Arts. From 2019 Gábor is teaching as an assistant teacher at University of Babes-Bolyai at Cluj-Napoca, Romania at the Theatre and Film Department. For further information, please feel free to visit his website.

photo: Nina Pacherová

Interview with the coach and documentation of the workshop

During the seven days long workshop, the participants were able to study and practice the basics of the Suzuki Method of Actor Training (SMAT) for four hours every day. Training with the Suzuki Method, we aimed to develop and practice an intense stage presence, readiness, and expressivity of the performer. Through the training, we sought to find an answer for the following question: which tools would be the best for the actors to train themselves in a daily routine?

Tadashi Suzuki started to develop his actor training method during the '70s, which became well known around the globe since then. The world-famous Japanese theatre director and acting pedagogue, aiming to coach the actors to a high-level stage readiness, resorted the elements of the medieval Japanese performing arts – Noh and Kabuki –, mixed them with movements from other cultures and reshaped the whole system taking in consideration the needs of the contemporary theatre.

What is the ideal level of physical, mental, and emotional tension in a performing situation? How is it possible to gain expressivity in physical stillness? How can the actor find freedom inside strict boundaries or comforting bounds during free stage improvisation? We invited stage practitioners to join us in researching on the topic above. Previous studies were not a requirement.