OUT OF YOUR MIND MASTERCLASS

WITH POLLY BENNETT

“Polly’s particular and unique talent for helping actors find physicalities of known characters is, I think in my opinion, incomparable in the world of entertainment.”
– Baz Luhrmann

Do you sit in your house and read the script over and over? Do you get the bus and think about the script? Do you stay awake panicking about the choices you’re making? 

You’re doing it wrong. 

Stop thinking and start moving. 

Lauded and sought after movement acting coach and director, Polly Bennett, who coached and was honoured by Austin Butler at the Academy Awards for the incredible work they did together to bring Elvis Presley vibrantly to life in his performance, will be joining us at 16th Street for a very special 3 day masterclass from January 18th - 20th 2024.

Polly is coming to Australia to work with her long standing client, Vanessa Kirby (The Crown and Woman in Pieces) on Ron Howard’s new film, Eden. She has managed to find time in her busy schedule, before she returns to the UK (to work with director, Ivo Van Hove), to join us in Melbourne.  

Polly worked with Elizabeth Debicki as Princess Dianna in the highly acclaimed series ‘The Crown’ and Rami Malek as Freddie Mercury in ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ to create their breathtaking performances.  

MASTERCLASS BREAKDOWN

  • This workshop is for actors who want to get out of their heads and into their bodies. With the belief that performances are getting safer and smaller, Polly will invite you to re-engage with your barefoot body. By heightening your awareness of your body, Polly will reveal that moving your ideas is key to a full transformation. 

    Polly will share processes and practices she uses when working as a movement director and coach in theatre, television, and film. Focusing on how movement can contribute, strengthen, and deepen the creative conjuring of a character, Polly will invite you to move, play, breathe and dance to expand your knowledge of rhythm, gesture, kinaesthetic energy, weight, and space. 

    By acknowledging what you have for free and what more you can do to gain a fuller psychophysical connection to the part you’re living with, Polly will transform your way of being in the world into that of other characters. This workshop won’t teach you to act but it will reignite your passion for what’s carrying your brain around and elevate your creative process for both the year and career ahead.

POLLY BENNETT

POLLY BENNETT is a British movement director, choreographer and director. Her unique approach, fusing her extensive knowledge of dance and theatre with her insight into human behaviour and physical psychology, makes her one of the most sought-after creatives scaling the entertainment world. She was movement coach and choreographer for Austin Butler’s Oscar nominated turn in the titular role of Baz Luhrmann’s film Elvis, Rami Malek’s Academy Award, Golden Globe, BAFTA and SAG Award winning portrayal of Freddie Mercury in Bohemian Rhapsody (Fox) and for the multi-award-winning performances in The Crown.

  • Deadpool 3 (Marvel), Bob Marley: One Love (Paramount), Saltburn (Amazon), Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Compelling Pictures/Sony), Chevalier (Fox), Lady Chatterley’s Lover (Netflix), Elvis (Warner Bros), No Time to Die (MGM/Universal), Pieces of a Woman (Netflix), Mogul Mowgli (Pulse Films), Bohemian Rhapsody (Fox), The Little Stranger (Potboiler) and Stan & Ollie (Fable, as Assistant Choreographer.)

  • Black Doves (Netflix), The Listeners (BBC), The Crown (Netflix, Series 3-6), Feud: Capote and the Women (Amazon), Kaos (Netflix), Nolly (ITV), Wolf (BBC), The Great (Disney Hulu, Series 1-3), History of a Pleasure Seeker (Disney/ABC), There’s Something About Movies (Sky), Mr Robot (Season 3), Killing Eve (BBC America) and Gareth Malone’s Best of British (BBC.)

  • Patriots (Almeida), House of Shades (Almeida), Cyrano de Bergerac (Harold Pinter), Botticelli in the Fire (Hampstead), Peter Gynt (National Theatre), Rutherford and Son (National Theatre), Sweat (Donmar & West End), The Lehman Trilogy (National Theatre, Broadway & West End), The Inheritance (Young Vic, West End and Broadway), White Teeth (Kiln), The Village (Stratford East), Maydays (RSC), The Great Wave (National Theatre), Venice Preserved (RSC), Circle Mirror Transformation (Home), Nightschool (Harold Pinter), People, Places and Things (National, West End & off-Broadway) and Travesties (Menier Chocolate Factory, West End & Broadway.)

Austin Butler

‘Besides Baz, there’s hardly anyone that was by my side more than Polly was. She was the person who, if I couldn’t sleep at three in the morning and was obsessing about this one performance – I couldn’t sleep so I’d watch this bit of footage and I’d call Polly and she’d always be there.’

‘I can’t quantify how much that she actually did. I couldn’t have done it without her.’

PAST MASTERCLASS DETAILS

  • This Masterclass has concluded.

    January 18th - 20th (Thursday - Saturday; 10am - 5pm)

  • $1,200 incl GST