Through The Body

A step-by-step guide to Physical Theatre in both theory and practice - full of detailed exercises and inspiring ideas.


In Through the Body, based on twelve years of teaching physical theatre, Dymphna Callery introduces the reader to the principles behind the work of certain key 20th-century theatre practitioners (Artaud, Grotowski, Meyerhold, Brook and Lecoq, among others) and offers exercises by which their theories can be turned into practice and their principles explored in action.


The book takes the form of a series of workshops starting with the preparation of the body through Awareness, Articulation, Energy and Neutrality. A section on Mask-work is followed by further work on the body, investigating Presence, Complicité, Play, Audience, Rhythm, Sound and E-motion.

The book - and the work - culminates in sections on Devising and on the Physical Text. There is also a thorough bibliography and a contact list of training courses in the UK and abroad.

'This book offers everything you have ever wanted to know about Physical Theatre. It is very detailed but at the same time very easy to understand. It breaks down every topic to short paragraphs which are informative and simple. A must for any theatre student or lecturer for that matter!' Amazon readers review