Have you ever wondered what goes into planning a workshop? Workshops are a great way to enhance your artistic skills; often hosted by an established artist, held in an artist appropriate space and filled with eager to learn emerging artists! Needless to say, a lot goes into the planning of a workshop. At Sarasvàti Productions, we host a range of workshops every year hosted by established professions and attended by- well, anyone and everyone! Here is a behind the scenes look at how a workshop is developed!
PLANNING
First things first, we make a plan. What kind of workshop are we hosting? Who are the target participants? Why this workshop? For example, this past Saturday we hosted our movement workshop for actors. During the planning we had to consider why we were hosting a movement workshop and who we would want as a facilitator. With December being a common month for a big break for everybody, we figured why not host in January and get those bodies moving again! Of course, Ali Robson is a well known mover in the city, so we offered her the opportunity to facilitate.
GET THE WORD OUT THERE
Okay, so we planned the workshop, we know what it’s for, we have a facilitator and a venue… now what? Now we need YOU! The participants! We’re lucky to have a list of emerging artists in office, so we are always sure to send our emerging artists information about all of our workshops (email info@sarasvati.ca to be added to the list). In some special cases, we will do target asks. For example, every year we host “Coffee with a Pro” which is literally a sit down coffee date between a pro in the theatre world and 3-4 participants. In these cases, we specifically reach out to folks who are interested in the professional field of the “Pro”. For Audrey Dwyer’s “Coffee with a Pro” session, we invited emerging playwrights to join Audrey for coffee.
THE DAY OF
Woohoo! It’s workshop day! Now, our job is to make sure you get the most out of the day and have a great time. We want to be sure you’re getting your money’s worth! A staff representative will always be present to make sure the day is fun, safe and effective.
NEXT UP 
If all of this reading about workshops has you wondering about what’s coming up next, here it is! Next, we have “Theatre in Colour: A Discussion on the Importance of Racial Diversity in Theatre”. We will be teaming up with up-coming theatre company Out From Under the Rug to host this workshop panel discussion on racial diversity in theatre. Taking place on Sunday, February 16th, 2020 at The Rachel Browne Theatre (221 Bannatyne Ave). This workshop will be FREE, but donations are always welcome. Email info@sarasvati.ca to reserve your spot.
I hope this little workshop on workshops has helped answer some questions you may have about what goes into planning a workshop. We hope to see you at the next round!
Click HERE for more information on upcoming Sarasvàti workshops.
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