Join Gretel Burgess for a Mask Performance workshop series over seven Sundays.
Sundays 11:00 AM to 2:00 PM
8 February
1 March
22 March
26 April
3 May
31 May
28 June
You can come to all, or as many Sundays as you like. Newcomers are welcome at the first 4 workshops only.
Price
Concession per three hour workshop: $48
Concession for all seven workshops: $315 (must be booked and paid by 8 February)
Full price per three hour workshop: $60
Full price for all seven workshops: $378 (must be booked and paid by 8 February)
Whispers in the Nothing is a playful and contemplative mask performance workshop exploring presence, curiosity, and embodied storytelling. Working with the foundations of full-face and larval mask practice, participants are guided through solo, duet, and ensemble explorations that invite the mask to lead the body into discovery.
Participants will create a unique and individual mask character and place this character into simple, poetic scenarios that centre childlike curiosity and wonder in small, everyday moments. The workshop emphasises being fully in the present moment, cultivating spatial awareness, and developing clear intention behind each movement and pause.
Through guided improvisation and structured play, participants explore self-awareness in mask—observing how movement, impulse, and emotion arise when the face is hidden and the body becomes the primary storyteller. Rather than working from narrative or text, meaning emerges through stillness, rhythm, and physical response.
Whispers in the Nothing offers a gentle yet rigorous space for performers to slow down, listen deeply, and rediscover the quiet power of simplicity—allowing the mask to lead them into the unknown.
Working toward a performance
If there is enough interest in a performance there will be a weekend workshop:
Friday 17 July (evening), Saturday 18 July and Sunday 19 July.
Times to be confirmed. There will be an additional cost for these performance workshops. The performance at Smiths Alternative is tentatively scheduled for Friday 24 July or Saturday 25 July.
About Gretel
Gretel Burgess has a long history of work with masks. Initially introduced to mask work during her undergraduate studies, she subsequently explored traditional mask in Sumatra, Indonesia, including the use of animal masks. She has done full suit work including touring shows throughout Australia and abroad as Blinky Bill among other characters, and has performed as Soggy in a Commedia dell’Arte troupe in Canberra. Gretel has facilitated many movement and dance programs using mask, including her work with asylum seekers on Christmas Island and with the Multicultural Council for Refugees in Darwin. She has also brought mask dance workshops into local schools, youth theatres, and art and mental health programs for young people.