WORKSHOPS    

ACTING & THEATRE MAKING
This workshop is a playful and creative exploration of acting and theatre-making. Using imagination, true stories, and lived experiences, participants will generate theatre content through improvisation and collaborative play. Together participants will create scenes, link them thematically, and explore story structure through both film and theatre lenses. Participants will have the chance to act, develop characters, and experiment with writing and performance in a fun, supported space.

“Theatre is a rehearsal for the revolution.” — Augusto Boal

YEAR 12 SOLO PERFORMANCE
Tailored for senior drama students, and curriculum based, this workshop focuses on the craft of creating compelling solo performance. Participants will explore playing with multi-character, structure, and performance choices while developing tools to generate original material or adapting existing text. The workshop provides a supportive space for participants to refine their skills. A chance to prepare, polish, and perform with confidence.

“The most personal is the most creative.” — Martin Scorsese

COMMEDIA DELL’ARTE
Step into the world of Commedia dell’Arte, the original improvised comedy of masks. Rooted in 16th-century Italy, Commedia grew from travelling players who brought laughter, satire, and social critique to the streets. With a full set of high-quality latex masks, participants will explore classic stock characters such as Arlecchino, Pantalone, Il Dottore, Il Capitano, and Columbina. Participants will connect these timeless archetypes to modern comedy (think Fawlty Towers) and discover how quickly an improvised show can come to life.

Commedia dell’Arte is the poetry of the mask.” — Giovanni Fusetti

DANCE / MOVEMENT (with Mitch King)
Led by Indigenous dancer and mover Mitch King, this workshop draws on contemporary and traditional influences to explore storytelling through the body. Participants will learn movement-based tools for expression, creativity, and stage presence. The workshop focuses on building confidence and discovering the power of physical storytelling. A space for creativity, rhythm, and connection through movement.

“The body says what words cannot.” — Martha Graham

CLOWN
A playful and liberating workshop in the art of clown. Participants will explore vulnerability, failure, and joy, using games and improvisation to discover the comic world of the clown. Inspired by Dave Houston’s mentorship with Italian Clown Master Teacher Giovanni Fusetti, participants will embrace his ethos of play, presence, and human fragility as a source of comedy. Together participants will uncover laughter, surprise, and the unique comic voice that lives in each of us.

“A day without laughter is a day wasted.” — Charlie Chaplin

IMPROVISATION
This workshop dives into the art of making theatre in the moment. Using influences of Keith Johnstone — a major creative and theatrical force of improvisation, and whose book Impro gave rise to the Theatresports genre — participants will explore games, exercises, and scene work. The focus is on quick thinking, teamwork, and unlocking creativity through play. Participants will have the chance to build confidence and stay fully present in performance.

“Don’t prepare, just show up.” — Keith Johnstone

RAP WITH A DASH OF CONTEMPORARY INDIGENOUS DANCE
This high-energy workshop explores rap — known on the street as rhythm and poetry — essentially a form of folk music and storytelling through beat, rhyme, and wordplay. Participants will create their own verses, experiment with flow, and use rap as a powerful tool for self-expression. Blending this with elements of contemporary Indigenous dance, the workshop invites participants to connect voice and movement in a unique cultural and creative exchange. As an add-on, participants also have the option to record their raps using our portable recording studio.

“Rap is poetry set to music.” — Curtis Blow

DRUMMING  (and add-on DRUM MAKING & AFRICAN DANCE)
Feel the beat in this hands-on workshop. Participants will learn contemporary and traditional rhythms, exploring the power of collective drumming. Drum-making options are also available for groups wanting to create their own instruments. An additional element is the chance to experience African dance with Mitzi — who has travelled to West Africa more than six times — bringing this joyful and energising form of expression to life. Public performance outcomes can also be added to the workshop, giving participants the chance to share their rhythms with an audience.

“Rhythm is the soul of life. The whole universe revolves in rhythm.” — Babatunde Olatunji

STORYTELLING
Everyone has a story to tell. In this workshop, participants will shape personal stories and imaginative ideas into engaging performance. Using voice, movement, and theatre techniques, participants will explore the art of bringing stories to life on stage. A workshop that celebrates creativity, connection, and the power of storytelling.

“Those who tell the stories rule the world.” — Hopi proverb

SHAKESPEARE
A lively and practical workshop exploring the power and play of Shakespeare’s language. Participants will engage with iambic pentameter, voice, rhythm, and character choices (monologues and scenes), discovering how Shakespeare’s text truly comes alive on stage. This workshop draws on Dave Houston’s study with the incredible Shakespeare teacher June Jago, who at age 29 toured internationally in the seminal Australian play Summer of the Seventeenth Doll. She returned to Australia in the late 1970s, worked with the Melbourne Theatre Company, became an accomplished Shakespeare actor, and taught at the VCA for over a decade as one of Australia’s premier Shakespeare teachers. Her knowledge continues to influence Dave’s approach to exploring Shakespeare with actors today.

“All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players.” — William Shakespeare

PERFORMANCE OUTCOMES
Any of these workshops can have public outcomes, a show, in the style of each workshop — for example, a Commedia dell’Arte performance, a Clown show, or a Dance work — giving participants the chance to share their creations with an audience.

FEES
Fees to be discussed based on organisers needs, facilitator numbers  and distance.                      

PROCESS
Dave (and Full-On Theatre facilitators) teaching style weaves play, comedy, and creativity with professional performing practice, helping participants take risks and discover their unique artistic voice. In this workshop space, participants are valued as emerging artists — not kids/amateurs — and are treated, challenged, and guided like professional actors. Participants are invited to take risks, have fun, step out of their heads, and explore new possibilities through performance. This approach draws on Giovanni Fusetti’s philosophy of theatre as play — a re-invention of the world through joy, presence, and rigour — and echoes current Collingwood AFL coach Craig McRae’s belief that it’s all about the process: the results take care of themselves, and on game day the ability to stay in the moment and play those moments is critical (or when performing on stage).

“Theatre is PLAY… a very ancient human expression, based on the fun of playing, the awareness of the dynamics of life, the urgency of storytelling and the rigour of technique.” — Giovanni Fusetti

“It’s all about the process and the results take care of themselves. On game day our ability to stay in the moment and then play those moments is critical.” — Craig McRae

LEAD TEACHER
Dave Houston has been creating and performing theatre since the age of 17. At 23, he took his first solo show to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and has since performed and toured nationally and internationally as a performer, theatre-maker, and musician. He brings a wealth of experience as a performer, director, teacher, and workshop facilitator, with a focus on creativity, play, comedy, and connection. Through Full-On Theatre, which has been running workshops since 1988, Dave has developed a strong reputation as an experienced youth and community arts worker. He has worked internationally with communities in Mexico, Scotland, and Thailand, as well as in remote Indigenous communities across Australia. For over a decade, he has also been an artist in schools and communities with the Royal Children’s Hospital’s Festival for Healthy Living – Integrated Mental Health Program. Dave is currently studying a Masters of Gestalt Therapy in Brisbane and brings this sense of holding space and safety to every workshop.

“PLAY is the brains favourite way to learn ” — Diane Ackerman

For all workshop inquiries  please call
Dave Houston   0411 710 081
[email protected]