A few weeks ago, our artistic director, Jeff Bryant Jones, prepared actors before and after a film shoot, and he said he was still feeling a sense of joy long after after the experience.
We were filming three scenes for a short training film, and several actors were feeling anxious when they arrived. Jeff had self-regulated prior to entering the building which he believes helps him to co-regulate actors. He briefed them on how the shoot would run, introduced them to the camera person/director and the writer who were overseeing the shoot and then we played!
They did the 'wiggly jiggly', a playful series of exercises that encourages the actor to self-regulate; and played with an imaginary ball that got bigger, smaller, hotter or suddenly became a netball or a means for the actors to explore how their characters use power in the scene. They explored mirroring, with actors taking turns to lead, seamlessly swapping over, then allowing their character to emerge, continuously exploring attunement with each other.
After the shoot, most of actors were still in character and still in the scene some time after leaving the set. They were still playing troubled students or frustrated teachers in their minds. Jeff debriefed them and asked, "what did you enjoy, what was challenging, and what can you take with you from this experience?" They explored the green room once again, moved their bodies, breathed intentionally, and vocalised long "ahhhhhhhhs" or hummed/sang their favourite happy songs. The exercises resulted in the actors becoming fully present before they left the building.
The preparations to enter and leave the set took time (about 30 minutes in total) however, the expected 2.5-hour shoots took less than 1 hour each. Additionally, the quality of the performances and the level of realism the actors attained in those scenes was remarkable. The camera person/director and the writer were amazed. They later attributed the high standard of 'naturalistic' acting and the actors' ability to quickly nail scenes to them being 'prepped and ready to go.'
Jeff has worked with actors as a therapeutic support on stage productions on numerous occasions, providing actors with de-roling to assist them to leave the character behind after a theatre performance.
"I noticed we achieved very similar results, in terms of the actors' wellbeing and performance quality, on both the film set and in the theatre setting, and personally, I felt the same sense of joy afterwards," Jeff said.
SPECIAL ALA WEBINAR
Thursday, 26 March 2026
This special webinar followed the release of Adult Learning Australia's special issue of the Australian Journal of Adult Learning (AJAL) in November 2025.
The session delved into the diverse movements shaping creative pedagogies in adult education today. It explored how creative arts education processes are being defined and enacted across adult learning programs, community-based initiatives, and social change movements and highlighting the transformative potential of creativity in learning and practice.
Facilitated by:
• Rob Townsend - Professor of Social Work and Academic Dean at Alliance Higher Education Institute (AHEI)
• Jeffrey Bryant Jones - Artistic Director, Drama Educator and Drama Therapist with Hobo Playhouse Australia
November, 2025
Jeffrey Bryant Jones
Hobo Playhouse, Australia
Abstract
This article explores a therapeutic theatre project facilitated by an acting educator and an older woman living with mild dementia in regional Victoria, Australia. The co-created process utilised improvisation, storytelling, singing and puppetry to present a performance outcome. A qualitative Participatory Action Research methodological framework was adopted to examine the case study. The educator's notes, video recordings of the performance and a post-performance interview were analysed. Eight themes emerged: Structures and Processes; Tools used in Therapeutic Theatre and Drama Therapy; Personal Issues; Others/Peers Involvement; The Educator/Therapist; The Performance; Contexts; and Learning. This article contributes further evidence that people living with mild dementia can continue to pursue their learning goals in short-term community education courses.
Keywords: inclusion, co-creative, performance, community, adult education, dementia, drama therapy, therapeutic theatre, acting.
Public Full Text Link
July 2024
Rob Townsend & Jeffrey Bryant Jones
Abstract
Creative arts and performance courses at the community level for mature age individuals. Theatre and drama as education and as therapy. This article charts and reflects on several ACE arts-based courses and community theatre productions that have changed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the professional experiences of the teacher. Change for individuals via education occurs intentionally and unintentionally and needs to be documented, with some examples presented here. If personal change and development were the intention of the courses described here, then participants did have the opportunity to integrate their self-discoveries into their real lives, potentially leading to transformation. The teacher being aware of, and skilled in, emotional regulation strategies can benefit students and teachers in all forms of learning, specifically adult community education. The students in the course described in this article have transformed from anxious, self-doubting individuals into empowered, self-confident people who bravely create their own acting techniques.
Public Full-Text Link
