Open House: Atmosphere
Explore the power of social and emotional atmosphere in the technique of Michael Chekhov and discover how it can unlock creativity for actors, directors and theatre-makers.
Led by Sian Clarke, Cass Fleming and Phoebe Naughton, this special workshop launches the new partnership between The Chekhov Collective and Bold Theatre—open to all, no experience needed
course information
Saturday 11 April 2026
2.00-5.00pm
Access: This studio is accessible - please let us know if you have access needs in advance.
Ticket prices: Full price £16.50 / Concession £13.50
(All events are for participants over the age of 18)
Pay It Forward & Supported Places
If you’re able, you can choose our Pay It Forward option and purchase a place for someone who may not otherwise be able to attend. Your contribution helps us open these workshops to a wider community of artists and creatives.
We also offer two full scholarship places. If cost is a barrier to participation, please email The Chekhov Collective Team to enquire.
About the workshop
Join this workshop exploring Atmosphere in the acting technique of Michael Chekhov and discover how sensing and creating the emotional atmosphere of a scene can transform presence, imagination, and connection to character.
This workshop marks the start of the partnership between The Chekhov Collective and Bold Theatre. This introductory workshop will provide a taster into how Michael Chekhov’s use of atmosphere can be used as a creative and accessible tool by actors, directors and theatre-makers. The session will be facilitated by three of the founding members of the Chekhov Collective; Sian Clarke, Cass Fleming and Phoebe Naughton.
This workshop is open to practitioners from all areas of the performing arts, and anyone wanting to tap into their creativity and open to complete beginners and those with experience of Chekhov Technique.
(Please wear comfortable clothing).
THE PRACTITIONERS
Sian Clarke blendsperformance art and comedy to create genre pushing, provocative work. She uses Chekhov's notions of playfulness and polarity within her work to challenge spectators to explore their own thoughts, ideas and preconceptions. Sian has worked as a performer, writer and dramaturg across live art, theatre, comedy and film. She uses a blend of all elements of Chekhov Technique but is particularly drawn to movement qualities and imaginary centres for both creating and performing.Her previous show The Sian Clarke Experience received an array of 4 and 5 star reviews at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2020. She has been performing her solo work across the U.K since 2017. Sian’s project, iCON was an experimental theatre piece exploring turning 30 and feeling obsolete, existentialism and community. This project, in partnership with The Chekhov Collective, brought three tailored performance and writing workshops to over 30’s, alongside a panel discussion looking at the impact of ageism in the arts.
Cass Fleming is a theatre practitioner, teacher and researcher. She trained at WAC Arts, Goldsmiths and Central School of Speech and Drama, and holds a PhD on the use of the techniques developed by Michael Chekhov and Suzanne Bing in actor training and theatre making. Cass has over 25 years of experience working in theatre, physical theatre, dance-theatre, music theatre, opera, film and television. She is the Founder and Co-Director of The Chekhov Collective and has used Chekhov Technique in her own directorial work, and her training of performing arts practitioners, since 1998. During this time, she has trained stage and screen actors, directors, choreographers, dancers, devised theatre makers, scenographers and community theatre practitioners in the use of Chekhov Technique at Arts Ed, Central School of Speech and Drama, E15, Rose Bruford College, and at Goldsmiths, Brunel and Kent Universities. Cass has also trained directors in the use of Chekhov Technique in professional contexts such as the Royal National Theatre Studio and the Young Vic Theatre Directors’ Programme. She was a Board Director for MICHA in the USA and contributes to their international teacher training programme. As a researcher, Cass has written articles/chapters, and delivered papers, on many aspects of Chekhov’s practice and was co-lead researcher on the long-term and cross-institutional practice research project that led to the publication of Michael Chekhov in the Twenty FirstCentury: New Pathways, which she co-edited with Tom Cornford (2020). In addition to her work with Chekhov Technique, Cass is a specialist in the use of play in actor training, directing and making theatre, and has been practically exploring and researching the work of the seminal French actor, director and actor-trainer Suzanne Bing since 1998, sharing her research widely as practice, pedagogy, practice-research, articles, papers and book sections. She is a highly experienced creative and pedagogic leader in actor and director training, and currently works as a consultant at Guildhall School of Music and Drama.
Phoebe Naughton trained at Royal Central School of Speech and Drama. Theatre includes:Dracula (Lyric Hammersmith) Look Back In Anger (Almeida Theatre), Comedy of Errors (Shakespeare’s Globe), Wildfire Road (Sheffield Theatres), The Wonderful World of Dissocia (Theatre Royal Stratford East), The Key Workers Cycle (Almeida Theatre), A Midsummer Night's Dream (Alexandra Palace), Scenes From The End Of The World (The Yard Theatre), Thank You For The Music (Southwark Playhouse). Television credits include: The Third Day (HBO). Film credits include: Hoard (BBC/BFI). Phoebe is an actor and theatre maker and was formally a co-artistic director of Gruff Theatre and created productions with New Diorama, Serpentine Galleries, The Vaults, NT Studios, The Old Operating Theatre & she is co-director of BOLD Theatre.