A step into the unknown
The Two-Year Programme
The two-year programme at Commedia School is an invitation to step into the unknown — and to grow through it.
Over two years, you are given the time and space to explore, question, and develop your artistic voice in depth. By committing to the full programme, you enter a long-term creative process that goes beyond individual skills and allows you to grow as an independent creative performer.
The programme consists of four modules, each of which can be taken individually. However, the full two-year programme offers a deeper and more connected learning experience, where ideas, relationships, and artistic practice are allowed to evolve over time.
- Four interconnected modules forming one coherent programme
- Practice-based learning developed through continuity
- A close creative community across modules and year groups
- Theatre explored in real-world and local contexts
1.
A committed creative journey
Commit to a shared process that challenges what you know — and opens space for what you don’t yet know.
2.
Strong artistic community
3.
Projects beyond the classroom
4.
Theatre as part of the world
Financing the programme / Prices
Detailed description of modules
Module 1: The Play, Spontaneity and Masks
3 month intensive: 7th September – 4th December 2026
Module 2: Storytelling and Clown
3 month intensive : 3rd March– 31st May 2026
Module 3: Melo-drama, Tragedy, Grotesque, and Bouffon
3 months intensive: 14th September – 11th December 2026
Melodrama: Melodrama has a bad name in theatre circles even though it is tremendously popular in film and TV the world over. Melodrama emerged in the mid 19th century as an art form addressing the social and economic circumstances of the time. The similar circumstances we face today make melodrama a very relevant theatre form. During this study the students discover what makes this style alive on stage and relevant to the lives of today’s public. They also develop the movement skills unique to melodrama and vital to making the style come alive. The study of melodrama explores that dramatic territory that lies between farce and tragedy touching both at opposite extremes – the comic and the tragic. Working as an ensemble, the students discover how they can move the public’s emotions between these extremes by studying those demands particular to the melodramatic space.
Tragedy: Important aspects of tragedy are the chorus and the tragic space. During the study of tragedy, the students develop a fundamental understanding of the chorus. They can then transpose that phenomenon to the other styles, enriching their broader work. The tragic space, being very particular and a dominant aspect of this style, gives the students an immediate sense of the spatial demands of a particular style. These particular demands are discovered in movement, voice and text.
Bouffon: The Bouffon is the more intelligent cousin of the clown. The difference between the bouffon and the clown, is that the clown is alone while the bouffon is part of a gang. Another key difference is that we make fun of the clown, while the bouffon makes fun of us. Many aspects of the bouffon relate directly to other styles. The tragic space, the fantastic level of play, the foolish logic, and the direct contact with the public are part of the bouffon’s playbook. This study reveals to the students how different styles can be used in the same piece. Students discover how to confront the public about sensitive current social issues in a manner that is effective and yet not destructive. The theatrical study of the bouffon is a study of human folly touching both the tragic and comic extremes. During this study, the students discover another aspect of the stock character, the grotesque aspect.
Includes a 10-day Bouffon workshop with Jamie Mears.
Module 4: Cabaret and Commedia
3 months intensive: 3rd March – 31st May 2026
Cabaret: The period of cabaret study involves each student creating performing material that is very personal in nature with an emphasis on writing, composing and staging songs. This study pushes the limits of the student’s creativity in areas not otherwise explored, like stand up comedy, magic, burlesque and other more or less obscure areas of performing. For us at The Commedia School, it is important that the students create performance level material in each of these styles. Shows in each style are staged in the school studio and often are later performed in other venues in Copenhagen or at festivals in Denmark and abroad. These performances confirm for the students the attractive power of popular theatre styles.
Commedia: [quote author=” Jacques Lecoq“]The Commedia Dell’Arté rests on the passions of men and women pushed to their limit. It shows the absurdity of our behaviour. It has nothing to do with elegant entertainment, but expresses the urgency of living, closer to survival than to life, the latter already a luxury. Planted in the misery of the people, in their naiveté as well as their intelligence, Commedia Dell’Arté reflects the hierarchy of a stable society, without the possibility that the valet will revolt against his master. Everyone manages, with all possible compromises, to exist and satisfy his hunger, his greed, his amorous desires; all living together. Everyone tries to cheat and everyone falls into ridiculous traps. The smile does not exist. One weeps or one laughs. [/quote]
Danish / English