Bodies in Space

About

Bodies In Space (BIS) is a new community-led initiative based at Old Diorama Arts Centre (ODAC) dedicated to providing professional actors with a dynamic, supportive space to perform, discover and refine their craft. The project brings together local actors in a structured weekly performance that nurtures creation, collaboration, and discipline within a community setting.

Meeting weekly on Monday evenings from 6:00 PM to 10:00 PM, the workshop is an opportunity for the local acting community to gather in a non-commercial space to freely exchange views and showcase their material in a safe and encouraging environment. This space is especially precious to first-time writers seeking to build confidence in their artistic voice. It is a stage for experimentation where performers can test new material, sharpen monologues to apply for opportunities (in the rehearsal room or on camera), rehearse scenes or develop original work in front of a responsive audience of peers.

The entire initiative is free to the participants. The Director and Workshop Leaders will be providing their labour in kind, to serve their artistic and professional community.

Launching January 5th, 2026

Why Bodies in Space?

Presence makes artists. There are very few environments in London where that presence is not monetised upon, directly (workshops, classes, drama schools) or indirectly (e.g. as part of a job or professional engagement which will eventually charge for admissions or broadcast). Free and affordable spaces dedicated to artistic togetherness are constantly endangered and often forced to close down due to venue or funding loss.

Space is foundational to acting. In spite of this, we have now become accustomed to acting workshops and performances taking place in spaces that are in between renovations, usage change or demolition. Essentially, as artists we have become used to fetching the scraps of urban capitalism. It does not have to be that way. The case for fostering an organic performing arts community is not a business case - however compelling that would be - but a civic and cultural one.

While billionaires make headlines by being literally shot into outer space, cash- and time-poor artists are denied a space to exist in the urban environment allowing for a public-facing practice. The loss of social housing in London has directly impacted on the artistic output of the capital, now vastly overrepresenting the lives of the middle and upper-class.

Most people who train as actors are required to make a considerable personal and financial investment in getting started professionally. The industry’s reliance on high-end training and other paid services, now presented as bare necessities to start and maintain an acting career (headshots, reels, ongoing coaching, monthly subscriptions, et al.) have undeniably resulted in making the acting profession a prerogative of those with suitable financial means. By being entirely free of charge, BIS aims to counterbalance this dynamic.

Acting as a practice is now fairly immaterial. In the film and TV industry, what could already be achieved by approximation through quantitative editing can now be achieved by design via qualitative editing. The only true requirement for a screen acting profession in 2025 is access. In the domain of theatre, a renewed focus on the experiential makes extensive audience participation an essential tool, allowing a number of shows to function as they were designed to. Both phenomena make ‘bodies in space’ an accurate definition of what acting has become in a number of professional contexts today.

As an artistic project, Bodies In Space aims to re-focus the acting discourse towards:

a) the physical presence of the actor - as opposed to their disembodied imagination
b) the situated actor / audience exchange
c) the physical space which forms the material basis of that exchange.

BIS is not a drama school and not even an acting gym. It is more like a public park with benches arranged in a circle. And a water fountain.

How to join

Performance slots are not bookable in advance and will be allocated to the first performers showing up on the night, on a first-come first-served basis. Observers are welcome to join and give feedback on performances.

All attendees are required to hold an active Equity membership.

Contact

Follow us on Instagram at @bodiesinspaceldn, email us directly to info@bodiesinspace.co.uk, or use the contact form below.

Location

Old Diorama Arts Centre,
201 Drummond Street,
Regent's Place,
London.
NW1 3FE