Susan Worsfold

Bio:

Susan is an award winning theatre director and voice specialist, drawing from her 30 years of experience of the Nadine George Voice Work. She has won 4 separate Made in Scotland Awards for her theatre productions and is Associate Teacher at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland where she originally trained for her BA Honours (Directing).

As a theatre director and voice specialist, Susan’s overriding passion is to offer space for transformation where, within a collective experience, an individual can discover more of who they are. Drawing from her 30 years of professional experience, Susan creates transformative space through the radical practice of the Nadine George Voice Work, which equips people to expand their sense of self, rather than reaching outside of themselves to consume.

Having worked internationally and locally with people considered to be on the margins of society, from founding a network with artists seeking refuge to working with trans, neurodiverse and disabled artists, Susan researches the colonised voice, where space for voice is co-opted by the well intentioned and where, much like the tipping point of a progressive capitalist system, the need to redress balance and representation comes from asking the question “Whose voice needs to be heard?” – on stage, in an audience, in a boardroom or on the street. From the micro work of a highly artistic, developed and accessible practice in the use of breath, body, sound and word, Susan supports individuals to understand their standing in space, in the community and therefore their voice in society at large and looks to equip them with tools to be seen, be heard and take space.

Based in Glasgow, Susan has worked across Scotland’s main theatre stages and national organisations and directs theatre and teaches voice in the UK, France, Brazil and Lebanon, where she also designs and delivers actor training courses at state university level. She has won 4 separate Made in Scotland Awards for her theatre productions, directed with The National Theatre of Scotland, been supported by Creative Scotland, British Council Scotland and British Council Brazil and is founding director of Queen Jesus Productions touring her internationally renowned production, The Gospel According To Jesus, Queen of Heaven. Her theatre productions have recently toured Brazil, Europe, UK and USA.

Susan is Associate Teacher at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland where she originally trained for her BA Honours (Directing) and where, at the age of 18, she met Nadine. Upon leaving, she was awarded the Percival Steed Prize for Voice Appreciation and developed her work closely with Nadine, previously as co-director of the Nadine George Voice Centre of Voice Studio International, building the development of the practice in the Arts and Health sector, the creation and evolution of the VSI accreditation course and the accredited teachers’ annual symposium.

As an Associate Teacher to the Centre for Voice in Performance, Susan teaches across programmes at both an undergraduate and post-graduate level, from the BA actor training programme to the MA in Classical and Contemporary Texts. Susan co-designed the original Daily Voice Practice for the BA in Contemporary Performance Practice, for whom she also directed. She has taught on the Bachelor of Music courses and designs and delivers training for the Short Courses department including: Directing for Theatre, Introduction to Actor Training, Third Age Company (Ensemble for age 50+) and Acting Skills for Adults with Learning Difficulties. Susan has been a visiting lecturer on QMU’s MSc in Dance Movement Psychotherapy and invited guest speaker and workshop facilitator at the Department of Nursing, Queen Margaret University’s ‘Embodied Persons’ Conference.

Susan has created long term partnerships with esteemed creative elders and consistently supports and collaborates with emerging practitioners. Her trademark directing approach combines an embodied vocal development process, instigating and deepening long term relationships and support to individual artists from which a production is inspired and created.

Susan maintains her annual international programme of voice workshops teaching online and in the room, developing an energised, creative and released style of working.