Dr Christina Kapadocha

Biography

I am a London-based theatre and somatic practitioner-researcher and founder of Somatic Acting Process®. My earliest artistic and professional development included studies and qualifications in classical piano and singing, music theatre, dance and literature. My ongoing experience in theatre and acting practices started formally in 2005. As a Greek-born actress, I shaped the ground of my acting experience as a first-class graduate of the Greek National Theatre Drama School (Diploma in Acting) which operates in tandem with the National Theatre of Greece. While in Greece I performed, among others, in productions of the National Theatre of Greece and the Athens Festival. In 2010 I was awarded a full-time scholarship from the Greek State Scholarship Foundation (IKY) in order to advance my theatre studies in the UK. I moved to London and completed my postgraduate degree in acting at East 15 Acting School (MA Acting International). During my studies at East 15, I also got the opportunity for a residency in Bali (ISI Denpasar) and Moscow (GITIS) where I studied and performed. After my MA, I started developing an expertise in the interrelation between modern somatic movement and theatre practices through a Practice-as-Research PhD at Royal Central School of Speech and Drama (RCSSD) and my professional development as somatic movement educator (RSME, Diploma IBMT/BMC®). For these studies I was additionally awarded an Elsie Fogerty Research Degree Studentship. As part of my PhD and the critical investigation of actor-training pedagogies, I shaped a new actor-training approach introduced as Somatic Acting Process. I started teaching my practice and related subjects in major London-based drama schools (such as RCSSD, East 15, Mountview, Rose Bruford) and independent contexts. Since April 2018 I am a full-time Lecturer in Theatre and Movement at East 15 as a member of both the Movement and Research teams. Since January 2022 I am also the Director of Postgraduate Research Studies at school. As a practitioner-researcher, I currently concentrate on the application, modification and impact of somatically-inspired practices into theatre-performing environments and beyond. I particularly introduce new praxical (practical-theoretical) discussions on the somatic in theatre-performance and voice studies bringing together world-leading pioneers in somatic or somatically-informed practices. I was awarded 2020 Outstanding Early Career Researcher in the Faculty of Humanities at the University of Essex. My theatre experience in the UK includes performances at the Cockpit Theatre and Roundhouse, either as an independent artist or as a member of Andreas Skourtis-Performing Architectures company. I have, among others, directed and/or facilitated performances at the Park Theatre, Cockpit Theatre, Arcola Theatre, Theatre Royal Stratford East, Embassy Theatre (RCSSD) and Corbett Theatre (East 15). My latest focus is the investigation of a theatrical form that re-evaluates the dynamics between performers and non-performers/active spectators through a contemporary approach to catharsis. I identify it as Somatic Theatre.

Appointments

University of Essex

• Lecturer in Theatre and Movement, East 15 Acting School (9/4/2018 - present)

• Movement Tutor, East 15 Acting School (7/10/2014 - 9/4/2018)

Other academic

• Visiting Lecturer, Rose Bruford College (6/3/2017 - 9/4/2018)

• MA Tutor, Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts (1/2/2016 - 9/4/2018)

• Visiting Lecturer, Royal Central School of Speech and Drama (3/6/2013 - 9/4/2018)