Actors, you do not have to suffer for your art – there’s another way

Diving in with Both Feet

Both Feet was founded by Morgan and fellow acting coaches Adam Stadius and Laura Lindsay in 2016. Today, it is run by Morgan, who delivers courses in theatres and training institutions across the country – and runs retreats in the wild heart of North Wales.

These programmes include a week-long retreat with celebrated voice coach Barbara Houseman, a five-day retreat with accent coach Arabella Gibbins, a four-day retreat focused on transitioning from stage to screen work, and a nine-day retreat with Dr Henrie Lidiard focused on reconnecting through the enneagram, a psychological model that blends modern science and ancient insights.

“The main retreat I run, though, is a 12-day intensive course called The Actor Connects,” says Morgan. “A group of actors – not more than 10 – come to north Wales and live, sleep, eat, swim and work together for 12 days. It’s simple: arrive open, leave changed. The changes I feel in people are almost impossible to put into words.”

“I know that not everyone can commit to 12 days, though,” Morgan adds. “So, we also offer the option of completing the course over three three-day retreats as well.”

“To be a happy, healthy actor, you have to be able to understand yourself” – Stephanie Morgan, Both Feet Actor Training

Whichever option actors choose, Morgan’s training courses involve a combination of activities and exercises designed to help participants reconnect with themselves, explore their own identity, develop as actors and rediscover their love of performance. Participants on the 12-day retreat can expect to go wild swimming and stand-up paddleboarding in Snowdonia, too, and cook a meal together under the stars.”

“Everyone is different, and everyone is challenged by something different, too,” Morgan says. “All the activities and exercises we do are designed to discover what it is that is holding an actor back, access that part of them and start to unravel it. For some, it will be making eye contact with a stranger. For others, it will be jumping into cold water. For others, it will be the movement practices. For others, it will be getting a script in their hand.”

“To be a happy, healthy actor, you have to do that work,” Morgan adds. “You have to be able to understand yourself. If you are a tangled mess and you take on a complex character, it is so easy to get totally lost. I’m curious about how easily you can go to the extraordinary and how easily you can find your way back again. In order to do that, though, you need to become fundamentally accepting of who you are.

“Our work at Both Feet can be terrifying and utterly transformative, but it is always safe,” she adds. “It is about learning to be a healthy human, so you can be a healthy actor.”
Continues...

Taking a moment amid a Welsh wander

All of Both Feet’s retreats take place at Morgan’s custom-built studio and bunkhouse in the picturesque countryside of North Wales, situated between the Clwydian Range and Dee Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and the Snowdonia National Park.

“People have no choice but to breathe here,” Morgan says. “Even when it is overcast and grey, it is beautiful. You get stunning sunrises and sunsets, and at night you can sit on the balcony and see a sea of stars.”

“There is a modern studio with a piano and metres of bifold doors that we open up in the warmer months.” Morgan continues. “There are three bedrooms with four beds, and each of the beds has its own shelf, curtain and sockets. It is communal living, but everyone has their own space. There is an understanding here. People listen to their own needs and attune to the needs of the group, too. Magic happens when people drop their guards and wake up. Once you feel it, you won’t forget.”
Continues...

Making a commitment to yourself

Morgan herself has over 20 years of experience in the performing arts industry, having worked in various roles in theatres across the country. She has taught at ALRA drama school, ICTheatre and Leeds Conservatoire, and is an International NLP Trainers Association-certified neurolinguistic programming master practitioner, a HeartMath coach and an mBit master coach.

“I work with a whole range of different people at Both Feet,” Morgan says. “Some people have just come out of drama school and want to unlearn some of the damaging habits they picked up there. Some people have been working in the industry for a while but feel stuck or joyless because they have lost themselves. And some people have always wanted to be actors but have had that fire squashed out of them and want to relight it.”

Twelve-day retreats start at £1,049 and three-part retreats at £379, and Morgan offers flexible payment plans and scholarships for both. Both retreats run twice a year, the Intensive usually in April and September and the three-parter throughout the year.

"My work at Both Feet is all about helping actors not just survive as actors but come alive and live a rich and fulfilled career and life” – Stephanie Morgan, Both Feet Actor Training

Applicants are expected to register their interest via Both Feet’s website and submit written and video applications before they are awarded a place. 

“Both Feet is open to any actor, no matter your stories, shape, colour, preferences and background,” Morgan continues. “The only real criteria is that you have to be curious, you have to be open, and you have to be willing to commit to yourself. You have to have that fire in your belly, even if that fire has burned down to embers for now.”

“So many actors are lost,” Morgan says. “So many actors wonder why they are so stressed, or so anxious, or so depressed, or so demotivated, or so tired. So many actors are just surviving. My work here at Both Feet is all about helping them understand themselves as humans so that they can not just survive as actors but come alive and live a rich and fulfilled career and life.”

For more information, visit both-feet.co.uk.