Cockermouth School pupils have been learning from the best in the business as they took part in an acting workshop from a top London theatre company.

International touring company Complicite theatre, created and ran by actor Simon McBurney, visited the school to give a workshop on immersive physical theatre.

The world renowned theatre company also specialises in storytelling and the innovative use of props and production elements.

Practitioner and actor Clive Mendus joined 54 students ranging from 12 to 18 years, to show them the skills involved in doing immersive physical theatre.

Clive, who teaches all over the world including in the US at the O’Neill Institute, Syracuse University and the New York Actor’s Center, did sessions on movement, mime and gesture, seven levels of tension, transition into space, improvisation and devising.

Head of drama Julie Mossop said: “I am so pleased I have been able to make this happen after wanting to work with this company for a long time.

“It was a fantastic day linking school education to real life performance industry work.”

“As a world renowned theatre company, this has been an amazing opportunity for our students to see how a professional actor and practitioner works in devising theatre in rehearsal and performance,” she added.

The sessions also proved to be popular with pupils. Year 9 student Erin Thompson said: “It has been fun to learn new things and work with a professional actor/practitioner.”

Jack Milburn, Year 8 said: “It has been interesting to explore hand and eye co-ordination. The sessions have been fabulous.”

Clive told the school he had: “Absolutely loved today working with the students”. His advice to future actors is: “Don’t do it unless you love it and in which case to always have fun.” and he told them there has been many highlights in his career as a touring actor, so far touring from New York to Toronto. He joined Complicite in 1987 but also trained with Simon McBurney and Marcello Magnin at the famous school of mime in Paris known as Jacques Le Coq Theatre School.