Wed 14 September, 6.30pm (45 mins), Dorfman Theatre, £5/£4

As her memoir, Touching Lives, is published, Sue Laurie reflects on thirty years of learning, training and teaching the Alexander Technique – an integral part of the inner workings of the National Theatre and RSC.

She talks about the huge impact that Alexander Technique has on voice, body and mind for actors, directors and puppeteers, and her own indomitable passion for theatre with actor Michelle Terry (recently the title role inHenry V at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre, and Cleansed at the NT) and former Royal Court artistic directorIan Rickson, who calls her work ‘invaluable during rehearsal… almost imperceptible yet with palpable results’.

Sue said: ‘Alexander Technique helps a person to recognise the tensions they are holding both physically and psychologically, and provides a way of releasing them in daily life. It is regularly practiced by actors, singers, instrumentalists, and sportspeople. However, it is also an established medical technique, which has helped patients suffering from acute back pain, vocal problems and other physical ailments; with Parkinson’s and MS; and those in recovery from addiction. I have been privileged and overwhelmed by the generosity of the acting profession in trusting me to teach them Alexander Technique over the years.’

Michelle Terry said: ‘Alexander has been hugely important to me from the first time I was introduced to it at drama school. Learning that a series of seemingly simple instructions can have such a profound effect on the mind and body continues to be a revelation to me. It is amazing that theatres like the NT recognise the importance of Alexander for everyone in the company.’

‘Sue is a wonderful teacher. She has expert experience from her years at the NT and insight into how Alexander Technique can affect the human form in all scales of performance space. … a brilliant diagnostic for improved stage craft.’

Benedict Cumberbatch (Actor)

‘With just a few words of encouragement, and some very careful manipulations Sue had my voice booming and my body and mind relaxed. … always respectful and incredibly smart about the actor’s ‘Inner Critic’ and the why’s and wherefores of performance anxiety.’

Sir Lenny Henry (Actor, Comedian, Writer)

‘The principles of Alexander Technique, if manifested in your puppeteering body can manifest in the puppet itself.’

Nicolas Hart (Actor, Head of ‘Joey’ in War Horse)

Sue Laurie was born in Norfolk, studied at Norwich School of Art and Traphagen School of Fashion in New York. Suffering from recurring acute back pain as a result of a childhood riding accident, she took two years of lessons in the Alexander Technique, was accepted for the training course with Marjory Barlow, and qualified as a teacher in 1980. In 1983 she started teaching the Alexander Technique for the first time to the RSC Company, and this relationship continued for 27 years.  She began giving the Alexander lessons to the members of the NT Company in 1989, firstly at the NT Studio, and then in the South Bank building, where the work is still an ongoing support for the Company.

nationaltheatre.org.uk/shows/sue-laurie-and-alexander-technique-theatre

This Platform is followed by a book-signing outside the NT Bookshop, at 7.20pm.