Shoshin Theatre Association

Shoshin Theatre Association is an organisation that is based on the three pillars contained in it's name. Shoshin, meaning 'beginner's mind' in Zen Buddhism, is the frame of mind with which we wish to approach all our endeavours. It requires openness, curiosity, eagerness and a lack of preconceptions, in all areas of study. It means using the approach of a beginner even when working and studying o

n a very advanced level. Theatre is the discipline that we choose as the form of our work and our study. Breaking away from the thought that theatre means purely representation, we wish to examine the ways in which it can have a concrete impact on the quality of life. It is to do with energy, clearness of expression, being in the now, consciousness, communication, relations with self and others, and many other facets, all of which can be approached through the specific tools of our craft. And finally, the third pillar, association, the notion and the act of associating, of progressing towards oneness. In mathematics, we see this coming to being in the principle of convergence, but this is also yoga, in the root of the word - to yoke, or to join. The idea of convergence is visually embodied in the Möbius strip, a two-dimensional surface with only one side and only one boundary component, always flowing into itself, joining itself, having no end, no beginning, and no division into inner/outer parts.