Presence Not Perfection: A Half-Day Therapeutic Theater Retreat
with Abby Ilardi
Nov 15, 1:30-5:30pm
What happens when you use theater not to perform, but to come home to yourself?
This is a four-hour immersion that uses the tools of devised theater-making — movement, voice, image, expressive writing, and collaborative play — as a path into presence, embodiment, and connection. There’s nothing to perform, no script to learn, no audience. Just an afternoon in your body, your voice, and a room with other people doing the same brave, awkward, beautiful work.
Devised theater is a somatic and ensemble-based form of theater-making — original material generated from the body and the collective imagination, rather than rehearsed from a finished play. When you apply those tools with the intention of play and inner experience rather than performance, something remarkable happens. People come into a presence that meditation alone often can’t produce. They process through their bodies in ways that talking can’t reach. They find creativity, play, and expressive aliveness that’s often been buried for years.
This is not therapy — no verbal processing, no clinical intervention. It’s a fun, playful, intentional day of embodied self-expression.
This is for you if you’re navigating transition, feeling stuck in your head, longing for embodied community, or hungry for inner work that isn’t more talking. Everyone is welcome. No theater experience needed. No reading lines. All bodies, identities, and comfort levels belong here.
You’ll leave reconnected — to your body, to your authentic self, to the people in the room, and to the present moment.
What to bring: clothes you can move in, a water bottle, a journal and pen
Led by Abby Ilardi — Licensed Professional Counselor, registered yoga instructor, and performing artist. Her work blends expressive arts, somatics, and self-inquiry into a method that is as fun as it is deep.
Questions: info@abbyilardi.com
Early bird before Nov. 5: $75 | Full Price: $100
REGISTER HERE