Wild-Theatre
Retreats & Residencies

Immersive residencies blending action-based acting, ritual practice, and nature-based inquiry on Vancouver Island and beyond

Three Upcoming Retreats

  • Close-up of a textured rock surface with dark, tan, and reddish streaks and layers.

    Actor as Vessel - Bringing your wild into community (Sept 20–21, Vancouver Island)

    A 2-day residency in mindful action, ritual space, and nature-based inquiry. Co-led by Ian & Rua.

    Learn More
  • Two women with curly hair sitting on the floor in a dance studio, one with a tattoo on her arm, in a moment of concentration or prayer.

    Holistic Movement Intensive (Sept 26-28, Earthspring Sanctuary)

    An intensive in holistic dance, contact improvisation, and creative research, co-led by Ian and Sabine (Holistic Dance Institute, Vienna).

    Learn More
  • Pier at sunset with mountains silhouetted in the distance

    Expressive Arts Therapy Training

    Coming Soon

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Wild Theatre Collective – Faculty Bios

At the heart of Wild Theatre Collective is a circle of artists, educators, and guides who bring together diverse training in performance, ritual, somatics, and depth practices. Each faculty member contributes unique expertise, but all share a commitment to cultivating creative expression as a vehicle for transformation, community, and connection with the more-than-human world.

  • A smiling middle-aged man with a beard and no hair, wearing a red jacket, outdoors with blurred green trees in the background.

    R. Ian Collett

    Ian Collett is a theatre artist and director whose work blends classical stagecraft with the transformative power of ritual, nature connection, and expanded states of awareness. Trained at the American Repertory Theater/Moscow Art Theatre School Institute at Harvard, Ian has worked internationally for two decades as a director and teacher in conservatories and companies worldwide. A student of Ecstatic Mysticism, Ian leads retreats where the Stanislavsky method meets eco-psychology, creating spaces where authentic expression becomes ceremony and theatre serves as cultural renewal.

  • A smiling young man with short brown hair and blue eyes, wearing a gray striped shirt, standing outdoors with a blurred neutral background.

    Sean Frey

    Sean Frey is a Registered Counsellor, visual and performance artist, and teacher based in Victoria, Canada. His work bridges psychotherapy, creative expression, and embodied spiritual practice. He has taught at the Gestalt Institute of Toronto, the Create Institute, Pacific Rim College, and Gestalt programs in Japan. With training in Somatic Experiencing®, contemporary shamanic studies, psychedelic therapy, and Ecstatic Mysticism, Sean weaves counselling, ritual, and art into transformative practices. As a performance artist, his work integrates ceremony, live performance, and nature connection, inviting audiences into healing experiences at the edge of art and ritual.

  • Black and white photo of a smiling man with a beard, wearing a black shirt, with his hand on his chest and a ring and bracelet on his fingers, standing against a plain background.

    Rua

    Rua is an interdisciplinary artist who crafts live experiences that inspire transformation and community connection. Holding an MFA in Theatre from the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, he has worked internationally as an actor, producer, and director for over 15 years. A student of Ecstatic Mysticism, Rua also facilitates workshops and retreats that integrate performance and healing arts. He is co-author of Stay Lit: A Storyteller’s Pocket Guide to Radical Self-Authorship, and continues to explore how story, ritual, and art can open pathways to individual and collective renewal.

  • A woman smiling outdoors with short curly hair, wearing a black top, against a blurred natural background.

    Sabine Parzer

    Sabine Parzer (AT) is a dancer, choreographer, somatic movement educator, and founder of the Holistic Dance Institute (2010), an ISMETA-accredited training center for holistic dance teachers. With over 35 years of international experience, she has taught, performed, and choreographed across Europe, North and South America, Russia, and Israel. Recognized as a Master Somatic Movement Educator, Sabine integrates her training in Modern Dance, Visionary Craniosacral Work®, and integrative movement methods with decades of research into contact improvisation, trauma therapy, and bodywork. She co-created Contact Festival Austria and continues to develop holistic approaches to dance as a practice of healing and transformation.

  • A woman with long gray hair, wearing glasses, a blue jacket, and outdoor gear, standing in front of a rocky background.

    Sarah Frizelle

    Sarah Frizelle (she/her) is a registered counsellor based on Vancouver Island, BC, offering holistic counselling and mentoring to individuals, couples, and families. With over 30 years of experience as an educator, psychotherapist, and wilderness guide, Sarah often integrates these roles in eco-psychology and nature-based therapy. A certified Wild Mind practitioner with the Animas Valley Institute, she guides others on journeys of transformation by cultivating wholeness, uncovering deep longings, and discovering unique gifts. Sarah views wilderness and mystery as powerful allies in supporting change at the personal, relational, and community levels, always with earth in mind.

Who This Work Is For

View from the top of a spiral staircase looking downward, showing the steps curving around a central hollow and a small window at the top letting in natural light.

Actors, dancers, educators, and theatre-makers seeking to deepen their craft and connect with the creative field beyond ego. Ideal for those who want to integrate performance training with transformative practices.

For artists called to speak what must be spoken now.

When you understand theatre is ritual, performance as devotion, and the artist serves as a conduit for stories that arise from the field, you want containers for shared imagination.

DOES THIS RESONATE WITH YOU?

"The main factor in any form of creativeness is the life of a human spirit .”

— Konstantin Stanislavski’s
Building a Character

“Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate”

— C. G. Jung 

“Inside you there's an artist you don't know about.”

— Rumi

What Makes These Retreats Unique

Looking up at tall trees in a green forest with sunlight filtering through the leaves.

Unprecedented Integration

Meaningfully synthesize three powerful traditions: Action-Based Acting, Depth Psychology, Eco-psychology 

Land-Based Learning

Exercises are enhanced by connection to the living earth. Enter into the natural world with clear intentions, Wander in the wilds of the woods and  psyche. 

The land becomes our co-teacher, mirror, and sanctuary.

Small Group Intimacy

Limited to 18 participants, deep personal attention, ensembles are made for safe and brave spaces. 

Experienced Facilitation

Co-create with practitioners trained in all three lineages. We invite creatives who are experienced in liminal states, open to explore in an ensemble setting, and can enter creative containers with self-reliant awareness.

Practical Integration

You'll leave not just inspired, but equipped. Concrete practices, techniques, and community connections. Support your ongoing creative development.

What You’ll Practice

✺
Mindful Action

Heightened physical and vocal presence

Tools from Stanislavsky’s physical action method—presence, études, given circumstances.

✺
Liminal & Ritual

Practices for sustaining threshold states

Breath, voice, and movement practices for threshold states, with safe entry/exit protocols and ensemble witnessing.

✺
Nature-Based Inquiry

Tools for ongoing personal creative practice

Guided solo wanders, land as mirror, and integrative practices inspired by the work of Eco-Psychology.

Dates & Tuition

A view of a lakeside deck surrounded by tall trees, with a dock extending into the water, boats on the lake, and a partly cloudy sky during sunset or sunrise.

Actor as Vessel: Sept 20–21, 2025 (Vancouver Island)
Early Bird: $550 CAD • Regular: $1000 CAD

Holistic Movement Intensive: (September 26-28, Earthspring Sanctuary)
Early Bird: $1,250 CAD • Regular: $1,450 CAD

Expressive Arts Therapy Training - Coming Soon

Actor as Vessel

Sept 20–21, 2025, Vancouver Island

A Transformative 2-Day Journey on Vancouver Island

Close-up of tree bark with a heart-shaped hole in the center.

Actor as Vessel — a residency in action-based training, ritual practice, and nature-based inquiry.

𓆱

Can the profound meet
the practical?

Step into a rare convergence of three powerful lineages that have shaped transformational practice across the globe. This intimate residential intensive weaves together the psychological depth of Stanislavsky's legendary method from the Moscow Art Theatre, the consciousness-expanding wisdom of Ecstatic Mysticism, and the earth-based soul initiation work of eco-psychology.

Artistic Leads

  • Smiling middle-aged man with a beard wearing a red jacket outdoors in a green forested area.

    R. Ian Collett

    R. Ian Collett (Ian) is a theatre artist and director blending classical stagecraft with ritual, nature connection, and expanded awareness. He creates retreats where theatre becomes ceremony and art serves as cultural renewal.

  • Smiling man with beard and earrings, holding his hand to his chest, wearing a black shirt, on a plain background.

    Rua

    Rua is an interdisciplinary artist and MFA graduate of Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, co-author of Stay Lit. His work fuses theatre, ritual, and healing arts to inspire transformation.

Tuition

ACTOR AS VESSEL

Early Bird $550 CAD
Regular Registration:: $1,000 CAD

Includes: All instruction, catered meals, cabin or tent site accommodation, program materials, ongoing community access.

Scholarships Available: We believe this work should be accessible to all called to it. Please inquire about partial scholarships and payment plans.

If you feel the call to:

  • Deepen your artistic practice through authentic self-discovery

  • Experience the power of consciousness-expanding practice in service of creativity

  • Connect with your unique role in cultural healing and regeneration

  • Join a community of artists committed to sacred activism

𓆱

We invite you to co-create.

Holistic Movement Intensive

Sept 26-28, Earthspring Sanctuary

Holistic Movement Intensive — With Sabine Parzer (Holistic Dance Institute, Vienna) & Ian Collett

Emphasis on holistic dance, contact improvisation, the Actor’s method, creative movement, text work, and present tense for performers.

Artistic Leads

  • Sabine Parzer

    Sabine Parzer

    Holistic Dance Institute

    Sabine Parzer (AT) is a dancer, choreographer, somatic movement educator, and founder of the Holistic Dance Institute (2010), an ISMETA-accredited training center for holistic dance teachers. With over 35 years of international experience, she has taught, performed, and choreographed across Europe, North and South America, Russia, and Israel. Recognized as a Master Somatic Movement Educator, Sabine integrates her training in Modern Dance, Visionary Craniosacral Work®, and integrative movement methods with decades of research into contact improvisation, trauma therapy, and bodywork. She co-created Contact Festival Austria and continues to develop holistic approaches to dance as a practice of healing and transformation.

  • R. Ian Collett

    R. Ian Collett

    Ian Collett is a theatre artist and director whose work blends classical stagecraft with the transformative power of ritual, nature connection, and expanded states of awareness. Trained at the American Repertory Theater/Moscow Art Theatre School Institute at Harvard, Ian has worked internationally for two decades as a director and teacher in conservatories and companies worldwide. A student of Ecstatic Mysticism, he leads retreats where the Stanislavsky method meets eco-psychology, creating spaces where authentic expression becomes ceremony and theatre serves as cultural renewal.

The Experience

Imagine waking each morning to the sound of the natural world, and forest birds, beginning your day with embodied practice that aligns breath, voice, and intention.

Close-up of water flowing over rocks in a stream or river, with splashes and ripples.

Picture yourself diving deep into scene work that doesn't just create character, but reveals hidden aspects of your own psyche. Envision entering sacred ritual space where personal transformation and artistic expression become indistinguishable.

Over three intensive days, you'll:

  • Work deeply in foundational Stanislavsky techniques adapted for personal as well as character development

  • Experience safe, guided journeys into non-ordinary states of consciousness

  • Connect with your authentic creative voice through nature-based practices and somatic descent. 

  • Create original performance pieces that integrate all three lineages: somatics, eco-psychology & performance

  • Develop tools for a sustainable personal practice for ongoing transformation

  • Join a community of like-minded artists committed to sacred agency

Sabine Parzer

Who This Is For

Performing Artists seeking to deepen their craft through authentic connection to source material and emotional truth.

Theater Practitioners ready to expand beyond conventional training into transformational performance methodologies.

Creative Activists who recognize art's power to heal individual and collective wounds while inspiring cultural change.

Spiritual Seekers with artistic inclinations who want to integrate their practice with creative expression.

Therapists & Healers exploring expressive arts as tools for transformation and community healing.

Those feeling called to discover their authentic creative voice and its role in personal and planetary healing.

Tuition

HOLISTIC MOVEMENT INTENSIVE

Early Bird (Before Midnight PST, September 12, 2025): $1,250 CAD

Regular Registration: $1,450 CAD

Reg Deposit: $100

Balance Due: September 21st 2025

Includes: All instruction, catered meals, cabin or tent site accommodation, program materials, ongoing community access.

Scholarships Available: We believe this work should be accessible to all called to it. Please inquire about partial scholarships and payment plans.

"The art of experiencing"

what Stanislavsky called the foundation of authentic performance—becomes, in this residency, the art of fully living. Here, your deepest artistic expression and your soul's calling discover they were always one path.

Sample Schedule

Two women practicing yoga indoors, one in a squat position with hands on the floor, another balancing on her back, wearing colorful comfortable clothing.

Each day is an opportunity to strengthen your practice in the company of other creatives, to dovetail the connections between image, impulse and action, to find your personal link between your body, your imagination and the field.

Foundations (Day 1): Mindful Action and Awareness, Physical Training, Cultivating containers for presence

  • 7:30-8am Embodiment Practice

  • 8:15-9:15 Breakfast

  • 9:30-12am Morning Class

  • 12-1pm Lunch

  • 1-2:30 Intentional Practice

  • 3:45-6:15 Afternoon Class

  • 6:30-7:30pm Dinner

  • 7:30-8pm Break

  • 8-9:30 Active imagination practice

Threshold (Day 2): Ritual Practices, Liminal Space, Finding the Field through the Ensemble. 

Emergence (Day 3): Nature-based inquiry, Integration, performance

Application Process

  1. Initial Application: Brief questionnaire describing your background and intentions

  2. Phone/Video Interview: quick 30-minute conversation with lead facilitators

  3. Commitment: Signed agreement and deposit to secure your place


Questions?

Contact Cedar@wild-theatre.com to set up a brief exploratory conversation about whether this program aligns with your path.