2-DAY CLASSICAL ACTING WORKSHOP
ENSEMBLE SHAKESPEARE
A FIASCO AT RED BULL
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THIS WORKSHOP WILL NOT TAKE PLACE
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Fiasco Theater Company’s commitment to dynamic, joyful, actor-driven productions of classic and new plays has led to their own unique brand of storytelling. Come join JESSIE AUSTRIAN and NOAH BRODY two of Fiasco’s Founders and Co-Artistic Directors in an exploration of scenes from Shakespeare’s canon. Experience Red Bull’s and Fiasco’s shared enthusiasm for imaginative performances of the classics in this unique intensive. Whether you are a young professional, an old hat, or simply an enthusiast this is the workshop for you.
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Essential Question:
How do actors use a creative approach to the text to create a unique interpretation of a classic play that is actor oriented, imaginative, and accessible to the audience, while always remaining faithful to the original intent and text of the play.
Course Objectives:
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Increase the flexibility of your physical and vocal instrument
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Explore and expand your imaginative boundaries as a theater artist
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Develop a greater awareness of your body and voice
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Explore exercises for delivering language from Shakespeare’s great plays with imagination and depth
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Explore how an actor utilizes verse, text and rhetoric to create complex characters
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Learn how to work with and respond honestly to your scene partners in a way that unlocks your own potential as a performer
Enduring Understandings:
Your imagination is a tool to be used. Like any tool it requires training to hone and use it effectively. Often necessity can indeed be the mother of invention and act as a jumping off point to new, creative ideas. Fiasco is a prime example of this. A deep understanding of Shakespeare’s verse, his use of rhythms and rhetoric is also essential to delving the hidden depths of his works.
Instructors:
JESSIE AUSTRIAN is one of Fiasco Theater’s co-artistic directors and founders. Broadway: The Importance of Being Earnest, Lend Me a Tenor. Off-Broadway: Fiasco’s Cymbeline, The Marriage of Bette and Boo. Regional favorites include Fiasco Theater’s Into the Woods, McCarter Theatre; Jane Eyre, Guthrie Theater; Is He Dead?, Pioneer Theatre; The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Trinity Repertory Co; My Fair Lady, Actors Theatre of Louisville and Virginia Stage Company; and Cabaret & Main, Williamstown. Adjunct faculty at NYU’s Gallatin School. Proud graduate of Brown University and the Brown/Trinity M.F.A. Acting Program.
NOAH BRODY is an actor, director, writer and teacher. He is co-artistic director and head of producing for Fiasco Theater. He has co-directed and acted in Fiasco’s productions of Cymbeline, Twelfth Night, The Two Gentlemen of Verona, Into the Woods, and their upcoming Measure for Measure. He has acted at theaters around the country and in Europe, appeared shirtless on soaps, headless on a crime drama, and as a dismembered torso on some underwear boxes. He teaches acting, voice and text through Fiasco and the Gallatin School summer Shakespeare intensive, and choreographs fights for money. He spends that money on singing lessons, horn lessons and cat food. Not for him. For the cats. Noah writes plays, including The Vexed Question, currently under development with Fiasco, he enjoys long, complicated novels and histories and being in physical peril. He is a proud graduate of the Brown-Trinity MFA Acting
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Schedule:
Saturday
12:00 - 2:00: Voice work
2:00 - 3:00: Meal Break
3:00 - 6:00: Fiasco! With Noah Brody
Sunday
10:00 - 12:00: Open Rehearsal Space
12:00 - 2:00: Movement
2:00 - 3:00: Meal Break
3:00 - 6:00: Fiasco! With Jessie Austrian
Preparation:
Anything requiring preparation will be sent at least one week before the class.
Materials:
A journal is recommended to record notes and observations. Comfortable clothing that you can move and breathe freely in and a water bottle is strongly encouraged.
Concerns? Questions?
Contact Nathan Winkelstein.
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