2-DAY CLASSICAL ACTING WORKSHOP
EMBODYING SHAKESPEARE
Saturday & Sunday, April 6 & 7, 2019
12:00 PM - 6:00 PM
Location: PLAYWRIGHTS HORIZONS
Instructors: ALEXANDRA BELLER, ERIC TUCKER, KATE WILSON, NATHAN WINKELSTEIN
For four hundred years Shakespeare’s immortal words have had us rolling in the aisles, crying into our beers, or contemplating life's great mysteries. Come learn how to make Shakespeare’s language jump off the page and invoke delight or dole. Join Eric Tucker, Artistic Director of Bedlam Theater, Broadway vocal coach Kate Wilson, Red Bull Associate Producer Nathan Winkelstein, movement coach Alexandra Beller and more. Whether you are a young professional, an old pro, or simply an enthusiast -- this is the workshop for you.
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. Red Bull Theater and Bedlam are prime examples 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:
ERIC TUCKER: Wall Street Journal DIRECTOR OF THE YEAR 2014. Off Broadway: Vanity Fair (The Pearl); Bedlam’s Sense and Sensibility (Off Broadway Alliance Award, Lortel nom., Best Director, Drama League nom., Best Revival); A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Drama League nom. Best Revival, WSJ Best Classical Production 2015; NY Times Critics’ Pick), Bedlam’s Saint Joan (NY Times/Time Magazine Top 10; Off Broadway Alliance Best Revival 2014), Bedlam’s Hamlet (NY Times Top 10; Time Out NY/Backstage Critics’ Pick), Tina Packer’s Women of Will. For Bedlam: Hamlet/Saint Joan: McCarter Theatre; Central Sq. Theater (Elliott Norton: Outstanding Visiting Production/Outstanding Ensemble, Boston Globe Top Ten); Dead Dog Park, New York Animals (World Premiere by Steven Sater/Burt Bacharach), Twelfth Night and What You Will (NY Times Critics’ Picks), The Seagull (WSJ Best Classical Production 2014), Sense & Sensibility (NY Times Top 10, NY Times/WSJ/Time Out Critics’ Picks). Other: The Merry Wives of Windsor (Two River), Disney’s Beauty & The Beast (OSF); Pericles (APT); Sense and Sensibility (The Folger Theater, 8 Helen Hayes nominations including Best Director and Best Production), Copenhagen (Central Square Theater), A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Two Gentlemen of Verona (HVSF), Mate (The Actors’ Gang). Eric received his M.F.A. from the Trinity Rep Conservatory. He resides in New York City where he is Founder and Artistic Director of Bedlam.
KATE WILSON has coached the Broadway productions of Moulin Rouge, All My Sons, Beetlejuice, Gary, Burn This, True West, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Cher Show, American Son, The Waverly Gallery Carousel, Lobby Hero, The Iceman Cometh, Children of a Lesser God, M. Butterfly, The Parisian Woman, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The Glass Menagerie, Sweat, The Front Page, Les Liaisons Dangereuses, The Cherry Orchard, Fully Committed, The Crucible, Bright Star, Hughie, A View from the Bridge, Old Times, An American in Paris, Skylight, The Audience, The Real Thing, The Elephant Man, You Can’t Take It with You, Rocky, Violet, A Raisin in the Sun, Machinal, Big Fish, The Trip to Bountiful, Picnic, The Heiress, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, and War Horse.
She has coached Off-Broadway productions of The Mother, The Hairy Ape, Talley’s Folly, Cock, Giant, Hurt Village, How I Learned to Drive, The Whipping Man, The Misanthrope, Entertaining Mr. Sloane, Richard III, Othello, Burn This, Far Away, and The Glory of Living. For the New York Shakespeare Festival she has coached productions of The Merchant of Venice, Much Ado About Nothing, Henry V, Twelfth Night, The Seagull, and will be coaching Much Ado About Nothing this summer. Her film and television credits include “Little Women,” Lady Bird, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, Carol, and Inside Llewyn Davis. Faculty: Juilliard.
ALEXANDRA BELLER has been Choreographer for “Sense and Sensibility” (Sheen Center, Judson Gym, Folger Shakespeare Library, American Repertory Theatre, Portland Center Stage), for which she won a Helen Hayes Award, Lortel Nomination, and IRNE nomination for Best Choreography. She choreographed the Off Broadway musical, “The Mad Ones” (Kerrigan/ Lowdermilk) (59E59), Bedlam’s “Peter Pan” (Duke Theatre), “Two Gentlemen of Verona” (Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival), “As You Like It” (Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival, Folger Shakespeare Library), “How to transcend a happy marriage” by Sarah Ruhl (Lincoln Center Theatre), “The Young Ladies of…” (Taylor Mac), “Chang(e)” (Soomi Kim at HERE Arts), and others. Current projects include choreographing “Antonio’s Song” (by Dael Orlandersmith and Antonio Suarez) for CATF and Milwaukee Repertory Theatre.
Her critically acclaimed international performance career includes 7 years with the Bill. T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company, and projects with Martha Clarke, John Turturro, and others. She created Alexandra Beller/Dances in 2001 and has created over 40 original Dance Theatre works, both for her own and other companies. Her choreography has been presented at theatres throughout the US and in Korea, Hong Kong, Oslo, Cyprus, St. Petersburg, and Poland.
Alexandra currently holds a BFA in Dance, MFA in Dance and CMA (Certified Movement Analyst) in Laban Movement Analysis and Bartenieff Fundamentals. She is on the faculty of Princeton University, Montclair State University’s graduate program, and frequently adjunct teaches at Universities in NYC including Barnard College, Rutgers University, The New School, and Alvin Ailey Dance Center at Fordham University.
Schedule:
Saturday
12:00 - 2:00: Voice work with Kate Wilson
2:00 - 3:00: Meal Break
3:00 - 6:00: Scene Work with Nathan Winkelstein
Sunday
12:00 - 2:00: Movement - Alexandra Beller
2:00 - 3:00: Meal Break
3:00 - 6:00: Scene Work with Eric Tucker
Preparation:
A scene will be assigned a week before the class. Prepare it as best you are able. Memorization is encouraged but not required.
Materials:
A Copy of the Scene Packet and 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.