2-DAY CLASSICAL ACTING WORKSHOP
SHAKESPEARE'S PROBLEM PLAYS: Measure For Measure
Saturday & Sunday, May 11 & 12, 2019
12:00 PM - 6:00 PM
LOCATION TBA
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Instructors: LOUISA PROSKE, MARY LOU ROSATO and EVAN YIONOULIS
“Who will believe thee, Isabel”
Never in Measure for Measure’s four hundred year history has this famously problematic play’s subject matter felt more immediate and poignant. Come explore the famous scenes of temptation, assault, and defiance that have riveted and provoked audiences for centuries with Red Bull Theater's THE WHITE DEVIL director LOUISA PROSKE, award winning actor MARY LOU ROSATO and award-winning theater director and Director of Juilliard's Drama Division EVAN YIONOULIS. Whether you are a young professional, an old hand, or simply an enthusiast this is the workshop for you.
Essential Question:
How do actors use Shakespeare’s, their physical instruments, and Modern context and experience to fully explore the potential of a scene? How can we utilize those same skills to be more effective actors, listeners, and creative communicators?
Course Objectives:
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Increase the flexibility of your physical and vocal instrument
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Develop a greater awareness of your body and voice
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Explore techniques for delivering language from Shakespeare’s plays with nuance and truth
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Explore how Shakespeare utilizes prose or verse to create complex characters
Enduring Understandings:
Shakespearean Plays are universal and have stood the test of time. An understanding of the modern connections thematic connections as well as s flexible, confident voice and body are essential for effective presentation of a character on the stage. A deep understanding of Shakespeare’s prose and verse, his use of rhythms and rhetoric is essential to finding the timing, honesty, and humor in his plays.
Instructors:
LOUISA PROSKE brings her talent for creating vivid theatrical worlds, her raw passion and her attention to detail to her productions in classical theatre, opera, and new plays. She is the proud Founding Co-Artistic Director of acclaimed New York indie company Heartbeat Opera (“pioneers” – The Wall Street Journal, “a radical endeavor” – The New Yorker, “bold and adventurous” – The New York Times).Opera productions include Agrippina (Lincoln Center debut), Così fan tutte (LoftOpera), Carmen, Lucia di Lammermoor, Daphnis & Chloé, Miss Handel, The Fairy Queen (all Heartbeat Opera), Falstaff (Dell’Arte Opera), Gianni Schicchi, Riders to the Sea, La Voix Humaine (Yale Opera); Invisible Cities (world premiere, Italian Academy New York). Theatre productions include The White Devil (Red Bull Theater), Gaslight (Barrington Stage Mainstage), This, peerless (nominated for a Berkshire Theatre Award for Outstanding Direction) and Engagements (all Barrington Stage Blatt Center), One Day When We Were Young (Assembly, Edinburgh), ‘Tis Pity She’s A Whore (The Tank), Cymbeline and As You Like It (Yale Drama), This Same Progeny of Evils/ Midsummer Nights Dream (Hangar Theater), and Macbeth (European tour). Louisa’s work has received raves in The New York Times, The New Yorker, The Wall Street Journal, Opera News, and other publications. A devoted Shakespearean director and teacher, Louisa has studied with some of the most prominent classical scholars at Cambridge University, UK, and trained with some of America’s foremost Shakespeare practitioners, including Kristin Linklater and Peter Francis James. She holds an MFA in Directing from Yale School of Drama, and she is on faculty at Maggie Flanigan Studio teaching Shakespeare Acting and Script Analysis.
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MARY LOU ROSATO is a teacher, actress, and director and with nearly 50 years experience in plays, film and television. A graduate of Juilliard’s first class (Group 1) under John Houseman and Michel St. Denis, she was a student of many legendary teachers of American classical theater including Marian Seldes, Edith Skinner, Michael Khan, Elizabeth Smith, Anna Sokolov, and Moni Yakim. She has taught at the NYU Tisch MFA program under Zelda Fichandler, and was on the faculty at California Institute of the Arts for nearly 20 years where she taught acting in Shakespeare. Before her retirement from CalArts last spring, she was Co-Head of it’s BFA Acting Program.
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EVAN YIONOULIS is the Richard Rodgers Director of the Drama Division of the Juilliard School, having formerly been Professor in the Practice of Acting and Directing at Yale School of Drama, where she taught for twenty-one years. She has directed new plays and classics in New York, across the country, and internationally, including, last season, Adrienne Kennedy’s He Brought Her Heart Back in a Box for Theatre for a New Audience and Guillermo Calderón’s Kiss, at Yale Repertory Theatre, where she directed many productions, including Richard II, Cymbeline, Brecht’s Galileo, and Ibsen’s The Master Builder, during her 20 years as a resident director. Other credits include Richard Greenberg’s The Violet Hour (Broadway), Three Days of Rain (Obie Award for direction, Manhattan Theatre Club), and Everett Beekin (Lincoln Center Theater). She has directed for Red Bull’s Short New Play Festival for the past five years. She is a Princess Grace Awards recipient and serves on the Executive Board of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society as Secretary.
Schedule:
Saturday
12:00 - 2:00: Table Work with Louisa Proske
2:00 - 3:00: Meal Break
3:00 - 6:00: Scene Work with Kathleen Chalfant
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Sunday
10:00 - 12:00: Open Rehearsal Space
12:00 - 2:00: Group Work with Louisa Proske
2:00 - 3:00: Meal Break
3:00 - 6:00: Scene Work with Evan Yionoulis
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.
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