TCG National Conference 2007 - Artist-In-Residence Workshops
This year, the National Conference will feature Artist Workshops led by three distinctive artists. The workshops will allow participants to work in an intimate setting with playwrights and directors, exploring methods, both new and established, of creating work for the theatre.
The workshops are open to all conference participants. They will have limited participation; we will accommodate as many people as possible. Registrants may attend one workshop, space permitting. Workshops will take place during the afternoon on Thursday, June 6, beginning at 1:00 PM before opening events. Several will also be repeated on subsequent days of the conference. Please be aware of this schedule when arranging travel and lodging. To request a slot in a workshop, please register using the online registration process or the registration form provided in your invitation packet.
Laurie Brooks: Post-Performance Discussion Techniques
Thursday, June 7, 1-3PM and Saturday, June 9, 9-10:15AM
How do we share ideas and opinions with audiences
of 300 or more following a play? How do we engage audiences beyond
the role of spectator? Award-winning playwright Laurie Brooks leads
an exploration of this innovative after-play forum design which
avoids the banality of typical talkbacks and offers another model
for post-performance discussion.
Tina Landau: Viewpoints and Composition
Thursday, June 7, 1-3PM and Friday, June 8, 1:15-2:15PM
The workshop will provide a basic introduction to the physical
vocabulary of “Viewpoints.” Increasingly popular
as an approach to training, rehearsal, and/or performance in both
this country and abroad, Viewpoints offers a language and technique
for working with an increased awareness of the body, for building
cohesive ensembles quickly, and for creating vibrant stage moments
through use of time and space. In this overview, participants
will be introduced to the nine individual Viewpoints as well as
the first steps of how they might be put together in a training
session or a rehearsal. The workshop is designed for theater
artists of all types (performers, directors, writers, designers,
etc.) and no particular level of movement experience or skill is
necessary. However, all participants should be prepared to
fully engage in the movement exercises.
Michael Rohd: Devising Civic Theatre (Thursday only)
Thursday, June 7, 1-4PM
Michael Rohd has been exploring the intersection of theatre and democracy for years with his company Sojourn Theatre and through his projects with collaborators and universities around the nation. ‘Civic theatre’(a term he has begun using to describe some of his own work) aims to bring an adventurous theatricality to a focused interrogation of contemporary issues by offering spaces for civic engagement throughout the process of developing new performance- it’s a porous series of events combining research, participatory activity, and studio (artist-focused) sessions that allow, invite and demand community members and community expertise into the dramaturgy before and after production in a variety of ways. This conference session will offer a sequence of physical activity, solo to group work, and devising strategies that investigate the relationship between story, idea, perspective and fact. Rohd is currently working on a two-year project focusing on housing in America as our population prepares to add 100 million new citizens in the next 50 years, mostly in urban areas. Notions of home and community will be the starting impulse for this session’s work.