Workshops

Conflict is key to creating drama onstage. When that conflict becomes physical, a fight choreographer ensures that things look real and exciting while remaining safe for everyone involved. Explore and practice techniques used to safely and successfully bring realistic-looking combat to the stage.

The color, shape and style of a costume can tell an audience a great deal about the who, what, when and why of a production. Step into the world of costume design by learning and practicing the techniques and artistic choices costume designers employ as they collaborate in the creative process.

During a rehearsal process, actors and directors collaborate to determine the most effective and interesting ways to stage a production. Through stage pictures, movement, levels and more, theater artists combine action, movement and dialogue to tell the story. Through role-playing activities, this workshop will introduce how a story can be affected by even the simplest staging choice.

Language is a powerful tool for communication. In theater, words used in a poetic manner can enhance the audience’s experience. Playwrights from centuries past like Shakespeare and contemporary playwrights like Suzan-Lori Parks employ poetic devices such as meter, rhythm and rhyme to make a play both beautiful and poignant. This workshop will provide skills to interpret the poetry and then bring its meaning to life through staging the discoveries made through the interpretation.

From live music compositions to sound cues recorded and generated onstage, music and sound are essential and creative ingredients to live theater. Music can tell an audience about the environment, characters and themes of a production while sound cues provide context and reality. Using simple instruments, participants will create and perform a dramatic story using only music and sound to learn how this part of the creative process profoundly affects an audience’s experience.