2019 PROGRAM

SCRIPTS IN DEVELOPMENT

The Wire Room by John Kolvenbach – Amy Towne is an unlikely cop assigned to a wire tap. She listens in on a world that is utterly unlike her own. She gets involved, it’s gets hairy. A thriller. (feature film)

Safe Spaces by Lia Romeo – A university professor finds herself at the center of a controversy when she makes an offhand comment that offends one of her students.  Meanwhile, her relationship with her wife is falling apart after an affair, and her teenage stepdaughter is engaging in increasingly risky behavior.  The personal and the professional collide over the question of what it means to feel safe, and how far we’ll go in pursuit of that feeling, and eventually—as the home they’ve made for themselves literally collapses around them— all three women are forced to come face to face with their deepest fears.  (full length play)

Luna and the Chupacabra by Cole Merrell – When Luna, a nihilistic, disillusioned six-year-old Salvadoreña girl with dreams of becoming a famous painter, befriends a squeamish Chupacabra named Blanco, the two set out to find Fernando Llort, El Salvador’s most famous artist. Set in post-civil war El Salvador, the play is both a love-letter to the country’s folk history and  mythological commentary on the gang violence that currently plagues it. (TYA play)

St. George by Andrew Pastides – In a small given-up-on town, brothers Adrien and Frank attempt to move on from the loss of their sister to an overdose 6 months earlier. Today, however, someone in her past has come back to town, sending Adrien on a journey for answers, and ultimately, revenge. (feature film)

Les Demoiselles d’Avignon by Emma Zetterberg – the story of Picasso’s painting told mostly verbatim through the journals of his mistress, Fernande Olivier (solo play)

Albatross by Andy Mitton – newest horror film by the award-winning writer and director of Witch in the Window, We Go On and YellowBrickRoad (feature length screenplay)

MASTER CLASSES

Games and Devising with Lynn Hawley (Mon 2-4pm):  work with games to explore the expansiveness of your emotional and physical instrument. Wear clothing that allows freedom of motion.

On Camera Acting with Kim Ramirez (Wed 10am-1pm): Q & A on the business of acting for Film/ TV and How to Audition for Co-Stars. Students will prepare a from a selection of sides.

Playwriting Workshop with John Kolvenbach (Fri 2-3:30pm): The difference between plays and most other writing is that you’re writing it for someone else to say it. How do you make your intention clear to the actor? How can you convey character, character intention and story while keeping your dialogue musical and playable? Kolvenbach will teach his idiosyncratic method of punctuation.

Acting Classes with Andrew Pastides (Thurs 3-6pm & Fri 10am-1pm): Bring in something that lights a fire under you. It could be a scene that you’ve already worked on with a friend in the class. It could be a monologue that you’ve just learned but don’t know how to begin. It could be a poem, a piece of verse, a song….ANYTHING that makes you want to get up in the space. What I’d like to do is approach the scene (in whatever form it’s in) with the tenets of acting that make sense to me. I’d like to ultimately be able to share with you how I approach text. And maybe, just maybe, it might be helpful!

Stage Violence Techniques with Joe Isenberg (Fri 3:30-6pm): In this workshop, we will discuss both the literal and non-literal applications of stage violence and learn a basic vocabulary of unarmed stage violence techniques. Working in pairs, students will create a narrative-driven conflict and perform a stage violence sequence for the group.  The class is intended to be very active. Students should come to the workshop dressed appropriately for physical activity.