Mark your calendars for the next installation of workshops at The Ensemble Theatre. Here's your opportunity to ask all of the questions you've always wanted to ask, share and work your monologue/song/dance and get feedback from some of the field's most recognized and respected artists. Don't miss it!


Friday, May 2, 2008 / 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
Playwriting Techniques with Mark Southers

Here's a chance to find out the elements of writing a play, where does the story come from, how does one identify characters, how do you get it produced and how will I know what my style is? Ask what you want to know of the playwright of The Ensemble Theatre's current production, Ashes to Africa.

**PLEASE NOTE: All attendees should be prepared to stay and attend the production of Ashes to Africa followed by a question and answer session with the playwright.

Mark Clayton Southers is is the founder and producing artistic director for the Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre Company, in its fifth season performing six mainstage productions a year. Influenced heavily by August Wilson and Pittsburgh Playwright Rob Penny, Southers produced his very first play, When The Water Turns Clear, at Chicago's ETA Theatre. Southers has recently returned from Ireland, where he has been working on his most recent play, Forty Acres and a Cow.

Southers full-length play, Ma Noah, was the winner of the 2004 Theodore Ward prize at Columbia College in Chicago and was recently published by Northwestern press in an anthology entitled Best Black Plays.


Wednesday, May 21, 2008 / 9:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m.
A Conversation with Lou Bellamy

This an opportunity for artists to ask questions pertaining to the status of the acting field, audition techniques, an actor's preparation tools, directing styles, collaborative producing and the status of Black theatre.

Lou Bellamy is founder and artistic director of Saint Paul's Penumbra Theatre. During his thirty-year tenure as artistic director, Penumbra has evolved into one of America's premier theaters dedicated to dramatic exploration of the African American experience. Under his leadership, Penumbra has produced 22 world premiers, including August Wilson's first professional production, and is proud to have produced more of Mr. Wilson's plays than any theater in the world. Bellamy is an OBIE Award-winning director, an accomplished actor, and sought after scholar. In addition to being an accomplished playwright, Bellamy is also a photographer where his works are in the permanent collections of the African American Museum of Cleveland and the Donsteke Museum in the former U.S.S.R.


Monday, June 2, 2008 / 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
The Craft of the Art: A Dialogue with Patdro Harris

A frank dialogue that will address monologue selections, audition techniques, working in an ensemble, the significance of actor/singer/dancer/director training, and what does one look for in an artist.

Patdro Harris — Director/Broadway Choreographer/Writer — has combined his skills to become one of the most innovative and creative talents of our time. The Washington Post hails him as a "superb choreographer". The New York Times applauds his artistry as "praiseworthy". From New York to Los Angeles, from Paris, France, to Tokyo, Japan, his accolades have been sung. Mr. Harris earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Alabama State University. In his current home of Atlanta, Georgia he serves on many arts committees including the Georgia Council for the Arts, and the Advisory Dance Panel for the Bureau of Cultural Affairs. He holds to his credit the 1996 Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Choreography and has been honored with a nomination for the same award for Best Supporting Actor; and also received the 2007 Dance Ministry Magazine's Trailblazer Award for Dance Choreographer of the Year. Patdro has successfully written and produced a book and DVD series The Moving Word the Ministry of Dance.