| 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.
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