Acting for Beginners

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

 

Sign up for our Acting for Beginners class, taught by our very own David Zobell!

In this class, students will develop skills such as concentration, sensory and physical awareness, voice and diction, and characterization and then learn how to apply those skills to playing a part in a show. We'll be using a unique combination of improvisation and textual work. It should be fun.

The class runs Saturdays November 10 - December 15 from 11 am - 1 pm, with no class on November 24 for Thanksgiving.

Have questions? Just ask!

David, Signature Theatre’s Education Director, is a Las Vegas native and a graduate of Brigham Young University. As a student in Las Vegas, David trained with the nationally-recognized Rainbow Company Youth Theatre, graduating from their Student Ensemble Program in 2003. Directing credits include Un-American (Signature in the Schools – premiere), Man to Man (premiere), Apologies, Dancing at Lughnasa (assistant director), Walter Cronkite is Dead (premiere – assistant director), and Shakespeare, Will (premiere – assistant director).  Acting credits include Reuben (Joseph), Glubb (Drums in the Night), and Luke (The Wrestling Season.) He has taught extensively with Signature Theatre, Adventure Theatre, The Rainbow Company (winner of the 2010 Children’s TheatreFoundation of America Medallion Award), Arlington County Public Schools Adult Education, and Brigham Young University. 

Read More

Books We Read: "The Empty Space" by Peter Brook

This new series at In the Classroom will introduce you to some of the best books on theatre. Each entry in the series will explore a book on theatre that's impacted somebody associated with Signature. A staff member, a teacher, maybe even an audience member! If you have a book about theatre or the arts that's changed your perspective on things, comment below and let us know! We'd love to read it and we'd love to hear from you!

Today, we hear from Joan Cummins, Signature's Education & Community Outreach Intern about The Empty Space by acclaimed director Peter Brook. You can purchase The Empty Space here at Amazon. 

How do I feel about The Empty Space?  I love it. Every time I read the book it drives me deep into thinking about theatre. I find myself wondering at Brook's insights, connecting them to instances from my own life, and I come out of the book rejuvenated and ready to spread the importance of theatre, the vibrant life force at the center of the art form, with everyone I meet. I would recommend it to anyone interested in theatre, whatever your relationship with the form. 

Brook divides theatre into four types: the Deadly, the Holy, the Rough, and the Immediate. He begins with the Deadly - theatre, often commercial in nature, that goes through the motions of style or form without truly being full of life. Deadly theatre becomes trapped in the idea that someone, somewhere, has defined how the play should be done. In Brook's words, Deadly theater fails to "start each time afresh from the void, the desert and the true question... Why theater at all? What for?"

Holy Theatre for Brook is theater that serves as a ritual, that helps connect people and the material world with the invisible or something close to the divine. Rough Theatre is popular theater, theatre full of obscene jokes, clowns, and improvised props - perhaps a paper crown thrown on to indicate kingship. Brook prizes the invention of this kind of theater, and that "it is there unashamedly to make joy and laughter... any theater that can truly give delight has earned its place."  The Immediate Theatre, containing elements of both the Holy and the Rough, is the ultimate, cathartic, present and vibrant theater.

I love the way Brook talks about the theatre. His passion for it runs shimmering throughout the entire book. He asks important questions, questions any person with any relationship with the theater can use to deepen their understanding. His questions make you ask questions of yourself. I also love the way he is able to provide a rational argument for why Shakespeare's theatre combines all the best elements of theatre into one place, instead of declaring that Shakespeare is the best because everyone says he is. Brook's book is a jumping-off point for those who want to become seriously familiar with the world of theatre - just looking up the people he mentions in The Empty Space would provide you with a great background in the important thinkers and artists in the medium.

I'll leave you with one last gem from Brook:  "The theater, on the other hand, always asserts itself in the present. This is what can make it more real than the normal stream of consciousness. This is also what can make it so disturbing."

Read More

Acting: Objectives and Tactics

Ladies and gentlemen, we introduce to you Ms. Carol Cadby! Carol, an acclaimed teacher, taught last fall's popular Acting: The Other Person, here at The Signature Academy and is returning this fall to teach Acting: Objectives and Tactics. Registration closes on October 22nd, so register soon! 


Carol Cadby has been teaching and coaching for more than two and a half decades at the college, high school and adult levels. She is currently an Adjunct Acting Instructor at George Mason University in Fairfax, VA, an Acting teacher at Signature Theatre, Synetic Theatre and The Theatre Lab School of Dramatic Arts and the Theatre Department Chair at Yorktown High School in Arlington, Virginia. She is also a Leadership Coach with OLA Consulting specializing in voice, speech and leadership presence.

She has conducted workshops for various programs and conferences including: Virginia Theatre Association, Catholic University Masters in Theatre Education Program, Signature Theatre, Georgetown University's Law and Public Policy Fellowship Program, Southeastern Theatre Conference & American Alliance for Theatre Educator's Conference and The International Thespian Conference.

Her professional activities include: Arts Commissioner for Arlington County, Board of Directors for Educational Theatre Company in Arlington, VA,Theatre Arts Lead Teacher and Mentor Teacher for Arlington Public Schools and Humanities Program Representative and International Thespian Society Troup Sponsor for Yorktown High School.

She received her Bachelor of Arts from Grinnell College in 1983 and Master of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies: Arts-Based Self Development Educationfrom George Mason University in 2001. She was a professional stage and film actor/director/producer (SAG, AFTRA, SEG, AEA eligible) for ten years based in Miami, Florida, and studied acting at the Minneapolis Children’s Theatre Company and School, Florida International University, and HB Studios in New York City where she studied with renowned teachers and actors, Uta Hagen and Herbert Berghof. She is also trained in Viewpoints, Laban Movement, Extended Voice and Meisner Acting techniques.

Read More

Page to Stage Archive: Laurie Pomerson

Check out this interview with Signature's Director of Marketing and Communications, Laurie Pomerson! Laurie supervises everything from graphic design to press releases to Signature's Facebook and Twitter accounts. In this interview, she talks about her work at Signature, and what it's like to put all that together.

Want to hear from more members of Signature's staff? Come to Page to Stage on November 5 at the Shirlington Library - we'll take a look behind the curtain to talk to the people who make the shows happen on the design and production side. Come find out how everything from props to sets happens, and get a look into this usually invisible side of theatre! Page to Stage takes place on the first Monday evening of every month, from 7:00 PM to 8:00 PM .

Page to Stage is part of Signature's Free Community Events series and is open to the public.

Read More

In With the Interns: Sandy Wacker

Sandy and her printer

Name: Alexandra (“Sandy”) Wacker

From: Potomac, MD

School: Haverford College, 2012, B.A. Anthropology     

Long-Term Goals: Career in communications; to be a princess.

Favorite Musical: West Side Story, Les Misérables, Next to Normal   

Favorite Play: Rabbit Hole, Othello   

Favorite Movie: The Princess Bride, Black Hawk Down  

Internship: Public Relations & Marketing  

Internship Start Date: May 14, 2012

Internship Duties: Filled in for the Publications Director while she was out on maternity leave: Coordinated publications materials; printed, cut, and folded any in-house publication; wrote copy for and edited E-news and eblasts; managed the Department’s financial records; coordinated program advertising; etc. Additional tasks included setting up press interviews and managing social media accounts. Entertained the Theatre with haikus and limericks.    

Favorite Things About Signature: My hot and cold relationship with the office printer. And the productions, of course.   

Favorite Things About D.C.: The fact that cupcakes and frozen yogurt are available everywhere.  

General Cool Things About You: Can make an origami paper crane that’s roughly a centimeter in size.

If you were a salad, what kind of dressing would you have?: Depends on what’s in the salad…

Read More

In With the Interns: Joan Cummins

Name: Joan Cummins

From: Arlington, VA. 

Favorite Musical: Assassins 

Favorite Play: Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead

Favorite Movie: The Incredibles 

Internship: Education and Community Outreach 

Internship Start Date: 9/10/2012

Internship Duties: I’ll be helping David with almost everything. Right now I’m working on research on the French Revolution and the Arab Spring for Signature in the Schools, and giving tours of Signature to hundreds of local high school students. 

Favorite Things About Signature: I really like being in Shirlington, and everyone here is very friendly!

Favorite Things About D.C.: The variety available – you can find tall buildings, swathes of grass, all kinds of food, rivers, hills, old buildings, new buildings, all in one place. The city has a good balance to it.

General Cool Things About You: I speak French. I’ve lived in Israel and Haiti, and traveled all over. I collect books. My hair is naturally curly.

If you were a type of food, what type of food would you be?: Crepes

Read More