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We plan to have regular workshops, on the one hand to pass on knowledge, and on the other hand as a means to create the feeling of InPlayers as a community.
Any ideas for workshops are very welcome.
Last workshop: Avant-garde theater
28 March 2010 13.00 - 17.00
(group collaboration on an original dramatic sketch to be recorded for YouTube),
coordinated by Joel Lipton.
Twentieth century theatre split into several competing streams, the most familiar of
which is naturalism, the realistic 'slice of life' that now characterizes the format of most
television and film production. However, many of the other less realistic but more
provocative movements continue to provoke and inspire audiences in both traditional
and unusual settings.
Performance art inspired by the aleatoric writings and works of John Cage, pieces
challenging the validity and value of language inspired by Sam Beckett and his peers in
the 'theater of the absurd' and primitive rituals created out of modern tales and topics as
proposed by Anton Artaud and his collaborators of the 'theater of cruelty' all continue to
react against and thus define the false nature of the traditional reality that naturalism
seeks to impose.
So much for theory. This workshop will have three goals:
First, we will have some hands-on experience working with some experimental concepts
of certain 20th century avant-garde theater movements (theater of the absurd, theater
of cruelty, to name a couple).
Second, we're going learn to make videos of our performances.
Third and most important, we're going to have fun doing it.
In January, we will take a scenario and create a dramatic piece from and for it. If we have
enough participants, we will break into competing teams, each of which will create their
own versions. At the end of the session, each team will perform their scenario. We then
will make a video recording of that and each successive performance.
We will attempt to produce a dramatic miniature of such quality that we can release it on
YouTube as an In Players production. The guidelines for creating this miniature drama
will center around the emphasis of physical and non-verbal acting and the avoidance of
naturalism. It will be our chance to dip our feet into a variety of experimental theater
mediums and at the same time to perform at a standard high enough to release to the
global YouTube audience.
Thus, we're going to turn the In Players into a world famous video production company!
...or to phrase it a bit more modestly, we're going to make a YouTube video of a dramatic
sketch that we're going to create and perform on 10 January 2010.
We are hoping that this will be a group collaboration with everyone contributing to the
script, the staging and the direction. If possible, please let us know ahead of time if you
are planning to attend. That way, we can send some materials to you via email so that
you can have a chance to think about possibilities and come up with some challenging
ideas. Also, we need someone to be our camera man and video adviser. If this interests
you, please let us know via InPlayers email (
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
)
A final disclaimer: the mention of avant-garde theater conjures up visions of onstage
orgies, wild sex, nudity, violence, drink, drugs, and synesthetic hallucinations.
Well, that's not the intent...
...but who knows...?
Cheers,
Joel Lipton
Previous workshops
We have had workshops on:
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method acting
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set design
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stage fighting
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voice
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improvization
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commedia dell' arte
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duologues
Some workshops have centered around the production of a particular play, such as:
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