My student, Mike Aguirre, has a play (Almost a Fantasy) in rehearsal for this summer's Fringe Festival. He developed the play in my advanced playwriting class. The press release follows.
For Immediate Release
Contact: Patrick Avella at 646-691-0576
Chelsea Rep LAB Presents
ALMOST A FANTASY
The New York International Fringe Festival – FringeNYC
A production of The Present Company
August 10th – 26th
Tickets: $15-$18. For tickets visit www.FringeNYC.org
Chelsea Rep LAB is proud to present Almost a Fantasy as part of the
16th annual New York International Fringe Festival – FringeNYC. A new
play written by Mike Aguirre, and directed by John Grabowski, Almost a
Fantasy is a two-person play, which will debut at this year’s New York
International Fringe Festival in August.
Almost a Fantasy
maps the sometimes ardent and often turbulent relationship of an
immigrant piano teacher (Dolores) with her young student (Youthney) over
a ten-year period of piano lessons. Their time together forces them to
cope with their past and learn to survive the present. The piano on
which Dolores and Youthney play out their fantasies is an important
element in the production, which should make this a must-see for
classical music lovers as well as for lovers of new plays.
This
show is being produced by Chelsea Rep LAB spearheaded by LAB members
Patrick Avella and Greg Cohan, along with other members of Chelsea Rep
LAB.
Michael Aguirre (playwright) is a graduate from Indiana
University with a B.A. in Theatre and English. He is a suburban
Chicago native, and has worked with the Windy City Players, First Folio,
Steppenwolf, The Wilma Theater (Philadelphia), and the Hexagon Theatre
(South Africa). Since arriving in New York, he's worked with the Pearl
Theatre (City Centre), Wide Eyed Productions, Chelsea Rep and Lab,
Coffee Black, ReniGraef, and he is a company member of Rising Sun.
John Grabowski (director) is the associate director of The Acting
Studio, Inc. and has directed numerous productions including Stage Door
(Ferber and Kaufman) Romeo and Juliet (Shakespeare); One Flea Spare
(Wallace); Getting Out (Norman); Moonchildren (Weller). He also wrote
and directed Knoxville, 1915, adapted from James Agee's novel A Death in
the Family, and The Loves of A, based on Arthur Schnitzler's The
Anatole Plays for Chelsea Rep.
Chelsea Rep LAB is an on-going
workshop environment intended to encourage experimentation in the
creation of theatre and the formulation of a non-traditional methodology
to help actors realize their potential. The LAB is comprised in large
part of graduates of The Acting Studio, Inc. headed by director, James
Price (http://actingstudio.com/). The LAB sponsors a developmental writing workshop under the tutelage of Anne Phelan (http://www.annephelan.com/).
Besides the Fringe Festival production of Almost a Fantasy, the LAB
is currently at work on a series of one-act plays based on news accounts
and stories about NYC’s Stop and Frisk policy.
Almost a
Fantasy was featured in the LAB’s Emerging Artist Festival in the summer
of 2011. The LAB’s work has been previously seen at the Fringe in 2010
in a co-production with Brava Company of By Hands Unknown, for which
director Kym Gomes won a FringeNYC Overall Excellence Award for
direction. The original material that comes from the LAB’s playwriting
seminars reflects sensibilities not often heard from in the established
venues of New York Off-Off Broadway theatres, perhaps because the LAB
makes a concerted effort to draw its writers from outside the usual mix
of university MFA program and established regional theatre playwrights.
This results in the presentation of unique and diverse voices in our
staged readings and festival productions.
Find out more about the production at: http://www.almostafantasy.net/.
Showing posts with label playwriting classes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label playwriting classes. Show all posts
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Saturday, January 7, 2012
Another Happy Student
We continue to gear up for a new round of playwriting classes taught by me at Chelsea Rep LAB. The classes will begin in mid-February. The beginning class meets on Sunday afternoons, 1-4. The advanced class meets on Monday evenings, 7-10. This week, I have been working on the syllabi for both classes. The beginning class will read two of my favorite one-acts: Cheryl Davis' "Child of the Movement" and Richard Hellesen's "Layin' Off the Lizard-Boy." The advanced class is reading full length plays, including Frank Wedekind's "Spring Awakening" and John Webster's "The White Devil" (I like my Jacobean tragedies!).
My student Claudia Anel (nee Tubrides) has written a lovely endorsement of our playwriting program:
"The LAB’s playwriting class is a phenomenal opportunity for anyone interested in developing a playwriting technique. Anne is extremely knowledgable; not only in terms of the actual writing, but also in the history and significance of all the works we studied. She is a stickler for proper form, which is great! What resonated with me the most, as a beginner, was the opportunity to start projects almost every week.
Through different in-class writing exercises and take home assignments, I was able to come up with several ideas that I later developed into one act plays. The reading assignments and in-class critiques set a foundation for analytical thinking that helped me as I worked on re-writes. I felt practicing as a beginner, was the opportunity to start projects almost every week.
I was able to come up with several ideas that I later developed into one-act plays. The reading assignments and in-class critiques set a foundation for analytical thinking that helped me as I worked on re-writes. Finally, I feel students of this class will benefit greatly from the tone set by Anne and the LAB which is one of hard work, mutual support and commitment."
A link to the Lab's website is above (we're working on the page, so the class information may not be up yet- check back in a few day).
My student Claudia Anel (nee Tubrides) has written a lovely endorsement of our playwriting program:
"The LAB’s playwriting class is a phenomenal opportunity for anyone interested in developing a playwriting technique. Anne is extremely knowledgable; not only in terms of the actual writing, but also in the history and significance of all the works we studied. She is a stickler for proper form, which is great! What resonated with me the most, as a beginner, was the opportunity to start projects almost every week.
Through different in-class writing exercises and take home assignments, I was able to come up with several ideas that I later developed into one act plays. The reading assignments and in-class critiques set a foundation for analytical thinking that helped me as I worked on re-writes. I felt practicing as a beginner, was the opportunity to start projects almost every week.
I was able to come up with several ideas that I later developed into one-act plays. The reading assignments and in-class critiques set a foundation for analytical thinking that helped me as I worked on re-writes. Finally, I feel students of this class will benefit greatly from the tone set by Anne and the LAB which is one of hard work, mutual support and commitment."
A link to the Lab's website is above (we're working on the page, so the class information may not be up yet- check back in a few day).
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Chelsea Rep Lab Playwriting Classes
My colleagues and I at Chelsea Rep Lab have been working on expanding our program. In the spring, we will offer a beginning class on Sunday afternoons, and an advanced class every other Monday night. We are quite excited about it. Because we're connected to an acting school (The Acting Studio), every student gets to go through the rehearsal process with actors and a director.
One of my former students, Gregory Cohan, has just written me about his experience in the beginning and advanced classes this year:
"When Anne came to one of the monthly Labs do to give a crash-course in playwriting it opened up a whole new perspective. I remember after doing some writing exercises to get our pens to the paper, Anne was running out of time and said something to the extent of, "If anything, taking a playwriting class will make you a stronger actor." I wanted to be a stronger actor, and it just turned out I really liked to write. One of my favorite components of Anne's class was our reading assignments. We were given plays to read, some one-acts and even some full lengths (depending on the class level) and we sat around and broke them down: protagonist v. antagonist, themes, dramatic images, rhythm, etc... It made you look at pieces of work differently. This carried over into our own work as playwrights. We would read our plays or scenes in class, and it was very similar to how an actor might approach a scene that they're given in a class: what does "A" want? What' does "C" want? "A" wants "B" in spite of "C". I'll never forget that formula. We would break down beats and the rhythm of writing, we would discuss the choices we made, why we made them, and how we can make them much more specific which in turn would result in a more interesting moment or scene to an audience. We would talk about how to make a scene build, how to make it arc, how to keep it moving forward. These are things one might hear in an acting class, from a director or an instructor, but approaching the material from the playwright's perspective definitely helped to crystalize it. This type of critical analysis and thought is something that has helped immensely in approaching new scenes and even audition sides. It's helped me to break down ambiguous material much more effectively and make choices that are clear and interesting."
So, if that isn't a good reason to teach, I don't know what is.
One of my former students, Gregory Cohan, has just written me about his experience in the beginning and advanced classes this year:
"When Anne came to one of the monthly Labs do to give a crash-course in playwriting it opened up a whole new perspective. I remember after doing some writing exercises to get our pens to the paper, Anne was running out of time and said something to the extent of, "If anything, taking a playwriting class will make you a stronger actor." I wanted to be a stronger actor, and it just turned out I really liked to write. One of my favorite components of Anne's class was our reading assignments. We were given plays to read, some one-acts and even some full lengths (depending on the class level) and we sat around and broke them down: protagonist v. antagonist, themes, dramatic images, rhythm, etc... It made you look at pieces of work differently. This carried over into our own work as playwrights. We would read our plays or scenes in class, and it was very similar to how an actor might approach a scene that they're given in a class: what does "A" want? What' does "C" want? "A" wants "B" in spite of "C". I'll never forget that formula. We would break down beats and the rhythm of writing, we would discuss the choices we made, why we made them, and how we can make them much more specific which in turn would result in a more interesting moment or scene to an audience. We would talk about how to make a scene build, how to make it arc, how to keep it moving forward. These are things one might hear in an acting class, from a director or an instructor, but approaching the material from the playwright's perspective definitely helped to crystalize it. This type of critical analysis and thought is something that has helped immensely in approaching new scenes and even audition sides. It's helped me to break down ambiguous material much more effectively and make choices that are clear and interesting."
So, if that isn't a good reason to teach, I don't know what is.
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