Period Movement

Ellen MCLAUGHLIN

Viewpoints

Deborah Robertson Period Movement Workshops with Actors

Thursday, October 1 - 3:00 pm - 5:00 pm
Introduction to Actor Movement

Friday, October 2 - 3:00 pm - 4:30 pm
Period Movement: Victorian / Edwardian

Friday October 2, - 6:00 pm - 7:30 pm (time may be adjusted based rehearsal schedule)
Work with cast of These Shining Lives on 1930's America

Students and faculty who are not in the production are also welcome to participate or observe.

All workshops are open to undergrad and grad students and faculty.

Deborah Robertson received her MFA in Dance Performance from Smith College, Northampton, Massachusetts, on a teaching fellowship and her BA in Dance from the University of Colorado, Boulder. She is a certified teacher of the Williamson Physical Training for the Actor, and was trained by Loyd Williamson at the Actors Movement Studio in New York City. She has studied Laban Movement Analysis at the Laban/Bartenieff Institute of Movement Studies in New York, the Webster Movement Institute in St. Louis, and the Royal National Theatre in London. She has received her first level of certification in the work of Chekhov by the Michael Chekhov Association (MICHA) and is currently pursuing her certification as a Master Teacher. As an actress, she completed the two-year Meisner training with William Esper in New York City and studied with Stephen Strimpell at HB Studios in New York.

In addition to serving as the Acting Associate Dean of the College of Visual and Performing Arts, Ms. Robertson is a Professor for the School of Theatre and Dance at Northern Illinois University, an U/RTA, NAST program. She teaches movement in the BFA and MFA Professional Training Programs. She has previously been on the faculties of the Mason Gross School of the Arts, at Rutgers University, the Actors Movement Studio in New York and the Actors Center, Chicago. She has taught workshops in New Zealand, London, at national conferences, residencies in university programs around the country, and at festivals and private studios nationwide. Her work as a choreographer and movement coach has been seen internationally, in regional theatres, university productions, and on television. Most recently she choreographed a production of The Birds which was produced at the Moscow Art Theatre Studio, Moscow, Russia. As an actress and dancer, she has appeared on Broadway, National Tours, Off Broadway, industrials, regional theatres around the country, and on television.

She is the president of the Association of Theatre Movement Educators (ATME), a member of the Association for Theatre in Higher Education (ATHE), the Michael Chekhov Association (MICHA), Actors Equity (AEA) and the Screen Actors Guild (SAG). She has received a grant to complete work on the creation of a digital video documentary of Loyd Williamson and the movement training that he created.

MASTER CLASS & READING WITH PLAYWRIGHT AND ACTRESS ELLEN MCLAUGHLIN

Thursday, October 22

1:00 - 2:40 pm ACTOR WORKSHOP @ THEATER 3

4:00 - 6:00 pm READING: PENELOPE
Written and Performed by Ellen McLaughlin
Staller Recital Hall

All are welcome to attend. This event is Free.

6:00 - 8:00 pm MEETING WITH MFA DRAMATURGS (location TBD)

Ellen McLaughlin’s plays have received numerous productions throughout the U.S. and internationally. A Narrow Bed, Infinity’s House and Nights Within all performed at Actors Theatre of Louisville, the latter winning ATL’s Great American Play Contest. A Narrow Bed was subsequently produced by the New York Theatre Workshop and received the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize. Iphigenia and Other Daughters was written for he Actors’ Gang in Los Angles and received its world premiere there. Later, it was produced in New York City by Classic Stage Company. Tongue of a Bird premiered at Intiman Theatre in Seattle and was subsequently produced by the Almeida Theatre in London, Center Theatre Group/Mark Taper Forum in L.A., The Public Theater in New York City and Oregon Shakespeare Festival, among others. Helen was produced by The Public Theater. The Persians, commissioned by the National Actors Theatre in New York City, received its world premiere there. Oedipus, commissioned there in January 2005.

McLaughlin is an NEA grant recipient and winner of a writer’s award from the Lila Wallace-Reader’s Digest Fund. In 2000, she won the Barilla Kerr Award for Playwriting.

As an actor, McLaughlin has worked on and Off Broadway as well as extensively in regional theater. She originated the role of the Angel in Tony Kushner's Angels in America, appearing in every U.S. production from its earliest workshops through its Broadway run. Other favorite roles include The Homebody in Homebody/Kabul (Intiman Theater, Seattle), Pirate Jenny in Threepenny Opera (Trinity Rep. Elliot Norton Award), Mrs. Alving in Ghosts (Berkeley Rep.), Titania in A Midsummer Night's Dream at the McCarter and the Paper Mill Playhouse, Claire in Edward Albee’s A Delicate Balance at Arena Stage in Washington, DC. Her on-screen credits include Everything Relative, The Bed You Sleep In, with guest appearances on Law & Order. She has taught playwriting in numerous venues, from Yale School of Drama to Princeton University. She has been teaching at Barnard since 1995.

She is married to actor / performance artist Rinde Eckert and lives in Nyack, New York.

Samuel Stricklen Viewpoints Workshop
October 30 - 2:00 to 3:30 pm
Staller Center Theatre I

Samuel Stricklen will conduct an Introduction to Viewpoints Workshop in Theatre 1. The workshop is open to undergraduate and graduate students and to faculty. Observers are also welcome.

Samuel has worked as an actor in Regional Theatre (Old Globe, La Jolla Playhouse, Actors' Theatre of Louisville), and on television (recent guest stat appearances on The Good Wife). He has toured nationally and internationally with the acclaimed SIn Company in their productions of bobrauschenbergamerica, Radio Macbeth and Chuck Mee's most recent work, Under Construction, directed by Anne Bogart.

The Viewpoints is a technique of improvisation that grew out of the post-modem dance world. It was first articulated by choreographer Mary Overlie who broke down the two dominant issues performers deal with - time and space - into six categories. She called her approach the Six Viewpoints. Since that time, Artistic Director Anne Bogart and SITI Company have expanded her notions and adapted them for actors. The Viewpoints allows a group of actors to function together spontaneously and intuitively and to generate bold, theatrical work quickly. It develops flexibility, articulation, and strength in movement and makes ensemble playing really possible.

SITI Company is an ensemble-based theater company whose three ongoing components are the creation of new work, the training of young theater artists, and a commitment to international collaboration.

SITI was founded in 1992 by Anne Bogart and Tadashi Suzuki to redefine and revitalize contemporary theater in the United States through an emphasis on international cultural exchange and collaboration. Originally envisioned as a summer institute in Saratoga Springs, New York, SIn has expanded to encompass a year-round program based in New York City with a summer season in Saratoga. SITI believes that contemporary American theater must necessarily incorporate artists from around the world and learn from the resulting cross-cultural exchange of dance, music, art, and performance expenences.