Process: An Improviser’s Journey
A Foundation for Improvised Acting
(2-day weekend workshop with Michael Gellman)

Improvisation is the Jazz of Theatre - Come play with us!

Improvisation is simply acting without a script - A theatre created by actors for actors - A playful method of training using the creation of story and the actor’s imagination. It’s time to get back to the fun of exploring the actor’s craft for performance – rediscover the playfulness within the play.

IMPROVISED ACTING is designed to bridge modern day improvisation techniques with traditional theatre training.  

In this 2- day weekend intensive participants will be encouraged to focus on the tools necessary for creating strong and exciting performance and exploring methods used to create unique and truthful theatre with and without text.   We will explore tools, techniques and performance forms which allow us to explore:

  • Playing and being truly present in the moment.

  • Getting out of our own way.

  • Reacting vs Responding

  • Connecting to our partners on stage

  • Trusting ourselves and our characters in performance

  • Rediscovering the JOY in performance

Actors will explore methods developed by Mr. Gellman in his 40 years of directing theater including Resident and Artistic Director of Second City and explored in his book – Process:  An Improviser’s Journey. The workshop experience will apply to auditions, text work, play development and improvisational performance.

YOUR CHARACTERS – YOUR STORIES – YOUR TRUTH

Instructor: Michael Gellman
10 AM-4 PM, Saturday-Sunday, December 12-13,
at Studio Momentum (1541 W Belmont, Chicago, IL 60657)

$250/person

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Michael J Gellman Bio:

Michael J Gellman teaches Master Workshops all over the world. He is an alumnus of the Second City mainstage and was a resident director for Second City in Canada and the USA for 25 years. He was Artistic Director of the Second City Toronto where his shows were nominated for 7 Dora Mavor Moore Awards including twice for Outstanding Direction, nominated for Best Director for Chicago’s Joseph Jefferson Award, and won a Chalmers Award for Best Director. He was a senior faculty and founding member of the Second City Training Center where he was Program Head and also Director of the NY training Center. Michael was an adjunct faculty member at Columbia College Chicago teaching Acting For Directors in the Film Directing department and designed and taught Improvisation and Acting III for the Comedy Studies department. In addition to Second City and Columbia College he has taught and designed classes and workshops in directing, acting and improvisation since 1976 at such notable institutions as: Actors Centre London, The Audition Centre, Victory Gardens Training Centre, Act One Conservatory and Loyola Law School as well as master workshops for hundreds of Universities, festivals, theatre companies and Improv groups around the world. He is credited with originating “Long Form” Improvisation and his book “Process: An Improvisers Journey” (Northwestern University Press) co-authored with Mary Scruggs is a summary of his workshops on improvisational training.

 

Questions? Email us at info@theatremomentum.com