School of Theater
Now in its second year, The Primary Stages School of Theater has tripled in size with new courses in flim/TV acting and specialized playwriting workshops on the revision process. Our students have been seen on NY stages and have had plays produced and workshopped all over the country. Enroll today and see what everyone is talking about!
The semester begins Monday, September 15 with the PSST Fall Kick-off Breakfast where students meet their instructors, classmates, and future collaborators!
Acting Playwriting Workshops
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Fall 2008
PLAYWRITING
FACE THE BLANK PAGE AND WRITE
Do you have a play or a solo show that you've been meaning to write for years but somehow never have? Are the voices in your head that don't reach the page driving you nuts? Not for long. The goal of this class is to silence your inner critics and keep moving forward at all costs. You should come prepared with a clear idea of what you want to write and a desire to work with intensity and rigor. You will be advised on plays to read, ways of structuring a scene, conflict, and character. Throughout the course, writing exercises will spur creativity and keep you inspired to FINISH your first draft, no matter what. Please keep in mind that the key to a successful workshop is an open mind and generosity toward the work of others. The courses are ten weeks long and will require ten to fifteen pages every week.
Section A:Mondays 7:00pm – 10:00pm
Instructor Michelle Bossy
Section B:Tuesdays 6:00pm – 9:00pm
Instructor Cusi Cram SOLD OUT
Section C:Wednesdays 11:00am – 2:00pm
Instructor Tanya Barfield
Section D:Wednesdays 2:30pm – 5:30pm
Instructor Cusi Cram
Section E :Wednesdays 6:00pm – 9:00pm
Instructor Lucy Thurber SOLD OUT
Section F :Thursdays 11:00am – 2:00pm
Instructor Edwin Sanchez
Section G :Thursdays 6:00pm – 9:00pm
Instructor Rogelio Martinez SOLD OUT
THE REWRITE
This class focuses on rewriting with structure and action stressed over style. Musicals and straight plays are both welcome. This course is ten weeks long and requires writing ten to fifteen pages each week.Prerequisite: (semi-)Finished piece that's ready for the chopping block!
Tuesdays 11:00am – 2:00pm
Instructor Julia Jordan
SOLD OUT
THE DETAILS- PLAYWRITING
There are 5-7 students in each class.
Classes meet for 10 sessions over 13 weeks at our 38th Street Administrative Offices.
Students may participate in the monthly Friday Jam Sessions and the Playwrights Festival in December.
Students receive insider discounts on our specialized workshops.
Students are invited to one of the first performances of the Primary Stages production of Lee Blessing’s A Body of Water, depending on availability.
All classes are $600. PSST Alumni and Subscriber discounts are available.
Ask about our convenient payment plans!
ACTING
ADVANCED SCENE STUDY
This course concentrates on developing the actor’s technique through scene study. The class is designed for actors who already have some training and experience. Although participants will be welcome to work on any dramatic material, there will be a special emphasis on new works.
Section A:Mondays 10:30am – 2:00pm
Instructor Casey Childs
Section B:Tuesday 6:00pm – 9:30pm
Instructor Michelle Bossy
Section C:Wednesdays 6:00pm – 9:30pm
Instructor Jim Boerlin
AUDITIONING FOR TODAY'S THEATER
This class will focus on how to prepare for a theater audition. Each student will work on perfecting a contemporary audition monologue, preparing sides, and learning the do’s and don’ts of an actual audition situation. This class will also concentrate on how to succeed at callbacks and provide ample insight into what exactly the industry is looking for.
Tuesdays 2:00pm – 5:30pm
Instructor Andrew Leynse
ACTING FOR THE CAMERA
A practical technique for the working actor
This course is designed to provide the knowledge and experience that the actor needs in order to work effectively in the demanding and fast paced worlds of Film and Television. Whether it’s single camera film style, multi camera sitcom, or live on tape shooting, there are certain techniques and principles with which the actor must become familiar to insure that the performance comes across effectively on screen and doesn’t end up “on the cutting room floor.” The class teaches both by example and experience. Actors memorize and perform scenes from scripts that have been broadcast on network television. They then view their performance and receive a constructive critique. “Live on tape” shooting makes it possible for the students to see their work, in finished form, with cutting and camera angles just as it would appear in an actual production. It is a very demanding method of working which requires concentration and the application of a variety of “on camera” techniques that approximate what the actor will encounter in the studio and on location.
Thursdays 2:00pm – 5:00pm
Price: $700
Instructor David and Linda Laundra
THE DETAILS - ACTING
Auditions will be held during the weeks of September 1 and 8. Alumni need not audition.
There are 8-10 students in each class.
Classes meet for 10 sessions over 13 weeks at our 38th Street Administrative Offices.
Students will perform scenes for industry professionals at the end of the semester as well as collaborate with the PSST Playwriting Students in the Friday Jam Sessions and the Playwrights Festival in December.
Students receive insider discounts on our specialized workshops.
Students are invited to one of the first performances of the Primary Stages production of Lee Blessing’s A Body of Water, depending on availability.
All classes are $600 (unless noted). PSST Alumni and Subscriber discounts are available.
Ask about our convenient payment plans!
WORKSHOPS
WRITING THE OTHER
with Betty Shamieh
Saturday, October 4 and Sunday, October 5
12:00pm – 3:00pm on both days
$100
This two-day workshop is designed for playwrights who are excited about the challenge of writing characters from different cultural backgrounds. Writers will be asked to generate monologues and short scenes from the perspective of characters from different races than themselves. Shamieh developed this series of writing exercises in order to facilitate dialogue between Arabs and Jews, but it is ideal for any writer who is interested in writing about cultural identity.
DEMYSTIFYING THE CASTING DIRECTOR
with Stephanie Klapper
Session 1: Wednesday, October 15 and Wednesday, October 22
7:00pm – 9:00pm on both days
$100
Session 2:Thursday, November 6 and Thursday, November 13
7:00pm – 9:00pm on both days
$100
Learn how to get the part without all the pressure. Priceless tips and advice from a casting agent who knows what it takes to get the part.
PRODUCING NEW WORK
with Elliot Fox
Session 1: Thursday, October 16
6:00pm - 8:00pm
$50
Session 2: Thursday, October 30
6:00pm - 8:00pm
$50
Join the senior management of Primary Stages and our colleagues from the NYC non-profit theater community for this seminar on producing a professional Off- Broadway production in New York City.
VIEWPOINTS
with Kim Weild
November 8 and 9
11:00am - 3:00pm
$150
The Viewpoints is a technique of improvisation that grew out of the post-modern dance world. It was first articulated by choreographer Mary Overlie who looked at and took apart the two dominant issues theater artists deal with – time and space – and then placed them into six categories. She called her approach The Six Viewpoints. Since that time, Anne Bogart, Tina Landau and the SITI Company have expanded Ms. Overlie's notions and adapted them for the theater. The Viewpoints are tools for staging and choreographing theater that allow a group of theater artists to function together spontaneously and intuitively. They are a way to generate bold, theatrical work quickly. In this introductory workshop, participants will learn the Viewpoints vocabulary and spend time practicing the Viewpoints individually and as an ensemble.
For more information, please contact
Tessa LaNeve at 212.840.9705 x212 or SCHOOL@PRIMARYSTAGES.ORG
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