COURSE DESCRIPTIONS & SCHEDULE
The First Year program can be taken as a full-year or "a la carte" as individual courses.
Schedule for All Courses
Monday - 11am-12:30pm CST
Tuesday - 11am-12:30pm CST
Wednesday - 11am-2pm CST
Thursday - 11am-12:30pm CST
Friday - 11am-1230pm CST, 3-5pm for presentations
COURSE DESCRIPTIONS
The Fall 2020 term is designed to guide participants through creating characters into transition and world building. The end of the term puts all of the components together into Theater Unspeakable's signature Platform style.
Creating Physical Characters
September 28 - October 16, 2020
The approach to “Characters” in this course is decidedly outside-in. Starting with observations of the exterior form, the physical imagination then leading to excavations of the interior world. From animals to the human animal, we mine the depths of the Characters. Through playfulness and physicality, each gesture speaks volumes. The challenge for the actor-creator is a timeless one, to embody another.
Along the way, participants will learn about masks, choreography, Physical Imagination via observation and embodiment of Animals, voice work
Break: October 19-23
Quick Change
October 26 - November 13, 2020
The “quick change” is the moment where an actor quickly changes from one costume to another either backstage or right in front of the audience. The resulting effect for the audience is one of swift transformation. Taken as a theatrical style, however, the Quick Change is an even larger challenge for the artist-creator. Simply put, it is to create and embody a world which is in constant, perpetual motion. Like creating a show that feels like a spinning top.
Along the way, participants will learn about Neutral Mask, Movement Work, Choreography, Physical Imagination via the 4 Elements and Materials (Natural and Human-Made).
No break will take place between Quick Change and Platform due to Thanksgiving Break.
Platform
November 16 - December 11, 2020
The “platform” style was first developed by renowned French theater-maker Jacques Lecoq and challenges creators to bring an epic story to life in a very small space. In Theater Unspeakable’s shows, seven actors share one tiny platform, 3 feet x 7 feet, to bring a monumental story to life. In this workshop, participants will dive into the Platform work in order to discover practical ways to turn limitations into possibilities.
Along the way, participants will learn about Neutral Mask, Movement Work, Choreography, Physical Imagination via the Color Wheel and Paintings.
Thanksgiving Break: November 23-27
The Winter/Spring 2021 term takes participants through varied styles of comedy, beginning with the satirical bouffon, moving into the ensemble-driven grotesque, and ending with clown.
Bouffon
January 11-29, 2021
The “bouffon” style hearkens back to an old tradition of groups of outcasts who somehow manage to play a special function in society: to deliver the ugliest truths, reveal the oddest mysteries and even make the fantastical feel familiar. The Bouffons challenge the actor-creator to play at the highest level and to embody the largest, boldest, full-bodied masks.
Along the way, participants will learn about masks, choreography, “exploded” bodies, and Physical Imagination via Mystery and Passions.
Break: February 1-5
Grotesque
February 8-26, 2021
The “grotesque” style brings together groups of masked characters who organize themselves in social groupings. Sometimes, these so-called cliques are shaped by social function or perhaps political belief systems. Most of all, they are very broad and large characterizations that challenge the actor-creator to develop a sense of playfulness large enough to contain these wild creatures, who also happen to maintain the strictest of rules, habits and social norms.
Along the way, participants will learn about masks, choreography, “exploded” bodies, social commentary, and Physical Imagination via poetry and music.
Break: March 1-5
Modern Clown
March 8-26, 2021
The “Clowns” appear in every generation and in every form. From the shamans to the jesters, from the circus to the sitcom, we recognize Clowns for their sincerity, their vulnerability and their often-singular presence. Renowned French theater-maker Jacques Lecoq developed an approach to clown based on the Red Nose Mask. The first part is the stripping away of pretense to allow the actor-creator to wear the world’s smallest mask. Then, individual’s clown-state emerges and can be used to fuel expression seen in a “number”. The actor-creator must journey far and wide to re-find one’s clown. Once found, the clown must find itself out in the world again.
Along the way, participants will learn about the Red Nose Mask, choreography, finding one’s “idiot” and developing “numbers”, all in service of the art of the Clowns.