At Still Small, one of our core commitments is to ongoing learning, both artistic and spiritual. Our actors consistently report how meaningful it is to participate in this work – but we don't want to just keep the fun to ourselves: we want to invite you to learn with us!
On this page, you'll be able to access many different materials to help you grow, whether individually or with a Bible study or whole church. For our summer shows, we'll be posting the discipleship materials we're using in rehearsal, so you can learn alongside our actors. We'll also be posting materials related to our repertory shows, so that hosting ministries can prepare their people well both for outreach – sharing effectively with others – and “in-reach” – growing effectively themselves!
For now, we're kicking it off with a series of actor training workshops for those who would like to deepen their knowledge of the craft of acting!
On this page, you'll be able to access many different materials to help you grow, whether individually or with a Bible study or whole church. For our summer shows, we'll be posting the discipleship materials we're using in rehearsal, so you can learn alongside our actors. We'll also be posting materials related to our repertory shows, so that hosting ministries can prepare their people well both for outreach – sharing effectively with others – and “in-reach” – growing effectively themselves!
For now, we're kicking it off with a series of actor training workshops for those who would like to deepen their knowledge of the craft of acting!
Summer Acting Workshops
Interested in acting? Want to add some practical tools to your toolbelt? Join our instructors, Jasmine Myers and Amelia Smith, as they take us through some foundational acting skills and principles! Both instructors have worked in theatre education, and regularly direct and act with Still Small. Workshops are open to all experience levels (including no experience!) at a nominal cost. In order to give individualized attention, space in the workshops is limited, but the training videos released the week before each workshop are free and available to all!
Schedule:
June 7, 2 pm: Scene Scoring and Intention
Instructor: Jasmine Myers
How does an actor work with a scene on a page to bring it to life? What is scene scoring, and how does it help? How do I understand a character's intention in order to play the scene compellingly? Dig into these questions and more with this session on Scene Scoring and Intention.
Click here to watch this workshop's training video!
June 21, 2 pm: Character Work Part 1: Stepping Into the Story
Instructor: Amelia Smith
Ignatian contemplation has long used the practice of imaginatively “stepping into” a Biblical story to deepen one's spiritual experience. Actors use a similar technique to more fully understand the characters they play, (and the two practices particularly come together for actors playing a Biblical character). How does this work? How do we step into a story imaginatively in order to develop a character – and our own character as well?
Click here to watch this workshop's training video!
July 5, 2 pm: Text and Monologue Work
Instructor: Jasmine Myers
Monologues are frequently used for auditions, yet working with such a big chunk of text can seem daunting. How can we find the dynamics in a monologue so it doesn't just seem like talking? How do we work with text to give it texture when spoken aloud? And is there anything that can help with memorizing the thing?
Click here to watch this workshop's training video!
July 19, 2 pm: Character Work Part 2: Establishing History
Instructor: Amelia Smith
A character's history – both personal and interpersonal – vitally affects how that character is played on stage. Often, however, it's easy for an actor to either neglect this part of the character, or to get so sidetracked with the character's “backstory” that it distracts from the play itself. How do we establish a character's history? How do we establish relational history between characters? And how do we connect these things to the story playing out on-stage, so they truly undergird and inform a performance? Explore these questions in this final installment of our summer workshop series!
Cost:
Sign up for a single session: $5
Sign up for all four sessions: $15
Training videos: Free!
