New Hampshire Theatre Project launches seven new online programs beginning April 6th. There will be classes, seminars and courses for all ages and abilities available seven days a week with NHTP Resident and Company Artists.
All programming is available for registration through NHTP's website at https://www.nhtheatreproject.org/nhtponlineprograms.
Monday nights are for families at NHTP and their new program Bedtime Stories brings the whole family together for an imaginative storytelling session. Through creative play and word games, each family member can participate as they build a bedtime story together that reflects their own family history and traditions. Families can also gather on Saturday nights for Game Night! Online Improv Playground, an action-packed session for all ages to explore improv fundamentals through a variety of games. Game Night! offers a way to release and connect with others, a chance to unwind at the weekend.
Adults have multiple options for learning and for connecting with the community through NHTP's online programming as well. Taught by Company Artist Eric Schildge the new Civil Discourse Society is a modified debate club for adults. In four sessions, the virtual workshops will lead students in an exploration of the vocal, physical, and rhetorical elements of the art of persuasion. The workshop will also discuss and explore the meaning and impact of different kinds of discourse on relationships at multiple scales, from interpersonal to societal. Civil Discourse Society runs Thursday starting April 9th.
Date Night is a series designed for friends, colleagues, and partners of all kinds. First up is Unlocking Shakespeare's Text - a chance to explore poetry with a friend, family member or partner. This session takes place on Friday, April 11th. Further Date Nights will be added to the calendar in the coming weeks.
For those looking for a more indepth experience, Genevieve Aichele will facilitate the popular masterclass Mythologizing Personal Stories on Saturday April 18th. This three-hour workshop offers techniques from traditional tales to make personal stories both compelling and universal. Older teens and adults can take CJ Lewis's Monologue Seminar, a Wednesday morning course starting April 8th for early career individuals, or working artists looking for an opportunity to gain some professional development, prepare for college applications or keep performing while practicing social distancing. And writers of all genres are encouraged to attend NHTP's free community Writers' Room, an open writing session on Wednesday mornings and Sundays afternoons.
NHTP also continues its current Comedy programming on Tuesday nights at 7 pm with Couch To Mic, a stand-up comedy class for adults and Teen Comedy Club, a weekly session for all forms of comedy and a place for teens to gather, laugh and connect on Tuesdays at 5pm. Both of these programs are taught by Company Artist Stephanie Lazenby.
NHTP is aware of the inequities surrounding online technological solutions and we are working to ensure that programs are made accessible to as many people as possible. "We're also exploring how our performance programming can continue in a non-virtual space as well," says Catherine Stewart, NHTP's Artistic Director.
And she concludes "I'm excited, and a little exhausted - but we wouldn't be able to do this important work without the team of Resident and Company Artists at NHTP, as well as our core staff." Stewart is grateful for the hard work of all of the NHTP family during this challenging time, including their new board members and advisory committees that are supporting all aspects of sustaining the thirty-year-old company. "I really cannot wait to gather with everyone again at the theatre but until then we're dedicated to using theatre to bring light to our world right now."
For more information about the workshops, classes and training at New Hampshire Theatre Project during the COVID-19 Public Health Crisis, visit nhtheatreproject.org
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