The Atlantic Technique, Practical Aesthetics, provides a disciplined approach to script analysis, working truthfully moment to moment, and more.
Atlantic has announced a new lineup of free virtual Technique Tuesday classes, every Tuesday March 9 - April 13 at 5:30pm ET for those seeking a creative release during this time. Now in its third series since the start of Atlantic's digital offerings last spring, Technique Tuesdays are free hour-long acting workshops rooted in the Atlantic Acting School technique, led by renowned school faculty and Atlantic Ensemble members. The Atlantic Technique, Practical Aesthetics, provides a disciplined approach to script analysis, working truthfully moment to moment, and bringing these competencies together in performance of selected material. No prior experience is necessary. All classes will be held via Zoom webinar.
TECHNIQUE TUESDAY SERIES 3
Atlantic Acting School Faculty member Chivonne Michelle will take you through the building blocks of Practical Aesthetics, the Atlantic Technique, as outlined in A Practical Handbook for The Actor . In this introductory workshop, you'll develop basic technique, learning to articulate your understanding of text through compelling, playable actions.
By working actively on the integration of voice and movement, you'll discover the visceral freedom and sense of play that brings Chekhov's text to vivid life! With a personalized technique as your foundation and Anya Saffir as your guide, you'll learn to interpret the great complexity and depth of character in Chekhov's texts.
In this Acting Lab with Atlantic Acting School Artistic Director Reggie D. White , actors will learn how to live fully in the truth of their work and make the most of every moment of a scene. Learning to recognize the truth of the moment is a radical, playful experience, driving home the idea that live performance is an irreproducible event and each performance presents an opportunity for inquiry and discovery.
A key component of Practical Aesthetics is learning how to place your attention on your fellow actor in order to consistently arrive at the most truthful moment. What happens when there is no one to play off of? Atlantic Ensemble member & senior Faculty Karen Kohlhaas will guide you through creating memorable and connected moments when self-directing for audition monologues.
In this lecture-meets-demo taught by Atlantic Founding Ensemble member and seasoned actor/director Clark Gregg , learn to apply our signature technique to on-camera work, sharpening your skills and allowing you to make the most of every TV/film opportunity!
With the tools of Practical Aesthetics under their belts, actors can arrive at interpretations of a given text that are both personally meaningful and squarely rooted in the playwright's intentions. In this closing panel discussion, Clark Gregg , Karen Kohlhaas , Anya Saffir and Reggie D. White will answer all of your burning questions, providing guidance on how to successfully and consistently apply the technique in your acting choices!
Clark Gregg ( Film/TV & the Atlantic Technique ) is a founding member and former Artistic Director of Atlantic. He's acted in and directed numerous productions with the company including Boys' Life , Mojo , The Night Heron , Sexual Perversity and Ethan Coen's Happy Hour . Also Aaron Sorkin's A Few Good Men on Broadway and more. Films include State and Main , 500 Days of Summer , Much Ado About Nothing and more. Best known as Agent Phil Coulson in the Marvel Cinematic Universe from Iron Man to The Avengers and on "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." He wrote What Lies Beneath with Harrison Ford and Michelle Pfeiffer, wrote and directed the films Choke and Trust Me .
Karen Kohlhaas ( Monologues & the Atlantic Technique ) is a New York-based theater director, teacher, author, and filmmaker. Director: Karen is a founding member of Atlantic Theater Company, where her credits include mainstage and Atlantic Stage Two productions by Harold Pinter, David Mamet, Annie Baker, Keith Reddin , Shel Silverstein and Kate Moira Ryan, and shorts by Hilary Bell, Joe Penhall, Kia Corthron , and many others. She has also directed for the New York Shakespeare Festival/Public Theater, Naked Angels, Ensemble Studio Theatre, New York Live Arts, 24 Hour Plays on Broadway, The Alley Theatre, Houston, New Dramatists, Menagerie Theatre in Cambridge, UK, The Culture Project, Practical Theater Co. in Sydney and others. Teacher: Karen has over 30 years teaching experience and is a senior teacher at Atlantic Acting School. She teaches her own NYC classes in The Monologue Audition; Fearless Cold Reading & Audition Technique; Advanced Acting; and Directing. She has taught guest workshops around the country and internationally including USC, Drama, Inc of Atlanta, Austin Shakespeare, University of Houston's 3-summer MFA in Theater Education, Florida International University, Theater Educators of Texas Association, Oklahoma City University, University of Central Oklahoma, Colorado College, Seattle University, Baldwin Wallace University, the University of the South at Sewanee, Rose Bruford College, UK and others. She also teaches Monologue Teacher Training to university and high school teachers. Author: Karen's books and DVD are The Monologue Audition: A Practical Guide for Actors (foreword by David Mamet and a Backstage Must-Read); How To Choose A Monologue For Any Audition ; The Monologue Teacher's Manual ; and, The Monologue Audition Video (DVD). Filmmaker: Karen's short films include two with acclaimed performer/playwright Taylor Mac, several short documentaries, and she is currently finishing a feature documentary about Tennessee Williams in the Mississippi Delta ( www.TennWmsDelta.com ). She is the founder and curator of the Tennessee Williams Rectory Museum in the former Clarksdale, Mississippi rectory rooms once occupied by Williams and his family ( www.TennesseeWilliamsRectoryMuseum.com ), and co-director of the Mississippi Delta Tennessee Williams Festival ( www.DeltaWilliamsFestival.com ) .
CHIVONNE MICHELLE ( Intro to the Atlantic Technique ) is a graduate of the acting program at Atlantic Theater Company and received her B.F.A. from New York University. She began teaching at Atlantic Acting School in 2009. She is currently based in LA and works as an actress, teacher, producer and director. You can catch Chivonne in the film Shaft starring Samuel Jackson and recurring next to Giancarlo Esposito & Carla Gugino on the TV show "Jett." You can hear Chivonne voicing numerous commercial campaigns in the United States, most recently for TJ Maxx. www.chivonnemichelle.com
Anya Saffir ( Chekhov & the Atlantic Technique ) is a theater director, educator and writer based in and hailing from New York City. Directing credits include Much Ado About Nothing at the American Repertory Theater Institute, Brecht's The Caucasian Chalk Circle at Theater for a New City (ITBA Award for Outstanding Off-Broadway Show; New York Innovative Theater Award for Best Original Score), Hamlet with Orpheus Productions (three New York Innovative Theater Award nominations, including Outstanding Direction), American Sojourns: Three Plays by Thornton Wilder at The Moscow Art Theater, an all-male Romeo and Juliet at The American Theater of Actors, a new translation of Anton Chekhov's The Seagull which she co-developed with translator MOTI MARGOLIN, and Pierre Corneille's L'Illusion Comique at The Abe Burrows Theater at Tisch School of the Arts. With composer Cormac Bluestone, Anya co-wrote a musical adaptation of Marjorie Williams Bianco's The Velveteen Rabbit , which premiered at Atlantic Theater Company (Off-Broadway Alliance Award nomination for Best Family Show). Also for Atlantic, Anya has directed original work for the 10×25 Play Festival and the New Works Series, as well as numerous student productions such as Uncle Vanya , Twelfth Night , The Winter's Tale , As You Like It , and Pericles , to name a few. Anya has served as Artistic Associate at Classic Stage Company and is a regular contributor on Shakespeare topics for National Public Radio's "The Takeaway." She is currently the co-director of "It Makes a Sound," a fictional podcast on the Night Vale Presents Network written by and starring Jacquelyn Landgraf. Anya has been on the faculty at Atlantic since 1997 and teaches Advanced Script Analysis classes in Chekhov, Shakespeare, Throughline , and Postwar British Drama. She has been a visiting professor and guest artist at The Center for Advanced Theater Training at Harvard University, Penn State Graduate Theater Program and Brave Studios in Melbourne, Australia, an Adjunct Professor at Tisch School of the Arts at New York University, and is currently on the faculty at Brooklyn College where she teaches Chekhov to the B.F.A. students. For more information please go to www.anyasaffir.com .
Reggie D. White ( The Truth of the Moment: Every Moment Matters ) is a New York based multidisciplinary art- ivist whose acting credits include NYTW, The Public Theater, 59E59, Arden Theatre, Berkeley Rep, and La Jolla Playhouse. As a director, his work has been featured at The Public Theater, Atlantic Acting School, NY Winterfest, Bay Area Children's Theatre, Berkeley Playhouse, AlterTheatre Ensemble, and more. He is an alumni of Atlantic Acting School, where he now serves as a faculty member, and the new Artistic Director of Student Productions, an associate artist with Merrimack Repertory Theatre, a recipient of the TBA TITAN Award, the TCG Fox Fellowship, and is a company member of The Williams Project, a living wage theatre company. He is also co-writing a play with Lauren Gunderson and is the co-host of the comedy podcast, "What's The Tea?". www.reggiedwhite.net
ATLANTIC 's ( Neil Pepe, Atlantic Theater Company Artistic Director; Jeffory Lawson, Atlantic Theater Company Managing Director; Mary McCann, Atlantic Acting School Executive Director) aim is singular-to empower simple and honest storytelling that fosters greater understanding of our shared world. We are a family of artists dedicated to exploring essential truths onstage, be it a show at Atlantic Theater Company or a class at Atlantic Acting School. As a producer, presenter, and educator of theater, we are driven by the belief that theater can challenge and transform our ways of thinking and urge us to reflect on our role in society. From our Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize-winning productions to our community-based education programs, we are committed to uncovering and celebrating the stories of our varied human existence. At Atlantic Acting School, we equip our students with the physical, emotional, and analytical tools of acting to discover their truths, and prepare them for success beyond our doors. From our professional conservatories to our NYU Tisch studio and our after-school and summer programs for kids and teens, our immersive, learn-by-doing approach is central to an Atlantic Acting education. We have trained and mentored outstanding artists for more than 35 years. No matter their age or background, our students learn to break through their creative comfort zones in service to bringing essential human stories to life. For more information about Atlantic Acting School, visit https://atlanticactingschool.org/ .
Admission is free. Reservations are required .
Atlantic is committed to connecting deeply and authentically with audiences from a broad range of economic backgrounds, ages, ethnicities and perspectives. To further that commitment particularly in light of the current health crisis, Atlantic continues to provide many of its offerings like Technique Tuesday free of charge.
As a non-profit theater company, Atlantic has always relied on its community of supporters. But today, they need them more than ever. For those who can, Atlantic is suggesting Technique Tuesday attendees add a donation to their reservation. A gift of any size would go a long way in supporting Atlantic's work with artists and sustaining accessible programming during these challenging times.
To RSVP, please visit https://atlantictheater.org/virtual-programming/ .
To make a donation to Atlantic, please visit https://atlantictheater.org/support/donate/ .
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