Magis Theatre Company Presents T-SHIRT MACBETH, 5/25

Magis Theatre Company's final Spring presentation of its "MAGIS WORKSHOP WEDNESDAY" series - T-Shirt Macbeth, an abbreviated fully staged performance (in T-Shirts and jeans) of William Shakespeare's classic play - will take place on Wednesday, May 25, at 7:30 PM in the Arts & Athletic Center at Notre Dame School, 327 West 13th Street in Manhattan. At the conclusion of the performance, staged by Magis Theatre Company member Taylor Valentine, there will be a post-show discussion. Magis Theatre conducts its Student Actor Training Institute at Notre Dame and two students from that program will be performing with members of the Magis Theatre Company in this performance of T-Shirt Macbeth. Admission is FREE.

Magis, which has just become a not-for-profit organization, plans on launching an educational
program that will offer high school students the company's unique perspective on the classic dramatic literature they encounter as part of their curriculum, specifically Shakespeare. The goal is to create a model that will include an abridged version of the play or story, thematic discussion with the students, and student participation. T-Shirt Macbeth is the inaugural presentation of this exciting educational program.

The evening will also serve as a two-folded fundraiser. Through donations only, all proceeds
from the event will be split: half will go to the growth of Magis Theatre's educational arm and the other half will go to the renovations of Notre Dame School's brand new Gymnasium-Auditorium, which Magis is fortunate enough to call home. Donations in any denomination will be appreciated.

The weekly "Magis Workshop Wednesdays" have been very successful in introducing Magis Theatre Company to a whole New Group of interested theatre-lovers, says George Drance, the company's artistic director and one of its founders. "We have been working with students at Notre Dame who is interested in exploring theatre for a number of years and it's proven to be a worthwhile
experiment for us and the school. It is an after-school voluntary program and more than half the kids who enroll in the program continue on to the end."

The Magis Theatre Company is primarily a training organization, devoted to regular training, both for its company members and to provide regular training to other actors. The Magis exercise program allows members to explore the demands of heightened theatrical forms, and this exploration seeks to find the essential theatricality shared by differing theatrical techniques. This training helps
them nourish and strengthen the connection between the actor's body and voice, energy and imagination.

Magis Workshop Wednesday's
2-2-2

"We are a resource for professionals who are looking for a regularly scheduled and complete
technical workout," says Drance. "Teaching these exercises to others encourages us to clearly articulate what we find in our work: it demands that we put it into practice. Working with early career actors is both rewarding and challenging. Taking their talent and cultivating it can be difficult without vocabulary that they can understand. Magis training provides a way of appropriating a physical vocabulary that the body remembers, allowing the performer's mind to engage the moment.'

The Magis Theatre Company, which was established in 2000, has been used by professionals
and students in the United States and abroad, with workshops here in New York including the New York State Theatre Educator's Association, and in Europe at the Tirana Arts Academy, and the Austrian Voice Institute. Magis is the Latin word for "more." More life, less stuff!

The Workshop Wednesdays program began on October 6, 2010 when company member Gabe Portuondo performed Rime of the Ancient Mariner. Other weekly presentations included Homemade Magis featuring work by Erika Iverson; George Drance: The Odyssey; and Magis Co: Life is a Dream, among others.

For further information, visit www.magistheatre.org.

 

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