Current Workshop at Berkeley Repertory Theatre:
The Mask, the Clown and the Ki: A workshop for actors and other people
What can over 30 masks, a Cirque du Soleil clown and some ancient principles do for you? Join actor/clown/martial artist Ron Campbell for three sessions of gently guided exercises utilizing masks from around the world, techniques from the art of clowning and principles acquired from trainings in Japan. Aimed at giving participants dynamic tools to create vivid individual characters, this is also an ensemble workshop and director’s master class that promises to stretch your boundaries, heighten your scrutiny and tickle your funny bone. The workshop will conclude with a “window on the work” performance.
Ron Campbell has been touring the world for the past four years with Cirque du Soleil, training in a variety of theatrical disciplines with renowned teachers while pursuing his love of the martial arts. Previously, Ron played the title role in R. Buckminster Fuller: The History (and Mystery) of the Universe and played leading roles in everything from American Conservatory Theater to Teatro ZinZanni. He is a founding member of The Actors’ Gang and an associate artist of California Shakespeare Theater. His awards include the London Fringe One Man Show of the Year, LA Drama Critics Circle Award, Bay Area Critics’ Circle Award (for Lead & Solo Performance), four KPBS Patte Awards, four Backstage West Garland Awards, 15 Dramalogue Awards and a 2002 Helen Hayes Award Nomination. He has worked at Mark Taper Forum, Seattle Rep, San Diego Rep, Old Globe, Old Red Lion Theatre (London), Intiman and the Edinburgh Festival.
SAT & SUN 11am–5pm • 5/5, 5/6, 5/12 •
Final showing 5/12 / 7pm
What is a Soar Feat Workshop like?
A jungle gym on the playground of your imagination.
An aerobics class for the theatrical muscle.
Yoga with Intent.
Your Monday night or Saturday Morning Mental Colonic.
A Mojo Dojo.
The third phase on your path to Attaining Wonderfulness.
The following workshops and classes have been commissioned by a variety of groups, including professional theatre companies (West Coast Ensemble, The Actor’s Gang, Singular Productions, The International City Theatre, San Diego Repertory Theatre, among others), high schools (Coronado High School of the Performing Arts and the Southern California Educational Theatre Association) and centers for the developmentally disabled. Soar Feat Workshops accommodate a wide range of levels of experience and the tools explored have valuable real world applications for everything from the stage to the street, the class room to the board room.
THEATRE OF THE PRESENT
A Master Class in Creating New Work that Reflects the Times We Live In.
"To find a form that accommodates the mess, that is the task of the artist now," Beckett concluded. Theatre is a martial art. It can also be a tool for change.The Actor/Artist has a responsibility to use his skills to be our mirror. To show us ourselves in all our beautiful and grotesque glory. Refine your skills and broaden your vision in this series workshops consisting of fun filled sessions of gently guided exercises combining a multiplicity of disciplines designed to help theatre artists express their world more fully, vividly and with greater scrutiny. Exercises include techniques developed by The Body Politic, Phillippe Gaulier, Theatre du Soliel, and The Actor's Gang. This is a Workshop with Intent. Students will create a New Work to be performed on the final evening. Kneepads and a spirit of rebellion required.
THE FULL BODY PERFORMER: GOING SOLO
Character Creation from Head to Toe
When we give birth to a new piece of art what will it look like? How will it see the world? How can we best inhabit this new form of life? In this Workshop/Master Class with an emphasis on the physical and mental process of creating new works from the Outside In, Actor's Gang Founder Ron Campbell leads five fun-filled nights of exercises designed to: unleash the physical possibilities that lurk in each of us when tackling new works. Think of it as: a sculpture class for your performance muscles or simply your personal boot camp in the battle to create your own one person show. Workshop participants will work with texts created in class and from a variety of non-traditional sources. Kneepads required. There will be an Open Workshop Performance/Party on the final night.
CONTAINING MULTITUDES
is an exploration into the challenges, pitfalls and pratfalls of multi character performance. Students will hone their craft and abilities to present an exciting variety of characters in the blink of the eye with a minimum of props. Great for One person show practitioners and performance artists alike. The emphasis, as always, will be on fun but the opportunities for deeper drama will not be ignored. Of course the final workshop will include a Performance/Party.
Everything you need to create, refine and market your own multi-character performance piece.
It seems one thing all one person shows have in common, be it a historical character, a re imagining of a literary work, a travelogue or a thousand and one other guises the one person form can take, is that at its heart it is an exercise in self reliance. In the world of solo performance some stories require more than one character to express the full breadth of the narrative. Enter the shape shifter. Hone your skills to more fully express the cast of thousands that live inside you. Through a series of exercises participants will gather tools to enable more vivid character delineation, increased malleability and more refined storytelling technique.
Become a Shape Shifter!
