Adult Education — Theatre Workshops 2019

Theatre Workshops for Theatre Lovers Age 55 and Up

Park Square Theatre is pleased to present new opportunities for theatre lovers age 55 and up. A series of workshops will immerse you in learning that will cumulatively build your skills and comfort in speaking out and sharing your stories.

Bring your friends, make new friends and share the joy of theatre!

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Improvisation: Techniques and Performance

Taught by Shanan Custer

8 classes
Mondays, Sept 9 – Oct 28, 2019
1:00-2:30 pm
Park Square’s Andy Boss Thrust Rehearsal Hall
Evening performance on Tuesday, Oct 29, at 7:00 pm on the Andy Boss Thrust Stage

Mix and mingle with others who want to learn to improvise, think faster on their feet, collaborate, say yes and have fun! Participants will learn and practice the tenets of long and short form improvisation, which will culminate in a performance of improv for a live audience.

What Participants are Saying …

Shanan created a wonderful inclusive atmosphere for the class and built confidence in our abilities to perform. It was the highlight of my week!

With no experience in performing, this class fulfilled a dream come true for me.

It was a fun, positive experience I looked forward to each week.

I would recommend this class to anyone who loves to laugh. Lots of nice, artistic fellow students — really impressive.

I loved laughing every week.

ABOUT SHANAN CUSTER: Described by critics as a “clever an inventive voice in comic theater,” Shanan Custer is a veteran of the Brave New Workshop in Minneapolis, where she performed from the reign of Jesse Ventura to the Bush and Kerry election. Shanan’s original work includes 2 Sugars, Room for Cream, which won an Ivey Award for Best Ensemble in 2013, as well as its follow-up Sometimes There’s Wine (Best of the 2016 MN Fringe Twin Cities), which set new attendance records as part of Park Square’s 2018-19 season (both with Carolyn Pool). As an actor, Shanan has performed with Park Square Theatre, History Theatre, Frank Theatre, Theatre Pro Rata, Comedy Suitcase, Mu Performing Arts and The Mystery Café. Shanan is also a director, improviser and teaching artist who loves to teach and create theatre with students of all ages. She is a member of the improv comedy group The Theater of Public Policy and teaches theatre at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul. Other honors include being named the Twin Cities Bloggers 2016 Favorite Comedic Performance for her work in Park Square Theatre’s Calendar Girls and The Liar as well as a featured artist in 2017 on Twin Cities PBS MN Original Series.

Registration has closed

Dates:
Mondays:
Sep 9, 16, 23, 30
Oct 7, 14, 21, 28
Tuesday, Oct 29 (7:00 pm) — performance on the Andy Boss Thrust Stage

Location:
Park Square Theatre Andy Boss Rehearsal Hall

Cost for all sessions: 
$150 ($90 for participants whose income is below $40,000/year)

Class size:
Maximum 20 participants

This event date has passed.

Storytelling Collaborative: Taking Stories out into the World

Taught by Dane Stauffer
Previous Experience with Storytelling Required. Contact Dane at www.danestauffer.com with questions.

8 classes
Tuesdays, Sept 10 – Oct 29, 2019
1:00-2:30 pm
Park Square’s Andy Boss Thrust Rehearsal Hall
Evening performance on Tuesday, Oct 29, at 7:00 pm on the Andy Boss Thrust Stage

Participants will develop actor/orator skills of breath, voice, intonation & intention, learn about show structure, flow and length and will build tales from prompts and memories, telling both prepared and spontaneous stories. Story telling three will help participants to develop their craft: getting and maintaining audience’s attention through authenticity, humor, volume and poise, and looking at the human heart through the power of story. All of this will take place in a safe and nurturing creative space. Open to students who have participated in Storytelling 1 or Storytelling 2 classes.

What Participants are Saying …

Dane has a great way of making everyone feel comfortable and accepted.  I enjoyed the class so much that I recommended it to a group of seniors that I meet with regularly.


First off, the class was fun, great fun. Dane put me at ease with the first group exercises…The class showed me I was still a creative spontaneous ‘senior’ person.

ABOUT DANE STAUFFER: Fresh off a successful run of Dolly Parton’s Smoky Mountain Christmas Carol, actor, playwright and teacher Dane Stauffer is excited to lead our Storytelling 1 & 2 Workshops. Dane studied at the Children’s Theatre School of Minneapolis as a child and spent several happy teen years improvising Commedia del Arte at Renaissance festivals. A graduate of NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, Dane returned to the Twin Cities and has become a resident company member of Dudley Riggs’s Brave New Workshop. Read more at danestauffer.com

Registration has closed

Dates:
Tuesdays:
Sep 10, 17, 24
Oct 1, 8, 15, 22, 29
Tuesday, Oct 29 (7:00 pm) — performance on the Andy Boss Thrust Stage

Location:
Park Square Theatre Andy Boss Rehearsal Hall

Cost for all sessions: 
$150 ($90 for participants whose income is below $40,000/year)

Class size:
Maximum 20 participants

Past Theatre Lovers’ Workshops

If you’re interested in seeing the workshops that were offered in the past, you can view the workshop archive here.

Tickets

The box office is currently closed. Please email tickets@parksquaretheatre.org with any questions.

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