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WORKSHOP: Acting for Improv, November 12

Join us for Seattle Experimental Theater’s inaugural improv learning workshop – learn from our veterans as they share their expertise and unique perspectives.

Acting for Improv with Elizabeth Brammer will be offered on November 12, 2016 from 1 – 5PM. Spaces are limited and advance registration is required. Class fee is $60. This class is intended for students with intermediate and above experience with improv.

REGISTER NOW: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/2636523

CLASS DESCRIPTION:
Are you someone who has come to improv without a background in acting, or one who is looking to improve the theatrical side to your improv scenes? If so, this workshop is for you! In this class, we will explore some basic physical, vocal, and scripted scene study techniques, and how they can bolster your improvised scenes. We will work on simple staging, movement and stance, characterization and emotional expression, and vocal techniques to add dynamics to your characters. In this workshop we will work with both scripted scenes (no memorization required – we will hold scripts in hand) and improvisation.

ABOUT THE INSTRUCTOR:
Elizabeth Brammer is an ensemble member at Unexpected Productions, and a performer/director with Seattle Experimental Theater. She is also a member of improv group Mr. Snake, and sketch comedy duo Liz & Joel; and in August 2016 took a show she directed to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Liz has a bachelor of fine arts in theater performance from Denison University, where she started performing improv, way back in 1999. She has studied improv and sketch at The Second City, The Groundlings, ColdTowne Theater, and The Hideout Theater, and with TJ & Dave, Dasariski, and David Razowsky, among others. She also teaches sketch comedy at the Unexpected Productions school.

Help us get on Seattle’s A-List!

It’s that time of year again! Voting for the Seattle A-List (formerly known as the Best of Western Washington) is now open. Last year we placed just out of the top 10 in our category, Best Live Theater – if you’ve loved our unique brand of improvised theatre and our three productions this 2016 season, your vote can make a huge difference!

Vote now at http://best.cityvoter.com/seattle-experimental-theater/biz/688567

This is a huge annual opportunity for exposure that can really make a difference for smaller theatres like us. Thank you for your time and your help making it to the top of the A-List!

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WORLD PREMIERE: Time’s Arrow (October 2016)

Time’s Arrow

People Pass Through. Spaces Remain.

teaserSeattle, Wa— Seattle Experimental Theater is proud to present its original improvised play, Time’s Arrow.

The old jail that might be haunted. The house that has housed three generations of a family. The local restaurant that was the site of a bank robbery in the 1940s. What ghosts are you walking through? The spaces around us are rich with history defined by wonderful, terrible, forgettable, sublime individual and collective experiences, yet we exist in them for only one moment at a time.

Time’s Arrow invites you to take a walk through the spaces of the past. Every performance, Time’s Arrow uses stories from the audience to explore the layers of life piled in a single location. Every performance will be completely improvised and unique, based on that evening’s stories from the audience.

Time’s Arrow is created and directed by Elizabeth Brammer.

Performances

Performances are October 13, 14, 15, 20, 21 and 22 at 8pm
at the Ballard Underground.
(2220 NW Market Street, Lower Level; Seattle, WA 98107)

Tickets are $20 at the door or $18 online. Advance tickets available at brownpapertickets.com

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Press Release

For Press Comps, please email Jeannine Clarke at info@seattleexperimentaltheater.com

July 28, 2016
For Immediate Release
Kill Date: October 23, 2016
Media Contact: Jeannine Clarke (seattleexperimental@gmail.com)

Download the Time’s Arrow Press Release

#TheJournal: Behind the Scenes with Daryl Ducharme

13522739_10101100713937289_6842638392664971713_oThis is OPENING WEEKEND for the return of The Journal, a romantic improvised comedy inspired by the work of Nicholas Sparks. Continues Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays through July 23 (8PM) at the Ballard Underground. Tickets $18 online or $20 at the door.

Daryl Ducharme is one of the three returning members of the cast of The Journal (2016). His SET debut was with the cast of “Wedding Horror Stories” in 2013. Along with Wayne (who shared his perspective in yesterday’s blog) we asked Daryl if he’d be willing to share his thoughts on returning to The Journal; here is his reply in his own words.

From Daryl:

Tonight is opening night of The Journal and I am nervous. I’m not nervous in an “Oh, my god I can’t go out there” sort of way but rather in an “I love this show so much, I hope the audience shares the love with me” way. What’s there to love about The Journal? Please, allow me to let you in on my love of it.

First, there is the nostalgia. In 2012, when The Journal first came out, I had never been a part of an improv show before. This was the first time I had ever been cast in a show. I remember being nervous about playing with a cast that already worked so well together and that I thought were clearly better than I. By the end of the run, however, I learned how easy it is to play with them all and that run still has one of my favorite improv memories.

Another big reason I love this show is that I am a romantic at heart. While I do love a good big budget summer blockbuster, my favorite movie is a romance by Baz Luhrman called Strictly Ballroom. Before that my favorite movie was The Cutting Edge starring DB Sweeney and Moira Kelly. These romances are vastly different than Nicholas Sparks romances, which I actually find quite hard to watch. Sure, I might cry at a Sparks flick but life has the silliness of a good romantic comedy. That is exactly why I love making fun of the “taking ourselves too seriously” tropes of Nicholas Sparks while still getting to see a good romance blossom. The Journal consistently melts my heart. I’m sure it will melt yours.

Finally, I love this show because of the people. SET is great people and the people they cast are of a certain breed. They make me laugh. They make me cry. They get me excited to improvise a whole new romance at every rehearsal. I hope that the audience will enjoy The Journal as much as I do and that they leave with more love in their hearts. That’s the way I’ve been leaving rehearsals and I believe the performances will only be better.

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Aditya Sriyam (L) and Daryl Ducharme (R) play the men of Swan Beach sharing a drink in dress rehearsal for “The Journal” (2016)


Join Us For “The Journal”

Intrigued? The Journal opened on July 14 and gave the audience a dramatic romance between a juggler and a woman who had a dark secret: cheating at Pokemon Go.

We continue tonight through July 23 at the Ballard Underground in Seattle. Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays at 8PM. Tickets available for $18 ($14 for groups of 4 or more) online at http://thejournal.bpt.me OR for $20 each at the door.

#TheJournal: Behind the Scenes with Wayne Pishue

13522739_10101100713937289_6842638392664971713_oTonight is OPENING NIGHT for the return of The Journal, a romantic improvised comedy inspired by the work of Nicholas Sparks. July 14 – 23 (8PM) at the Ballard Underground. Tickets $18 online or $20 at the door.

Wayne Pishue is one of the three returning members of the cast of The Journal (2016). He has also been with SET as a performer since the very beginning, as one of the original cast members of Where No Man Has Gone Before.

We asked Wayne if he’d be willing to share his thoughts on returning to The Journal; here is his reply in his own words.

From Wayne:

After 3 weeks of rehearsals, 4 days in a row of late night tech rehearsals, and not seeing my wife and dog, you might wonder what keeps me coming back – and I would answer, this show. This show is something magical. Taking what is literally some of the worst, most trite and manipulative work in literary history and turning it on its ear and into a touching show with moments of brilliant comedy and genuine tears.

When I heard that we were remounting this show I was so excited. I have so much fun being silly and scary in other SET shows, but this show really lets the cast stretch their dramatic legs. It’s not often that I get to play a grieving widower, and a supportive not-played-for-laughs gay father, and a Man with a high school grudge out for revenge in the same run. This show is special in that way. We see these fully fleshed out 3-Dimensional characters live their lives and deal with real things in real ways. There won’t be a lot of aliens or mysticism in the show, but it is just as, if not more engaging that shows that feature those things. I just love the cast and I love the concept and I am so happy to be a part of this show!

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PRESS PHOTO for THE JOURNAL (2016): The residents of Swan Beach take issue with one of their own. L to R: Wayne Pishue, Daryl Ducharme, Marc Guy.


Intrigued? The Journal opens tonight and runs for 6 performances at the Ballard Underground in Seattle. Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays at 8PM July 14 – 23. Tickets available for $18 ($14 for groups of 4 or more) online at http://thejournal.bpt.me OR for $20 each at the door.