Join us for Seattle Experimental Theater’s next improv workshop – learn from our veterans as they share their expertise and unique perspectives.
“Can’t We All Get Along” with Tony Beeman will be offered on January 21, 2016 from 1 – 4PM. Spaces are limited and advance registration is required. Class fee is $45. The class is recommended for advanced and intermediate improvisers with at least some performing experience.
Tickets available at Brown Paper Tickets.
CLASS DESCRIPTION
Theatre, literature, cinema and real life are all filled with people who get along. People who fall in love, maintain friendships, help each other out, and build a better society. The same can’t always be said for improvised scenes. Improvised characters spend a lot of time fighting, disagreeing, or betraying each other. It can be hard for improvisers to find tension without reaching for external conflict.
This workshop will explore internal conflict and find different sorts of tensions. We will work with scenes between characters who like each other, who fall in love, and who genuinely want to help. We’ll explore characters who are at war with themselves, not with someone else. We’ll look at off-stage conflict, and how on-stage characters can embody that conflict in interesting ways. We’ll also explore how to create mixed relationships: odd couples, relationships of grudging respect, love/hate relationships, and characters who fall in love with the worst possible choice.
These tools are important building blocks for long form and also a great way to vary your short form work.
ABOUT THE INSTRUCTOR
Tony Beeman has been improvising, teaching, and directing in Seattle for over ten years. He makes his improv home at Unexpected Productions, where he serves as Artistic Associate, and teaches the Performance 600 class. He performs regularly with Seattle Experimental Theater (Where No Man Has Gone Before, The Doctor, Time’s Arrow). He is a founding member of NERDProv, Seattle’s geekiest improv group, and can be seen on HyperRPG’s Shadowrun Twitch Show, Corporate SINs. He likes to watch characters fall in love more than anything.