July 18-23, 2016 SOLD OUT
CREATING SOLO PERFORMANCE: Amusing the Muse
(or – The Art of Juggling the Truth)
with Sara Felder
In this workshop – a Ko favorite – we will develop 
performance material using objects, character work, monologues, humor and material from our own lives. In the safe space of our hands-on laboratory, we will search our memories, lies and truths in the joyful and rigorous work of creating fun and meaningful solo theater. We will write, try on different performance styles, create images, play with objects, investigate characters, consider different narrative voices, find the humor in the pain (and vice versa,) experiment, fail, laugh, support each other and surprise ourselves.
This workshop happily greets all explorers — from first-timers to seasoned professionals. Theater folk, dancers, musicians, storytellers or those who are simply curious are welcome to join us as we amuse (or schmooze, or cruise) the Muse.
This workshop sold out the previous times we’ve offered it. Early registration recommended.
COMMENTS ON SARA’S PREVIOUS KO WORKSHOPS:
“Sara is amazing. She had 14 students, including me, with a wide range of age (20s to 60s), skills and experiences, and everyone created new pieces that were personally meaningful and theatrically engaging. … What we learned went beyond performance skills. We learned about humanity.” M.D.
“It was a real workshop, a laboratory for creative expression. I have learned so much, shed more of the unnecessary – gained more insight into the process of art.” B.C.-G.
“You created a safe, supportive, and inspiring environment for the attending artists to explore their craft. The work in the workshop opened whole new ways for me to think about and approach my acting. I’ve always been rooted in a tradition of physical acting but this really was beyond the next level of anything I’ve done.” – A.W.
ABOUT SARA FELDER
Sara Felder is a performer, playwright and teacher who, over the last 3 decades, has created a body of work that juggles personal narrative, circus shtik and social justice. She has toured with San Francisco’s Pickle Family Circus, Joel Grey’s Borscht Capades and her own solo theater shows. Felder’s international touring includes Jugglers for Peace in Cuba, the Women’s Circus in Nicaragua, and at Festivals of Jewish/Yiddish Culture all over the world.
Using her signature style of addressing important social issues with humor, grace and circus routines, her solo shows have tackled such topics as a Jewish lesbian wedding (June Bride,) the Israeli-Palestinian conflict (Out of Sight,) and grief (A Queer Divine) — all seen in previous seasons at Ko. She also tacked mental illness in Melancholy, A Comedy.
Recently Sara has been reworking A Queer Divine for a San Francisco run, plotting her newest piece, Overdue, and teaching comedy and performance at San Francisco State University. She lives in Oakland, CA with her favorite writers: Dev Noily, a rabbi and Jesse Lev, a conceptual artist.
She has been an artist-in-residence at the Headlands Center for the Arts, Intersection for the Arts, 1812 Productions and the California Arts Council, the latter for her work teaching juggling and performance in California prisons. Felder is a recipient of, among many others, the California Arts Council Artist Fellowship in Playwriting, the San Francisco Art Commission, the National Performance Network, the Creative Work Fund, the Leeway Transformation Award for her commitment to art and social change as well as the Arts in America’s “Animating Democracy Initiative” which used art to inspire civic dialogue about same-sex marriage in Anchorage, AK.
“Felder is a master story-teller and social satirist whose gentle but incisive humor recalls Lily Tomlin or Jerry Seinfeld — if they could juggle.” — Santa Cruz Sentinel
“She has chutzpah up the wazoo.” — San Francisco Weekly
For more information visit www.sarafelder.com
WORKSHOP LOGISTICS & REGISTRATION
Workshops are geared for participants of all levels of experience, whose ages have run from 18-85. Workshops will meet from 10 am – 4 pm, Monday through Saturday, in Studio II of Webster Hall on the Amherst College campus in Amherst, MA.
Driving Instructions to Amherst College
Workshops cost $399. There is a $50 discount for registration by May 15. NOTE: Contact us to apply for limited pool of financial aid, or for discounts for ATHE, NET (Network of Ensemble Theaters) members or staff/artists from TCG member theatres.
Optional room and board are available on the Amherst College campus for an additional fee. Workshop housing is $231, for a single with a shared bath in an Amherst College dorm. Studios, theatre, dining commons and dorms are all within walking distance. A meal ticket for the Dining Commons (healthy food, much of it local) is $245.
Email us, if you are interested in alternative housing. There are a number of hotels, motels and bed & breakfasts in the area.
TO REGISTER IF PAYING BY CREDIT CARD OR PAYPAL:
Click here to register and make your payment by credit card or PayPal.