Compelling Live Interpretation of the Written Word for Writers, Actors and Poets

A comprehensive immersion in the live delivery of creative writing based on the award-winning Inverse Theater’s “Verse Circus”

Spend a week in New York’s Catskill Mountains learning to get the meat out of poetry and learning to project the creative word or dramatic text when you perform it live. This course is for poets and writers who wish to develop their ability to speak and express themselves in public, and it’s for actors who would like to develop a truthful and organic approach to performing poetic scripts, including Classical Theater.

 “Write out Loud!” is a 5-day immersion in the process of interpreting the written word for performance. The course reaches out to young creative writers, aspiring actors, and students, wishing to delve in to the forensics of public speaking.

Course instructors Robert Laine and Hank Wagner from award-winning Inverse Theater will lead a 5-day workshop that bridges the gap between the creative writer reading his works aloud, and the professional performer interpreting the written word for the stage.

Along with the 5 days of professional acting training with Bob Laine and Hank Wagner, participants will receive guest workshops by published poets who have participated in Inverse’s Verse Circus and have reflected on their experiences as writers who had to learn to speak/perform in public.

Participants in the course will perform alongside these guest poets and with veteran actors at a variety of venues and cultural centers in the local area (Oneonta, NY).  These “Verse Circus” readings are based on Inverse Theater’s acclaimed series

Instruction and housing will be at the scenic, historical, and private Pine Lake Environmental campus of Hartwick College, nestled in the Hills of Oneonta, NY.

Course Cost is $875.  Includes 5 days lodging (shared rooms), and meals. 15 students maximum so apply now! 

1 College credit in Drama/Language Arts is available through Hartwick College for an additional $230.

THE LOW-DOWN…

This 5-day intensive is not a course in acting or in poetry or in creative writing. While creative writers in the group are encouraged to share selections of their own work, the bulk of the material to be read and performed is at the discretion of the participant.

The most observable effect of the Verse Circus series, in New York City, on both the actor and the writer/poet alike has been a noticeable departure from pretension and a relaxation into the truth of the material. After a few successive reads at the Verse Circus, both seasoned actors and published writers found themselves breaking free from the standard approach to poetic performance and readings. There was very little of the poetic “lilt” that you hear over and over at poetry readings.

“Verse Circus” participants have shared their own material, read the works of living poets, performed the great classical texts, and done everything in between. What we found in this mixture of actors, poets, and a handful of lyricists was a commonality of compelling interpretation and delivery that developed along with the sincerity and clarity of the readings. For some that has meant bringing it down and just getting real with the material; for others. that means activating the material to the nth degree with staging and music. The common denominator was a sincere desire to connect the listener with the truth of the text as effectively as possible.

The plan....

Seasoned Inverse Theater Company Teaching Artist/Performers, Robert Laine and Hank Wagner will team-teach the course, which includes guest lectures and workshops involving a variety of published writers (all of whom are expert instructors as well).

The schedule for the program is  as follows:  Arrive the evening of Sat. July 21^st and depart Friday morning July 26^th. Instruction begins Sunday morning and culminates on Thursday night with the final “Verse Circus” event. Participants will depart Friday Morning after breakfast.

The nightly “Verse Circus” readings and the larger culminating event will be open to the public, thus generating enthusiasm in the community and creating a real, nightly goal for the students involved in the program. The final “Verse Circus” event on Thursday July 26^th promises to be really lively as the remaining members of the Inverse Theater Acting Company will arrive on the scene to strut their stuff along with the course participants and perhaps a few local personalities as well.

The program would be open to a maximum of 15 students based both on lodging availability at Pine Lake and an effective instructor to student ratio.

Days will be broken in to 5 major parts:

1.    Mornings are devoted to physical and vocal training,

2.    Early afternoon is devoted to interpretation and the forensic breakdown of public speech.

3.    Later afternoon is devoted to activities that explore theatricality and creative interpretation of text.

4.    The last class of the day will be taught by the guest lecturer of the day.

5.    After the day’s activities, the members of the intensive workshop will reconvene at a public venue for a public sharing of the days work by the participants, the teachers, and the guest writer/lecturer.

Activities the students will be engaged in during the intensive:

·     Text interpretation

·     Forensic speech techniques

·     Vocal Projection

·     Physical and vocal warm-ups

·     Musical interpretation

·     Cold reading

·     Classical verse

·     Modern verse, prose and short stories

Contact Hank Wagner at inverse_workshops@yahoo.com for more info or call 917-796-4767