Sorry for the tardy February soup—I was away, at the Georgia Thespian Conference on the Columbus-Phenix, Alabama border. This was my second year attending the conference, representing Manhattan Tour and Travel in the Exhibition Hall. I enjoy this conference more and more every year—mostly, because of the energy of the high school drama students, who come from all over Georgia and beyond.

In addition to vendors like myself, there are also college scholarship auditions, several main stage shows brought by the various schools, and workshops. I was thrilled to teach one of the advanced workshops to both college-bound students and theatre educators—a 90-minute Conservatory-Style Studio, modeled after a typical repertory or college level theatre class. The response was incredible and I was so excited to be involved in the conference in two ways this year. I described my class as a “fast-paced physical workshop simulating a conservatory-style studio class, drawing on what’s current and popular in New York—Viewpoints technique, composition, warm-ups with purpose and improv exercises you haven’t heard of, all packed into a cohesive model resembling what professionally-bound students will encounter in higher studies.” I was humbled that those who participated, rated my workshop 5 Stars—a special “thank you” for that. It was a challenging class and everyone really brought their A game. I was equally impressed with y’all right back!

MTAT was also the only tour company in attendance focused exclusively on theatre arts (and chorus and band) trips to New York City, so I had the opportunity to talk to all sorts of attendees about our incredible trips, Broadway offerings, New York workshops and about theatre in general.

Theatrically, some performance highlights of the festival were THE ADDAMS FAMILY by Lakeview Academy, BIG FISH by West Forsyth High School, CIRQUE OKOLO by Milton (you wouldn’t believe the acrobatics offered up by these students—it was like Vegas!), EVITA by Calhoun High School, THE MIRACLE WORKER by our own friends at Forsyth Central High under the exceptional direction of Colleen Quigley, and a production of SPOON RIVER ANTHOLOGY (by Dekalb School of the Arts), which is rarely performed as a whole piece.

The annual mission of the conference is to empower both students and educators through theatre, and they achieve this ten times over, each year. I’m always impressed by the quality of work presented at Georgia ThesCon and equally inspired by the genuine love of the craft by everyone who participates, including volunteers, the local police, and alumni.

For those who couldn’t make it all the way to Columbus, I wanted to share at least a small sampling of the exercises I presented at my workshop. Here’s three of them from different categories, that you could recreate in your own drama classes:

A Warm-Up: Stop, Go, Clap, Jump
In case you’re getting bored with the overworked Zip, Zap, Zop, try this exercise, which is a perfect starter for any theatre class. Start by having everyone “walk the grid”, which is fancy Viewpoints Technique terminology for walking every inch of the room, while focusing and avoiding bumping into others. Familiarize each person with the four basic commands: Stop, Go, Clap (stop and clap), and Jump (stop and jump). Once participants get the gist, it’s time to mix it up and see who’s really focusing. I often announce about two minutes in that “stop will now mean go, and go will now mean stop.” A few minutes later, clap and jump also switch meanings. Play around with speed and amp up the pace—that will make this warm-up considerably more challenging. Sometimes, it’s also fun to eliminate those who misinterpret a command in a Simon Says fashion.

An Improv Game You Haven’t Played: What’s in the box?
This is a two person/partner game.
Person A: (enters the space with an imaginary box or container of some sort)
Person B: “What’s in the box?”
Person A: (answers with something that seems appropriate to the size, shape, and reaction to the imaginary box)
Person B: (justifies the response)
Here’s an example of how it might go:
Person A: (brings on a tiny box that he pulls out from deep in his pocket)
Person B: “What’s in the box?”
Person A: (pulls out an imaginary engagement ring) “Will you marry me?”
Person B: “Like I told you yesterday, and the day before that, and the day before that, and the day before that… NO!”

A Tool for Creating Original Blocking: Composition
Creating blocking for a piece can be much more than just sitting in a chair and thinking, “From which side of the stage should my actor enter?” In fact, it can be really useful to have the ensemble help construct elements of blocking using this technique. Fashion a list of twenty different tasks/variables and have a medium-sized group create a four-minute improv that must include each and every one on the list. Some of the things on my list were:

1 There must be a monkey.
2 Someone must speak in a made-up language.
3 One character has to have an odd walk.
4 Two people must play a single inanimate object.
5 There must be an earthquake or a fire.
6 Someone has to get shot in a duel.

It’s useful to create list items that have something to do with the piece you are working on. For example, if you are working on “Peter Pan”, I would expect your composition might involve pirates, someone who flies, a dog that talks, children taking medicine, and so on. I’m always amazed at how dynamic blocking can be pulled right from these quick, intuitively created improvs.

Can’t wait to see you next year, ThesCon!