This workshop course for actors, directors and scholars rehearses how to play with and against “type” in performance. The course uses scene- and monologue-study to press upon the limits of the conventions of typecasting. Course participants will experiment with cross-gender and cross-cultural casting; mask improvisation; conceptual casting; and performing across age, size, and ability. Throughout, the course engages relevant scholarly literature assessing the transformational act of taking on a role and uses in-class exercises, presentations and performances to press theory into practice (and vice versa).
Sample reading list:
Tennessee Williams, Orpheus Descending
Reading/Writing assignments:
100-150 pages of reading per week, with several short writing assignments throughout the semester.
