Colouring outside the Lines: the Role of the Actor in the Role
Total hours: 34h
Contact: obrador@salabeckett.cat
Director Michael Attenborough and writer Neil LaBute invite actors into an immersive workshop where together we will investigate the traditional creative triangle (director-actor-writer) through a series of new short works designed to liberate creativity and help the performer understand and enhance their role in creating a character.
Actors will be asked to work quickly on new monologues and scenes and to change roles on any given day until a flow of performance is created. Later, an order will present itself and actors will be cast as certain characters, learn the material and perform it for their peers and an invited audience on our final day together.
Our collective hope is to free actors from simply filling in the blanks of a character while helping them learn to colour outside the lines and thereby, giving them the agency to create as well as imitate.
The individual is what makes each role special and we will work to compliment and build upon those special tools that each actor will bring into the room with them at the start of the week.
Within the GREC 2022 Festival of Barcelona.
Michael Attenborough CBE. D Litt. has been a theatre director for almost 50 years. He became Associate Director of the Mercury Theatre Colchester, then of the Leeds Playhouse and finally the Young Vic, before being appointed Artistic Director of the Palace Theatre Watford and of the Hampstead Theatre. This was followed by 12 years as Principal Associate Director and Executive Producer of the Royal Shakespeare Company, where he is now an Honorary Associate Artist, and 11 years as Artistic Director of the celebrated Almeida Theatre in London.
His freelance work includes productions for the National Theatre, the Royal Court, the Tricycle and Chichester; and abroad in Dublin, Toronto, Brisbane, Washington and twice on Broadway.
His work has resulted in a number of awards and West End transfers, culminating in the Award for Excellence from the International Theatre Institute and the CBE for services to the theatre. He is the recipient of Honorary Degrees from the Universities of Leicester, where he is an Honorary Distinguished Fellow, and Sussex, where he is Honorary Professor of English and Drama. He is a Trustee of the Belarus Free Theatre, Director Emeritus of RADA, Associate Director Emeritus of the Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh and Patron of Artists In Residence.
Neil LaBute is an American playwright, film director, screenwriter and actor. He is best-known for the play (later adapted for film) In the Company of Men (1997), which won awards from the Sundance Film Festival, the Independent Spirit Awards and the New Yort Film Critics Circle. Highlights among his plays ara Bash: Latter-Day Plays (1999), The Shape of Things (2001), Fat Pig (2004), Reasons to Be Pretty (2008), In a Forest, Dark and Deep (2011) and All the Ways to Say I Love You (2016). He has written and directed the films Your Friends & Neighbors (1998), Possession (2002) (based on the A. S. Byatt novel), The Shape of Things (2003) (based on his play of the same name), The Wicker Man (2006), Some Velvet Morning (2013) and Dirty Weekend (2015). He has also directed the films Nurse Betty (2000), Lakeview Terrace (2008) and the American adaptation of Death at a Funeral (2010). LaBute created the TV series Billy & Billie, writing and directing all the episodis, and Van Helsing. Recently, he executive produced, co-directed and co-wrote the Netflix’s The I-Land. He also directed several episodes for shows such as Hell on Wheels and Billions.
Admission to the course will be based on order of arrival and CV assessment, which should be sent (with photograph included), filling in the form on the right.
Places on courses are limited. Places will be reserved once the course amount has been paid. Payment must be made within one week of receiving the corresponding acceptance email.
The dates indicated for each course or seminar may be subject to variations in exceptional circumstances. These will be notified when applicable.
For the course to take place, a minimum number of students must be registered. If this number is not reached, the course will be cancelled and the student will have the option of registering for a different course (providing that there are places available) or alternatively will receive a refund of the amount paid (100%). If a student withdraws, a refund of 75% of the registration fee will be applicable, providing that written notice is given at least 10 days before the start of the course.