Christine Schmalor

play theme

the purest form of acting

In my many years of practice, I have found that most actors have no problem portraying realistic characters, but are lost when it comes to abstraction on stage. Yet this is precisely what contemporary dramaturgy demands. This means we have to change our mindset and to develop a different kind of acting awareness with new techniques.

Workshop and individual coaching

There is a vacuum for actors in contemporary theatre: no situations, no characters, no plots, just words, words, words… texts, sounds, ideas created by authors, directors or collectively.
Exciting! But…

  • How do I manage to perform on stage as a human being? Perhaps even surrounded by visual, digital technology?
  • What do my feelings and emotions signify in this context? What should they refer to? Which feelings? Which emotions? Is it all just in the head now, or what?
  • Who is talking about the beauty of empty space here? How am I supposed to fill it? Who am I? Who or what am I supposed to embody? Does this question even make sense anymore if there are no longer any characters?

All these questions arise when we leave classical dramatic theatre behind and enter the experimental space, whatever form it may take, with thoughts and concepts at the highest and most complex level, but without a clear idea of how they can be conveyed beyond human characters in stories or situations.

Then it’s not a bad idea to start with the void. The void consists of 1000 possibilities…Nothingness leads us away from realism to an artificial world of ideas and themes.

  • But how can themes be identified? How can they be opened up? How can they be played?

Only with a clear change in the actor’s position, based on a changed mindset. In this seminar, we will try out new techniques of text analysis that necessarily lead to completely different forms of acting. We allow ourselves to playfully open up philosophical dimensions; to shift the space of thought into larger dimensions and thus explore new dimensions in time and space.

This approach is just as important for a contemporary presentation of classical dramatic texts!

Holistic thinking, intertextuality, yes, the unlimited nature of complete freedom of thought lead to a new stage presence that enables one to ‘play theme’. This also involves giving the body back its full freedom and getting rid of psychological-realistic clichés.

Who dares to try? Welcome!

Play Theme

In three joint sessions, I will introduce techniques for applied text analysis. You will immediately put them into practice with numerous exercises, thereby expanding your scope for thought and action. You will be given tasks to try out for yourselves and, ideally, apply to your own current projects. Two individual coaching sessions between the group sessions will be dedicated to your individual questions and needs.

Teacher

Christine Schmalor

Number of participants

Maximum number of participants  8

Teaching Language

English; individual coaching in English or German

Format

Online lecture in dialogue, practical exercises plus individual coaching 

Mode of operation

3 meetings once a week | 2,5 hours each
Plus 2 individual sessions of 1 hour to apply to your own needs. Time to be arranged in the end of the meeting.
Additional choaching hours upon request.

In case you miss a session, you have the opportunity to watch the recording in the following days.

Cost

210 €
early bird price until 15 October: 180 € 

Course dates and Registration

Click on the icon to register and get your early bird price until 15 October!

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If it is not possible to attend this course at the times you see above, you can express your wish to be informed about future dates by filling out the contact form.