How bold does a play have to be to make audiences walk out of the theatre these days? How comfortable have people become watching things that are uncomfortable? Has everyone been so desensitized by sexuality, violence, and disturbing subject matter that nobody knows how to be offended by it anymore? In the first half of the 20th century, Antonin Artaud advocated a “theatre of cruelty,” attempting to throw audiences into the center of the action and force them to respond to the art on a visceral level. Through scene study, students in this class will explore the kind of material that shocks the audience, unsettles them, jars them. In this class, students will investigate the visceral.
*First class meets Wednesday, June 12. All other classes will meet on Tuesday.
Course Instructor
Rob Nagle
At ANTAEUS: The Little Foxes, The Hothouse, The Liar, Macbeth, Peace in Our Time. Other Theater: The Road Theatre Company, New World Stages, Skylight Theatre Company, South Coast Repertory, Denver Center for the Performing Arts, The Troubadour Theater Company, Rogue Machine Theatre, Portland Center Stage, Mark Taper Forum, The Old Globe. Film includes: First Love, To Hell and Gone, Bad Samaritan, Mother’s Day, Fishing Naked, Boost, New Year’s Eve, The Soloist, Cellular, American Wedding. TV includes: NCIS: Los Angeles, Superior Donuts, Modern Family, The Librarians, Grey’s Anatomy, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Criminal Minds, NCIS, Mad Men, Eli Stone, Everwood, The Guardian, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Dawson’s Creek. Education: Northwestern University. Spouse: Heather Allyn. Pug: Houston. robnagle.com
For more info: http://antaeus.org/arts-education/academy/
