Motus Workshop by Enrico Casagrande e Daniela Nicolò (Motus Company, Italy)
FURIOUS DIASPORA

This workshop is part of an open reflection, of a new much broader research path around the human necessity of moving, traveling, exploring, meeting… of undertaking new existential adventures Elsewhere, far away from one’s land or from one’s registered identity.

At the heart of this process, the inalienable claim of a Right for all the planet’s human beings to be able to do this. Either because they are “forced” by climate catastrophes or by armed conflicts, or simply because they are moved by the desire to propel themselves into the unknown of a new existential/work-related experience in unfamiliar territories.

Furious Diaspora, a quote from Paul B. Preciado’s “We say Revolution” – mentioned in the performance MDLSX – is the attempt, at times clumsy, to share a moment of escape from one’s own image, age, social condition, sex… to transform ourselves, become something/one else. Sometimes small changes create big transformations.

In Furious Diaspora we want to similarly trace the biographies of artists who are participating by emphasizing the places where they were born and now live. We seek to trace their journeys and connect their personal experiences to their theatre, an all-inclusive space where they can share their experiences and find ways to connect their lives and reflect on the notion of freedom. We see the theatre as the space of multiple transformations, a genuine metaphor to illuminate the societal constraints that we face in our lives.

MOTUS, the company founded by Enrico Casagrande and Daniela Nicolò celebrates its twenty-fifth anniversary, an important one for this group that burst onto the scene in the Nineties with productions wielding great physical and emotional impact and has always anticipated and portrayed some of the harshest contradictions of the present day. It has explored and created hyper-contemporary trends in the theatre, performing authors such as Camus, Beckett, DeLillo, Rilke or their beloved Pasolini, leading to their radical reinterpretation of Antigone in the light of the Greek crisis, or Shakespeare’s The Tempest, interpolated by Aimé Césaire, which powerfully evoked the tragedy of emigration and created instant communities around the world. They’ve received numerous acknowledgements, including three UBU Prizes and prestigious special awards for their work. Silvia Calderoni – their tireless protagonist – has worked with Motus since 2005 and is the winner of many awards that include “Best Italian Actress” honors UBU Prize, Elizabeth Turroni, Marte and Virginia Reiter Awards. Freethinkers, Motus have performed all over the world, from Under the Radar in New York, to Festival Trans Amériques in Montreal, Santiago a Mil (Chile), the Fiba Festival in Buenos Aires, as well as all over Europe.

Moisés Kaufman
INTRODUCTION TO MOMENT WORK

In this Lab, participants will learn the basic principles and exercises of Moment Work – the devising method used by the award winning Tectonic Theater Project. Participants will learn to think theatrically, discovering the multitude of ways that the elements of the stage can communicate. They will explore the elements of the stage – lights, sound, costumes, movement, character, and architecture — to discover their full theatrical potential. Participants will also gain insight into how to analyze and critique the work from a practical and theoretical Moment Work perspective. Towards the end of the workshop, participants create a short a piece. This experiment in theatrical language and form encourages participants to think theatrically, to unlock their theatrical imagination, and to discover the multitudes of ways that the elements of the stage can communicate. Directors are taught to analyze and critique the work from a structuralist perspective.

MOISÉS KAUFMAN was awarded the National Medal of Arts by President Obama in September. He is also a Tony and Emmy nominated director and playwright. Prior Broadway credits: The Heiress with Jessica Chastain, 33 Variations (which he also wrote) with Jane Fonda (5 Tony nominations); Rajiv Joseph’s Pulitzer Prize finalist Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo with Robin Williams; the Pulitzer and Tony Award-winning play I Am My Own Wife. His plays Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde and The Laramie Project are among the most performed plays in America over the last decade. Kaufman also co-wrote and directed the film adaptation of The Laramie Project for HBO, which received two Emmy Award nominations for Best Director and Best Writer. He is currently directing and writing a new Broadway-bound adaptation of Bizet’s Carmen with Grammy-winning composer Arturo O’Farrill. He’s the artistic director of TECTONIC THEATER PROJECT and a Guggenheim Playwriting Fellow.

Lee Brock
ENCOURAGING SPONTANEITY

Lee will work with directors, refining their communication skills with actors.  She will focus on techniques that make the actors’ work more spontaneous and unpredictable.  She will share ways for directors to achieve results without directly asking for results. Through a process developed by The Barrow Group over the past 30 years, Lee Brock helps directors help actors find the freedom to be spontaneous on stage. The exercises she will share during this workshop are the cornerstone of the Barrow Group method which has trained thousands of actors and directors. The acting that results from her work is the most natural, open and real form. Actors attain a presence on stage that allows anything to happen in the moment. Lee’s unique ability to present the work combines her keen perceptive skills with a humanistic approach to working with actors. To prepare, please read, An Actor’s Companion by Seth Barrish.

LEE BROCK is Co-Artistic Director and a founding member of The Barrow Group with whom she has appeared in and directed numerous plays.  Directing: Abigail’s Party, The Pavilion, Art, Orange Flower Water, The Timekeepers, Uncle Vanya and others. Acting: The Kennedy Center, Manhattan Theater Club, Playhouse 91, the Lucille Lortel Theater, the Perry Street Theater, La Mama e.t.c., and others.  Her television appearances include ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK, LAW & ORDER, LAW & ORDER: SVU, LAW ORDER: CRIMAL INTENT and guest spots on SEX & THE CITY, THE INVISIBLE MAN, THE GUIDING LIGHT, and THE DOCTORS. Film: TADPOLE, IMAGINARY HEROS, EXTREME MEASURES, & LABOR PAINS.  She has been a professional acting coach and teacher based in New York City for the last twenty years.

Sam Trubridge
A THOUSAND WORLDS: MAKING THEATRE FROM IMAGE & ENCOUNTERS 

Working in the landscape and buildings of La MaMa Umbria, this workshop looks at how curatorial and design processes can lead the composition of performance works: looking at how theatre worlds can become physical experiences, and how images can take on the dramaturgical weight and the power of words. Drawing on Trubridge’s directorial processes and oceanic background, this workshop exposes the strategies behind a unique practice that works across disciplinary boundaries to reimagine performance and theatre. This has produced large-scale projects like The Performance Arcade festival in Wellington, New Zealand, through to intimate solo performance art works and acclaimed design led productions that have toured the world. “No image satisfies me unless it is at the same time knowledge” – Antonin Artaud (1931) A Manifesto in a Clear Language

Sam Trubridge works between the roles of performance artist, director, designer, and curator. He is known for his strong visual style and creation of genre-carking new event formats for the performing arts, chiefly in his role as the artistic director for the trans-disciplinary performance company The PlayGround NZ Ltd, and founder of The Performance Arcade: an annual festival of performance art on Wellington Waterfront, New Zealand. With The PlayGround Sam has directed and designed The Restaurant of Many Orders at London’s Sadler’s Wells, Wellington’s Te Whaea National Centre for Dance + Drama, and for a tour of three venues around Italy. In 2008 he collaborated with Professor Philippa Gander at Massey University’s Sleep/Wake Research Centre to direct and design the award winning Sleep/Wake (Wellington, Auckland, and New York). Sam’s work has been published and exhibited in various international contexts, including the Prague Quadrennial and World Stage Design. He has presented work at festivals and venues in Europe, Australia, Asia, and the Americas; and has written articles on performance for various publications worldwide. He is currently the Oceanic editor for World Scenography, a survey of performance design from 1975-2020. Sam conceived, directed and curated The Performance Arcade, a new performance festival on Wellington’s waterfront that has run annually since 2011. The success of this concept continues to support the growth of experimental performance practises in NZ, and has received various awards, citations and commissions.