Crossing the Chasm ... a workshop with Alan Arkin

[KathyRose]

One of my favorite instructors is returning to Austin to teach a 3-day workshop November 14-16 (Friday - Sunday, 9:00-5:30) at The Crossings (a resort / retreat center off Volente Rd): Crossing the Chasm from Theatre to Life: A Forum in Improvisation with Alan Arkin.

Description: Academy Award-winning actor and director Alan Arkin invites you to experiment, share, play, and grow while practicing the spontaneous art of improvisational theater. Actors and lovers of theater, as well as people who are simply interested in deepening their intuitive selves, are welcome. A relaxed, supportive atmosphere fosters the freedom to recapture and explore the rich imaginative life we all had as children. Package includes program fee, accommodations, meals, and access to on-site activities and property amenities.

Note: the minimum "package" (commuting each day, with only lunch at The Crossings) is $672. Staying overnight at The Crossings, with breakfast, lunch & dinner, would be much, much more. Also note, if you click on the button to "Register Now," you'll need to specify your "arrival date" as Nov 13, then scroll to the bottom of the next page for the commuting package.

When I called for information this morning, there were only 7 out of 20 seats available - make it 6, now that I enrolled.

I attended a 5-day version of this workshop in 2004, and another one in 2005. As far as improv goes, this is a beginner's class and might bore more experienced improvisers ... unless you're willing to approach it with a beginner's mind and an open heart. Also, be aware that Alan disdains gags and jokes. His wife Suzanne is a psychotherapist, and they enjoy teaching improv as a life skill (not a performance skill) - as a way of broadening points of view, making people more adaptable to change and helping them find the joy in life. Of the people who attended the classes that I did, about a third were actors, a third psychotherapists and a third "normal" folks. Each time, it was an amazing experience.

In general, Alan's workshops begin with improv exercises designed to loosen us up; free us from the urge to entertain, fabricate or direct stories; and heighten our awareness of, and responsiveness to, each other. Then we get down to what Alan calls "personal stories" - scenes based on subjects and situations that the students are passionate about. One participant called the experience "a colonic for the soul."

And this is what I gleaned regarding Alan's improv philosophy ...

A successful scene is one that has a quality, not necessarily humor, which rivets the attention of the audience. At its best, the scene reveals something unexpected to the players.

Only two things are needed for a scene to work: each player must decide, before entering the scene, (1) on a clear intention - an objective or reason for being there; and (2) an emotional connection to the intention - how he/she feels about it. In other words - what happens has got to matter to the character.

It's not necessary for the players to reveal their characters' intentions, either to the audience or each other, or even to fulfill them; but without intention and emotional investment, the scene loses focus and purpose and either wanders aimlessly, grinds to a stop or becomes a fishing expedition for punch-lines.

Note: the intention is not the actor's intention; it is the character's intention. It's purpose is not to create a story line, but to give the character motivation and inner life. Always play the character, not the scene; act to achieve an internal objective, not to create an effect (e.g. to set up a joke or tell a story).

As far as acting goes, he added, "you make it believable by believing it."

[apiaryist]

Sweet jesus, I would sell a baby to go to this. Why won't he come to Austin? Don't we have fancy resorts around here?

[arthursimone]

Alan Arkin offered to do a freestyle rap workshop at CTT, but fred bothwell has a restraining order against him

[kbadr]

Sweet jesus, I would sell a baby to go to this. Why won't he come to Austin? Don't we have fancy resorts around here?

He *is* coming to Austin. The Crossings is in Austin, or just outside it.

[bradisntclever]

Sweet jesus, I would sell a baby to go to this. Why won't he come to Austin? Don't we have fancy resorts around here?

This workshop IS coming to Austin, is it not?

[KathyRose]

This workshop IS coming to Austin, is it not?

Correct. Austin. Hill country. Off Volente Rd.

[vine311]

I'd like to buy a baby.

[Jules]

Jason, I have a four year old. Still cute and cuddly, but toilet trained.
We'll talk price.