This summer, we explored the comic play - how does comedy work? We considered comedy technique - in acting and obviously in directing. Technique. That such a thing exists. That there might be nothing "stylized" or "artificial" about it, that great comic acting and directing is organic, timed and finely executed. What plays do we find funny? What, historically, are the great comic plays from our traditions? What is the state of comedy today in the theater? Does comedy - from Aristophanes, Shakespeare, to Gogol, to French farce, to Brecht farces, to classic American comedies, to Joe Orton, to Dario Fo and Pieter Dirk Uys - have a political element, right or left? is comedy "cheery" or does it share elements of violence with other fare? What is great comic acting? How to direct comedy?
Lab Directors
Balslev, Ida Kat
Bennett, Jenny
Bertelsen, Ann-Sofie
Blanchard, Thomas
Blinkhorn, Paul
Borba, Maria
Brandel , Laura
Brown, Cressida
Bruce, Regge Allan
Clinton, Lindsey
Connert, Lea
Cook, Ariana
Dittrich, Julia
Dowling, Susanna
Downs, Tara Lee
Edwards, Naomi
Erez, Shani
Freire, Pedro Carneiro
Gajdzis, Lukasz
Garcia, Ines
Gelb, Joshua William
Ginsburg, Steven
Gochfeld, David
Guerra, Federico
Heckel, Shen
Hegland, Henning A.
Hendel, Joseph
Henderson, Jerrell L.
Hickman, Kimberly Faith
Hoffmann, Leda
Ichikawa, Yojiro
Ivie, Brandon
Jephta, Amy Florence
Kamunya, Michael Mariu
Karp, Rachel
Kavakiotis, Konstantinos
Key, Dylan
Kildow, Eric S.
Kimuli, Karen Hasahya
Kimuli, Kenneth
Kraft, Erin
Lammers, Lynn
Leonard, Sarah Rose
Lin, Ding-Chen (Ethan)
Majumdar, Abhishek
McNamara, Cienda
McRaven, Amanda
Meredith, Lillian
Meyer, Hans
Moss-Bouldin, Shondrika
Nicholas, J Paul
Oh, Beng
Richards, Stephanie
Riley, Gillian
Russi, Nina
Sabimbona, Freddy
Safonova, Evgenia
Sandberg-Zakian, Megan
Shikhar, Sandeep
Stamatiou, Evi
Stein, Ilana
Steurer, Amanda
Theocharidou, Melina
Truchanowicz, Liz
Vaughn, Logan
Vodoor, Suchan
Wimpee, Cole
Wolf, Hannah
Worsham, Jenna
Zabegin, Alexey
Lab Master Artists
Christopher Bayes
Crystal A. Dickinson
Christopher Durang
Maija Garcia
Bill Irwin
Halva, Aaron
Pam MacKinnon
Bruce Norris
Dr. Robert Penzer
George C. Wolfe
Lab Actors
Aharanwa, Maechi
Avers, Brian
Barron, Mia
Battiste, Francois
Bryan, Leighton
Cirie, Andrea
Craig, Liam
Doyle, Matt
Eaves, Dashiell
Gill, Carter
Gomez, Sofia Jean
Groteleuschen, Andy
Guillory, Don
Keeley, Keira
Lincoln Smith, Jaime
Marguiles, David
McAndrew, Kelly
Narayan, Manu
Nathanson, Michael
Neshat, Marjan
Oguma, Olivia
Orsini, Jonny
Owens, Geoffrey
Paulik, Joe
Pringle, Postell
Pusz, Christy
Rashad, Condola
Rush, Deborah
Sgambati, Brian
Simms, Heather Alicia
Slotnick, Joey
Smith, Brian
Ward, Tony
Wisan, Liz
Lab Playwrights and Composers
Aristophanes
Dario Fo
Samuel Beckett
Christopher Durang
Langston Hughes and Zora Neale Hurston
Carl Kissin and Rob Baumgarten
Moliere
James Kirke Paulding
Kathy Najami and Mo Gaffney
Flaminio Scala
William Shakespeare
George Tabori
George C. Wolfe Martin McDonagh
Lab Staff
Lab Director: Anne Cattaneo
Lab Coordinator: Jane Grey
Lab Assistant: Kate Marvin
Lab Stage Management Staff
Sara Grady
Alex Mark
Cambra Overend
Howard Tilkin
Stephen Tonti
Nancy Wernick
Shared Sessions:
Musical Theater Improv with Joe Hendel
Aristotle's 'On Comedy' with Dylan Key and Peter Meineck
Postdramatic Comedy with Beng Oh
Etudes with Evgenia Safonova
South African Township Theater Comedy Styles with Amy Jeptha
Making Tragedy into a Comedy with Ida Kat Balslev and Lillian Meredith
Mnouchkine Workshop Talk with Pedro Freire
Not Being Human: A work-through of Henri Bergson's 'On Laughter' with Jenny Bennett
Kantor with Lukasz Gajdzis
Grotowski Plastiques with Suchan Vodoor
Comedy in Chekhov with Erin Kraft, Illana Stein, and Alexey Zabegin
Xiangsheng - Crosstalk with Ethan Lin
Indian Traditional Comic Forms with Abhishek Majumdar
How is Humor linked to a person's age? with Nina Russi
Casting the Comedy with Logan Vaughn
Script Analysis with Liz Truchanowicz
Other Sessions:
A week with Christopher Bayes, Head of Physical Acting, Yale School of Drama
Discussion with Pam MacKinnon and Crystal A. Dickinson
Discussion with George C. Wolfe
Discussion with Christopher Durang
Discussion with Dr. Penzer, Psychoanalyst
Discussion with Bill Irwin
Visits to see CLYBOURNE PARK, FELA, WAR HORSE, and UNCLE VANYA.
TWELFTH NIGHT by William Shakespeare
WE WON'T PAY! WE WON'T PAY! by Dario Fo
A Commedia Dell'Arte Selection by Flaminio Scala
MULE BONE by Langston Hughes & Zora Neale Hurston
LION OF THE WEST by James Kirk Paulding
PARALLEL LIVES by Kathy Najami & Mo Gaffney
WAITING FOR GODOT by Samuel Beckett
A DOCTOR IN SPITE OF HIMSELF by Moliere
MEIN KAMPF by George Tabori
THE CLOUDS by Aristophanes
ALONE WORLD by Carl Kissin & Rob Baumgarten
THE ACTOR'S NIGHTMARE by Christopher Durang
THE COLORED MUSEUM by George C. Wolfe
THE LIEUTENANT OF INISHMORE by Martin McDonagh
