Butler International Theatre Exchange 2009

Guest Artist

Phillip Zarrilli, internationally known for training actors in psychophysical processes through Asian martial/meditation arts, and as a director. Phillip Zarrilli: Psychophysical Acting

2009 Project

Making The Body All Eyes

Body, breath, activation and performance

An intensive psychophysical training process applied to the plays of Samuel Beckett, with reference to the work of Sarah Kane.

Dates

May 25 - June 6, 2009
Daily six-hour workshops

Participation

The annual BITE project is open to Butler theatre majors, minors, and alumni, and to professional actors in Indianapolis, or by permission of the Department Chair. No auditions necessary.

Enrollment

Current Butler Students

Current Butler students enroll in Special Seminar: TH380, TH381, TH382 Butler International Theatre Exchange Project (1, 2, or 3 credits)

This class is listed in the first session (Summer 1) of Butler's Summer Classes for 2009, under JCFA Theatre.

Alumni and Professional Actors

The participation fee is $350. Checks made payable to: Butler Theatre

Limitations

Enrollment limit: 20

Reserve Your Place Now

Reserve your place now by contacting LuAnn Baker (lmbaker@butler.edu). Please confirm your participation even if you have previously indicated interest.

Workshop Overview

This workshop introduces participants to a psychophysical approach to awakening the actor's body and mind for performance. It focuses on developing the contemporary actor's interiority, i.e., how the actor might discover, awaken, shape, understand, and deploy 'energy' awareness, focus/concentration, and feeling to the 'matter' of performance - the impulses, structure, contours, and texture of the tasks or actions that constitute a specific performance score shaped by particular dramaturgies. Participants will be required to purchase Zarrilli's book Psychophysical Acting: an intercultural approach after Stanislavski which will be available at the Butler Bookstore, textbook area.

The Workshop begins with psychophysical training to prepare and awaken the body and mind through Asian martial/meditation arts - Chinese taiqiquan, Indian yoga, and the closely related martial art, kalarippayattu.

The first three days will concentrate on basic psychophysical training through repetition of exercises and introduction of underlying principles.

We then begin to 'apply' a few of the principles-in-practice through structured improvisations - exercises in which the elements and principles of the psychophysical training are applied to exercises that start looking like performances.

During the final part of the workshop, participants will explore application of the principles and techniques of training to the specific dramaturgies of the shorter plays of Samuel Beckett. Everyone will work on the physical score, Act Without Words 1 in order to experience the application of the training to a non-verbal series of progressive actions. Participants will also select a specific piece of Beckett text on which to work: Eh Joe, Piece of Monologue, Not I, Footfalls, or Play.

Workshop Outline

Phillip Zarrilli conducts actor training workshops throughout the world - including recent workshops at the Centre of Studies on Jerzy Grotowski (Poland), Seoul International Theatre Festival, International Workshop Festival (London), National Theatre of Greece, Tainan-Jen Theatre Company (Taiwan), TTRP (Singapore), Gardzienice Theatre Association, and Passe Partout (Netherlands), among many others. His recent productions of Samuel Beckett's plays in Los Angeles (2000), Austria (2001), and Ireland (2004) have won critical acclaim and awards. He recently directed a new translation of Sarah Kane's 4:48 Psychosis in Seoul, Korea. Zarrilli is also noted for his work with Indian dancers and choreographers.

In addition to his professional work, Zarrilli teaches psychophysical process as part of the BA and MA/MFA Theatre Practice program at the University of Exeter, UK. His numerous books include (editor) Acting (Re)Considered, When the Body Becomes All Eyes (1998), Kathakali Dance-Drama: Where Gods and Demons Come to Play (2000), and (editor) Martial Arts in Actor Training (1993), and his new book with interactive DVD-Rom on his approach to training actors and performance, Psychophysical Acting: an intercultural approach after Stanislavski (2008).