I spend a good deal of time on this blog speaking about commedia and commedia mask styles, but relatively little on what is the basis of most mask work (and the acting work that mask work often accompanies):  The Neutral Mask.

Learning to be neutral- to display an action separate from character, to divorce yourself from the acting- is incredibly hard, and incredibly rewarding.  It’s not particularly sexy, and it’s not particularly funny– but it can blow your mind and bring you to the next level of acting, if you let it.

Here’s notice of a great workshop with Adrienne Kapstein, who I’ve seen perform several times when she was with Sa Booge.  She’s now an associate of WarHorse, and teaching locally.  She’s a great performer, and although I haven’t studied with her, I’m betting she’s a good teacher.

Check it out, and report back!

reduced fee!

NEUTRAL MASK

Taught by WAR HORSE ‘s movement associate Adrienne Kapstein

The study of Neutral Mask challenges the actor to use their entire body in expressing themselves on stage.  It is a vital tool for performers wanting to gain a greater control over their body in movement, develop their imagination and bring a dynamic quality to their presence on stage. Through a series of improvisational and technical exercises the actor confronts their physical habits in order to move past the ‘daily’ body and enter the theatrical realm.  The Neutral Mask demands that every gesture on stage carries meaning!  This workshop is suitable for actors at all stages of their career.

• April 8th 6:30pm-10pm
• April 9th 10am-4pm
• April 10th 10am-4pm
• Location: 302 West 37th Street, Fl 6, NYC
• Fee: $300 now $225 (a deposit of $100 is required to secure space and is refundable until 3/25 – remainder of fee is due 4/1)

 

To apply click here: http://www.movementtheaterstudio.com/apply.html
For more information please send an email to: info@movementtheaterstudio.com

ADRIENNE KAPSTEIN is an award winning director who most recently collaborated on the staging of Broadway’s hottest ticket War Horse.  Other credits include Fathom (Winner of the Dublin Festival’s Best Production); Crime Scene Cleaners Inc., as a recipient of New Georges’ This Is Your Week series and the Mabou Mines Resident Artist Program; Our Country’s Good at Juniata College; Speak Easy at the Centaur Theatre in Montreal, and Every Day Above Ground at PS122, NYC.  Adrienne was a founding member of the ground-breaking physical theater ensemble, SaBooge Theatre, with whom she performed in NYC, regionally and throughout Canada and Europe.   She is currently on the faculty of Brooklyn College’s Acting Program and the Stella Adler Studio of Acting where she teaches Lecoq Technique and Mask. She has also taught at NYU’s Experimental Theatre Wing, the New School for Drama, Marymount Manhattan College, Swarthmore College, The Gaiety School of Acting (Dublin), the University of Ireland (Galway) and Queen’s College (Ontario).  Adrienne is a graduate of Ecole Jacques Lecoq and the University of Edinburgh.