| A Word From The Directors - Susan Merson & Rod Menzies | ||||||
SM: The program grew out of a desire to create a legacy for the Ensemble Studio Theatre and for all artists of our generation who were involved in the New Play Movement which really started in full force in the late 70's. That was a very important time for me. |
 |
|||||
I know I learned more in black box theaters and developmental workshops than anywhere else in my life. |
||||||
 |
RM: And the skills acquired there are so valuable, and directly translatable to any workplace where teamwork comes into play. | |||||
SM: We realized it was important to pass these skills on to the next generation – the ability to be flexible, spontaneous, in the moment; to talk and listen to people we are engaged with and to come up with creative choices for any kind of conflict resolution. |
|
|||||
I think the most important thing about the program is that it involves taking the skills of the artist and making sure we understand those skills are part of our everyday life. |
||||||
|
RM: Yes, that is so important. I mean, this is stuff that is going to help you whether you are going to be a great star in the theater or whether you're just going to be a citizen of the planet. |
|||||
We felt it was important to create a global perspective and fortunately there were participants from all around the country and even from other parts of the world. |
||||||
 |
||||||
SM: In curriculum discussions with our fabulous teachers, Jeffrey Sweet, Janet Zarish, Mary Robinson and Stephen Wagner, we identified three principles we wanted to focus on: 1) what is the artist's generative gift to others, 2) what is their interpretive gift to others, and 3) what are the responsibilities in terms of getting the product up? |
|
|||||
|
RM: Those principles were our north star and the curriculum developed directly out of them, but each teacher also brought their own values to the process. |
|||||
SM: And for our guest seminars, we had two Pulitzer Prize winning playwrights, a major casting director and highly successful actors and directors. |
|
|||||
|
RM: When the students had their questions answered about the profession and the specifics of the craft–playwriting, acting and directing–you could practically see the room getting brighter. |
|||||
Because of the synergy between the perspective provided by the guest artists and the focus of the teaching we created, in a very short time, a repertoire of very good plays. |
||||||
SM: We recognized we needed to gather the best work and find a way to publish it, so I approached Samuel French and they came on board right away. So, not only did students have the opportunity to present their work on stage at EST, they also got their work published. |
|
|||||
|
||||||
|
RM: It was fabulous. In a short span of time, we came up with some really interesting product and I think we did something pretty remarkable. | |||||
