Update: Extended workshop – Wednesday 17th Feb
Bobbi’s two-day workshop filled up in just a couple of hours, but we didn’t want you to miss out on this opportunity to work with her, so Bobbi has kindly agreed to run an additional workshop on the Wednesday. Don’t miss this opportunity to work with a great international teacher here in Christchurch!
We’re very excited to present Bobbi Block as our first international guest for 2016. Bobbi will be presenting her workshops on the evenings of Monday 15th February and Tuesday 16th February. This is a rare opportunity to work with one of the great international teachers of improvisation. Spaces are strictly limited.
Improvise What You Know
This program teaches a honed method to build compelling scenework exploring authentic relationships. Just as writers are advised to ‘write what they know,’ participants are taught to improvise from their own experiences and meld fact with fiction. This truth-inspired, emotionally-grounded method allows both comic and dramatic moments to arise organically. Participants learn to create a strong emotional point of view, and explore both verbal and nonverbal offers (silence, breathing, physical contact with scene partner). Participants also learn how to simultaneously behave as both actor and playwright to build the tension and dramatic arc of a scene. When this method is integrated, the result combines the playfulness of spontaneously-generated work with the integrity of scripted theater.
About Bobbi
Bobbi Block is the Founder/Producing Artistic Director of the critically acclaimed Tongue & Groove Spontaneous Theater. Tongue & Groove works in the style of Actors Improv taught in this program. For more information and to view video clips of T&G shows, go to tongue-groove.com.
Bobbi has a Masters degree in Theatre, and has trained with master improvisors at renowned improv theaters around the US including Annoyance, IO and Second City. She currently teaches Improvisation at Temple University and Drexel University in Philadelphia. She taught Improv at New Zealand’s University of Otago and throughout New Zealand and Australia. She returned to NZ to direct her signature format, SECRETS, for the New Zealand Fringe Festival. In addition, she has toured Europe teaching Actors’ Improv to various improv groups, and has also taught Improv in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, where SECRETS continues to be performed.
Bobbi was invited to create LEAP: The Actors’ Improv Experiment, for the Philadelphia Live Arts Festival, for which she taught and directed veteran scripted actors in their first improvised show. Bobbi improvises with Barrymore Award recipient ComedySportz Philadelphia, where she was the Co-Producer and Education Director for 15 years and Artistic Director for 2 years. In addition, she performed longform improv for twelve years with the popular collaborative ensemble, LunchLady Doris, and performed with the interdisciplinary improvisational theatre company, Playback Philadelphia. She won the 2008 Philadelphia City Paper Award: Actress Who Will Lead Improvisation to the Promised Land.
Bobbi is an Applied Improv Facilitator and Coach and has worked for 20 years around the world teaching Leadership, Collaboration and Presence skills to corporate executives using acting and improv techniques.
Workshop Details and Booking Form
| Dates / Times | Monday, 15th Feb: 6:30pm – 9pm Tuesday 16th Feb: 6:30pm – 9pm |
|---|---|
| Location | Room 4, Phillipstown Community Centre 39 Nursery Rd, PhillipstownThe Phillipstown Community Centre is the old Phillipstown primary school. You can park your vehicle in the car-park, the entrance is directly opposite Cross St. |
| Participants | maximum 16 |
| Cost | $50 |
| Booking Form | bookings are closed |
Questions?
If you have any questions about this workshop, including applying for a cost reduction, please send a message using the contact form.