Improvising In The Style of Tennessee Williams Plays with Rebecca Stockley

Ft. Mason Center

Class Time/Dates: Tuesday-Wednesday 2:00pm-6:00pm PST // August 1-2

Schedule: 2 sessions

Class size: 12 students maximum

Tuition: $149

Prerequisite: Foundation 5 or equivalent experience. Email bats@improv.org for the code and other eligibility questions.

I love improvising in the style of various playwrights. One of my favorites is Tennessee Williams. In this workshop, participants will explore the playwrights work, practice embodying people in that world, and express your own experience through the filter of Tennessee Williams’ style. The process we use in this workshop can be adapted to explore multiple styles of plays, film, or television.

The Pulitzer Prize winning 20th Century Playwright, Tennessee Williams is best known for his plays set in the American south* in the 50s and 60s. This workshop will provide opportunities to explore the world, the characters, the secrets and the music of the language of Tennessee Williams Plays.

Workshop participants will use tropes of Williams’ plays to spontaneously create characters, scenes, and plays.

Pre-workshop exploration: Many of William’s plays were made into great films: Streetcar Named Desire, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, and The Glass Menagerie all provide viewers with insight into the playwright’s voice and both the commonalities and differences in his work. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tennessee_Williams

*Our exploration of the style will not include the innate racism of the Jim Crow South – but will be set in a parallel universe where people of all nationalities and backgrounds can be equally neurotic and mysterious.