“Everyone can act. Everyone can improvise. Anyone who wishes to can play in the theater and learn to become stageworthy.”
Workshops/outreach
SPOLIN THEATER GAME WORKSHOPS AROUND THE COUNTRY
Explore the improvisational acting method of Viola Spolin to enhance your training as an actor, improviser, educator, writer, or director. Named "one of the most prominent acting techniques" by Backstage, Viola Spolin's Theater Games release the intuition through focus, spontaneity, and play, opening up new avenues of expression and communication in your work and in your daily life.
SUMMER & FALL 2018:
- Seattle Spolin Intensive at Unexpected Productions June 23 & 24
- Los Angeles Spolin Intensive August 11 & 12
- First-ever 5-Day Summer Spolin Intensive in Los Angeles July 23-27 (wait list only)
- Shakespeare & Spolin for Ages 7-14 at the Los Angeles Drama Club July 9-13
- Improvisation for Performance Starts September 4 in Los Angeles
- Improvisation for Generating New Creative Work Starts Sept 6 in Los Angeles
Read more about workshops here.
Sidecoach Aretha Sills is the granddaughter of Viola Spolin and the associate director of Sills/Spolin Theater Works. She studied Spolin's theater games for many years with her father, legendary director Paul Sills. She has led workshops at Paul Sills’ Wisconsin Theater Game Center, Bard College, Northwestern University, Stella Adler Studio, The Art of Acting Studio, Stockholm International School, and Sarah Lawrence College. She gave the keynote address at the California Educational Theatre Association Conference. She also teaches Improvisation for Writers and directs The Predicament Players. Aretha offers workshops regularly in Los Angeles, annually in Chicago and New York, and occasionally around the world.
Please email Aretha Sills to request to be notified about upcoming workshops, or to inquire about bringing her to work with your school or group.
YOUTH CLASSES IN LOS ANGELES
Coming February, 2018: A new youth theater program in Los Angeles, offering a series of classes for ages 7 through 17.
Generations of kids and adults have learned to act through playing Viola Spolin's improvisational theater games, among them Oscar and Tony-Award winning actors and directors. Sidecoach Aretha Sills invites young players to explore the play-based method that allows each child's unique gifts to flourish in a non-competitive, nurturing, and joyful environment. Students of all experience levels are welcome, including aspiring actors and those who just wish to play! Learn more here.
Sign up to be notified about upcoming classes in LA below.
Chicago youth program coming soon! See the email sign up form below.
LOS ANGELES YOUTH PROGRAM
CHICAGO YOUTH PROGRAM
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Summer Intensives at Paul Sills’ Theater Game Center, Door County, Wisconsin
Offering weeklong summer intensives in the work of American theater legends Viola Spolin and Paul Sills. Workshops meet in studios at the Sills family farm in Door County, Wisconsin, a world-famous vacation destination located on the beautiful peninsula in Lake Michigan.
Unfortunately, the summer 2018 season was cancelled, but check back early next year for 2019 dates! Aretha Sills will be offering a summer theater game intensive in Los Angeles July 23-27, 2018. Read more here.
Sign up to be notified about upcoming workshops here. More Information about the workshop and travel to Door County can be found at PaulSills.com.
OUTREACH
Sills/Spolin Theater Works educators are available to bring workshops in Theater Games and Story Theater to your school or organization. We also direct productions, offer teacher training, and speak to groups about Viola Spolin, Paul Sills, and the history of improvisational theater in America.