SPOLIN ACTING TECHNIQUE WITH AMY PIETZ: 8-WEEK LOS ANGELES WORKSHOP STARTS FEB 29, 2024
SPOLIN ACTING TECHNIQUE WITH AMY PIETZ: 8-WEEK LOS ANGELES WORKSHOP STARTS FEB 29, 2024
Through spontaneity we are re-formed into ourselves.
—Viola Spolin
In the 8-week workshop with side coach Amy Pietz, players will explore the groundbreaking exercises and theatrical concepts found in Viola’s Spolin’s seminal acting text Improvisation for the Theater. Spolin’s theater games launched the American improvisational theater movement and changed the way acting is taught. Her work has influenced generations of actors and directors. Named “one of the most prominent acting techniques” by Backstage, Spolin’s theater games release the intuition through focus, spontaneity, and play, opening up new avenues of expression and helping players be present on stage, screen, and in daily life
Actors, and all who wish to play, are invited to experience Viola Spolin’s transformative techniques and learn to incorporate them into their creative practices through play.
Players of all experience levels are welcome. Class size is limited.
Side coach Amy Pietz, who has appeared in over 300 episodes of television and on film, studied Spolin improvisation extensively with Ric Murphy at DePaul University’s Theatre School in Chicago and with Paul Sills at his Wisconsin Theater Game Center. She discusses it as an integral part of her technique in Larry Moss’s acting book The Intent To Live. She started the Spolin/Sills scholarship at DePaul University. Her series regular roles include starring opposite Jason Alexander on the series, HIT THE ROAD, NO TOMORROW, THE NINE LIVES OF CHLOE KING, ALIENS IN AMERICA, THE AMAZING MRS. NOVAK (playing the title role), THE WEBER SHOW, and CAROLINE IN THE CITY, for which she received a SAG Award Nomination for Best Actress in a Comedy. Other credits include THE OFFICE, CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM, MODERN FAMILY, AMERICAN CRIME STORY: IMPEACHMENT OF WILLIAM JEFFERSON CLINTON, MARON, HOW TO GET AWAY WITH MURDER, DEXTER, DYNASTY, DEVIOUS MAIDS, NECESSARY ROUGHNESS, THE CLOSER, NIP/TUCK, MEDIUM, BONES, BURN NOTICE, LAW AND ORDER SVU, ER, CSI, ALLY McBEAL, STAR TREK THE NEXT GENERATION, RUDY, JINGLE ALL THE WAY, THE WHOLE TEN YARDS, REUNION, and YOU. She is currently recurring on WOLF PACK for Paramount TV. Amy is excited to introduce actors and everyone to Viola Spolin’s important contributions to the art of acting in America.
We'll meet: Eight Thursdays, February 29 - April 18, 2024, 7:30 - 10pm.
Location: New Musicals, Inc. 5628 Vineland Avenue, North Hollywood, CA 91601
Tuition: $480. A few sliding-scale spaces are available. Email for details. Tuition is non-refundable, but you can transfer your space to someone else with prior approval, or in the event someone on the waitlist can purchase your space.
Workshop email notifications: You’ll get a confirmation email and subsequent correspondence from workshops@violaspolin.org and aretha.sills@violaspolin.org. Please add these addresses to your contacts, and if you don’t hear back, check your spam folder for missing correspondence.
ABOUT THE WORKSHOPS:
Viola Spolin’s Theater Games launched the American improvisational theater movement and changed the way acting is taught. Her work has influenced generations of actors and educators. Theater Games release the intuition through focus, spontaneity, and play, opening up new avenues of expression and communication in your creative work and in your daily life.
In the workshops with sidecoach Aretha Sills, we’ll explore the groundbreaking exercises and theatrical concepts found in Spolin’s seminal book Improvisation for the Theater, with an emphasis on the philosophies of legendary improvisation innovators Spolin and Paul Sills, and on applying Spolin’s meditative methods to your work in any artistic discipline. See our Registration page for a complete list of upcoming workshops around the country.
ABOUT SIDECOACH ARETHA SILLS:
All workshops will be sidecoached by Aretha Sills. The granddaughter of Viola Spolin, Aretha studied for many years with her father, director Paul Sills (creator/director of The Second City and Story Theater), and has conducted workshops for Paul Sills’ Wisconsin Theater Game Center, Bard College, Stella Adler Studio of Acting, Evergreen University, Sarah Lawrence College, and Northwestern University. She has worked with Tony- and Emmy-Award winning actors and has trained faculty from Northwestern, DePaul, Columbia College, The Second City, The Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science, LAUSD, CETA, and many other institutions and schools. She is the Associate Director of Sills/Spolin Theater Works and she directs The Predicament Players.
To be notified about upcoming workshops, or to inquire about private coaching or workshops for your school or group, please email.
QUOTES ABOUT THE WORKSHOPS:
"We have been improvising and working with Spolin games for over forty years. But whenever Aretha is teaching a workshop, we jump at the chance to take it. She is so steeped in the games that (of course!) she was able to translate them to the Zoom format — and it was if the play became even more focused with her sure and gentle guidance. Conronvirus be damned! Theater games still powerfully connect and create extraordinary theatre." – Deb Lacusta & Dan Castellaneta, The Simpsons, actor & writers
“I have never felt more focused. I thought you were absolutely wonderful and truly supportive. It made my summer. Your ability to teach on Zoom in spite of the dread of Covid-19 hanging over us was phenomenal.” – Bill Steinkellner, Four-time Emmy award winning show runner; Creator/Director of Instaplay
“Thank you for a wonderful class -- for directing us back to the practical and ingenious philosophy and games of Viola Spolin. It has expanded my sense of what is possible in terms of teaching online. Accepting where we are and the reality around us, and also the possibilities has been a health-giving experience. I had fun, and felt invigorated and refreshed after your class, and hope to give some kind of similar experience to my students. Their responses to Spolin’s exercises are full of surprise and excitement. The students allow themselves to be present and at ease.” – Stephanie Hunt, Actor/Director/Theater Lecturer, Stanford University and University of San Francisco
"Phenomenal translation to Zoom. I took at least two of your classes in person and while we all bemoan and miss live, embodied practice, this experience was just as powerful. In a different way. I’d do this kind of work with you every day if I could." – Marcy Willis, Leadership Coach & Consultant, Actress, Facilitator
“Aretha is dedicated to preserving the pureness of this technique, which from my point of view assists the actor to find the courage to find themself and then to fly. I believe she has, innately and amazingly, all the elements of the technique of both Viola Spolin and Viola’s son, the extraordinary director, Paul Sills. I have studied with Aretha, and believe me, the thrill lives on.” – Paul Sand, Tony award winner, Paul Sills’ Story Theater; Original Second City cast member
“As an educator and instructor of acting and directing, I was eager to learn about the American theater improvisation developed by Viola Spolin and expounded by Paul Sills. Aretha Sills provides an insight into the authentic roots of the system that has been utilized for years by theatre training programs. The workshop will provide you with an excellent opportunity to explore various games and exercises to enrich your view of performance and acting.” -Norma Saldivar, professor and chair, UNLV Department of Theatre, and executive director of the Nevada Conservatory Theatre
"I have no desire to be an entertainer and still get nervous when I speak to groups. I fear appearing silly. But I knew there was a little door inside of me that needed to be opened. That the shy, quiet, serious child wanted to be free. So nerves and all, I jumped feet first into Aretha Sills’ intensive Spolin workshop. I felt safe. The word “silly” became “playful.” At the end, I was tired and a little relieved -- but oh so proud of myself. Viola Spolin said, 'Get out of your head, into the space and await the invisible stranger.' Thanks to Aretha, I found that stranger and she is me." -Barbara Meltzer, Barbara Meltzer & Associates Public Relations and Marketing
“Aretha is one of the century’s best improvisation teachers. Like her grandmother before her, she understands people, theater, and improvisation in an intuitive and deep way. As someone who has studied with some of the top teachers in the country and has performed for over 15 years, I can honestly say Aretha’s work opened my eyes. I understood improv on a deeper level. I was refreshed and returned to beginner’s mind.” -David Alger, founder Pan Theater
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