March 2-4, 2018
This workshop was presented in partnership with the Citadel Theatre
INSTRUCTOR: CAREY PERLOFF
According to an Equity in Theatre study, encouraging and increasing women’s representation in one area of theatre will have a positive effect on the other. We were proud to have offered this opportunity for women directors to learn from one of North America’s best.
Carey Perloff is a director, writer, and producer who has served as Artistic Director of the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco since 1992. Perloff has worked internationally with some of the finest theatre artists in the world. Her many collaborations with Canadian theatre artists include productions of Morris Panych’s The Overcoat, Kim Collier’s No Exit, Michel Tremblay’s Vigil, Wajdi Mouawad’s Scorched, and exchanges with the Stratford Festival, Theatre Calgary, Canadian Stage, and Vancouver Playhouse. Perloff’s 2017 Albertan success was commissioning and directing the world premiere of A Thousand Splendid Suns, adapted by Ursula Rami Sarna from the best-selling novel by Khaled Hosseni. The A.C.T. and Theatre Calgary co-production went on to win “Outstanding Production of a Play” at the 2017 Betty Mitchell Awards.
Participants were guided in a real exploration of Harold Pinter’s The Birthday Party and Caryl Churchill’s Top Girls. Topics included: how to prepare a rehearsal, how to break down a text, and how to lead a rehearsal process that is supple, exploratory, and alive. The class also addressed the issue of authority versus collaboration, which is often paramount for women directors. The class was offered to theatre artists with a strong interest in directing, who identify as women in a way that’s significant to them attended the master class. (We use an inclusive definition of “woman” and we welcome cis, trans, genderqueer, and non-binary people.) Twenty-six women attended the masterclass in March of 2018.
