Almost Olive Juice. - I'm acting!

Come see Almost Olive Juice, I'M acting this time!

Subject: "Almost Olive Juice" less than a week away!

You've RSVP'd on Facebook but have you reserved your seat for the show?

Seats are limited and tickets are moving fast for ArtEffects Theatre Company's presentation of "Almost Olive Juice", 6 short plays by Nora Vetter!

This ONE NIGHT ONLY show is on Monday March 8th with shows at 6pm & 8pm. Please reserve your tickets today to assure yourself a seat. Call: 347-223-4151 or email Arteffectstheatre@gmail.com with your name, time you want to attend, number in party and email or phone contact. Tickets are only $10 bucks! You don't want to miss it!


XO -

Lauren

Teaching philosophy essay

My main teaching philosophy is to combine several different techniques to make my own technique of acting. With that said, my style of acting is very heavily Physical Theater based. I have studied under Nan Smithner, within Steinharct School’s Educational Theater program. Through her training, I discovered another side to my physicality that was unknown to me prior to the course. I realized that acting takes a great deal of physical energy to sustain the emotional and psychological impulses of a character. Additionally, a performer can tell a full and emotional story entirely through movement and body. One assignment required mask, and I found that through masking my face, and removing spoken word from my performance, my body was unlimited. I opened up to explore hidden aspects of my characterization. Now, as an instructor, I always state that in order to get to the spoken word, one must fully understand the actor’s body, and the necessity of clearly decided movement onstage. However, it is not necessary to move at all to emote. It is necessary to chose your movement with decisiveness. Though the ultimate objective is to get the student to perform using text, I think that they must understand their body’s natural reactions so that when it comes time to read, they already know who their character is, from head to toe.

In addition, through my work in the theatrical community, with my theater company, and with the many professional performances I have done, I have learned that improvisation is the core element of acting. The concept of ‘making it up as we go’ encourages creativity and playful choices that can help inform the actor, and help them build stronger characters. It also develops a performer’s confidence, because there is no script to use as a guideline. Being without the safety net of a script can be a difficult but motivating challenge to overcome if an actor is any way hesitant about their performance or their character choices. It removes any vagueness in character because once an actor makes a choice, and states who their character is, they must go with the choice, even if it is not the most obvious choice, or even if it is not the best choice. It forces the actor out of their comfort zone. Improvisation breaks actors of habits that may occur when reading a script, because it helps them find their own voice, and they can utilize their voice to then enhance their understanding of a script once they get to the level of using text.

The Zen Baby: A Theatre Newsletter

The Zen Baby is a theatre newsletter set up as a sister website to www.zenbabytheatre.org!

I am so excited to start blogging ABOUT ZENBABY THEATRE COMPANY MEMBERS and the projects they are working on. They are encouraged to write in about upcoming plays, projects, essays, films, interesting subjects that relate to their theater activities. As for me, Lauren Cavanaugh, the Artistic Director of ZBT, this newsletter will get me journaling about my activities in the creative arts, and also serve as a place for me to post ideas about upcoming shows. I have taken a short hiatus from the theatre world, so I know that this newsletter will help me get my gears going again! (Its like starting an old fashioned automobile - a lot of cranking gears and waiting for the motor to start.)

SO Here goes nothing.

This is how I got the idea for this blog: I went home for Christmas this holiday vacation, and went to an informal high school reunion. They were all artistic people, because we all went to the Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts back in 1994-1998. It was the only magnet school of its kind at the time! Anyhoo - they asked me what I was up to recently, since last year around this time I had about three productions under my belt and was going to start my fourth. Those shows included Nunchuck Ninja Nuns at the 13th Street Rep, A short play called Head Games which I directed, and the first two showcases for ZBT, including my favorite, Naughty & Nice Cabaret. I also spearheaded with the help of Phil Newsom "Land of the Babydolls" and later in the year we did a Sock Hop showcase, and Lovers & Thieves by Sem Megson. A lot got accomplished in 2008-2009.

So when my classmates asked me what I was doing lately, and I didn't have much to say.... because I was on a mental vacation.... I felt (how do I put this) still unaccomplished even though I had done a lot, just because I hadn't been doing anything theatre related in December 2009! Silly, I know, but it felt true!

So now, after watching the brilliant film, Julie & Julia, I decided to start a theatre blog to help me get my creative juices flowing again, and to also promote what my company members are doing - because those brilliant people are always doing something good! Please feel free to comment, leave funny notes, or share! Wish me luck! XOXOXO
~LAUREN CAVANAUGH