Primary Stages ESPA
Mêlisa Annis (Writer, Director, and Dramaturg; Faculty, NYU Tisch Dramatic Writing Program); Karen Braga (Alexander Techique for Performance Teacher); Erin Daley (Associate Artistic Director, Primary Stages); Judy Gold (Emmy Award winning Comedian); Kimberly Immanuel (Actor, Website Designer); Zachary Fine (Writer, Bewilderness at Playmakers Rep; Actor, China Doll on Broadway, Timon of Athens and Measure for Measure at TFANA); Winter Miller (Writer, In Darfur at The Public Theater, No One Is Forgotten at Rattlestick); and more!
Production Description
Primary Stages Off-Broadway Einhorn School of Performing Arts is opening our virtual doors to all those in the ever-growing ESPA community for a week of FREE collaborations and networking opportunities with artists in all stages of their careers. Whether you’re interested in attending a free workshop or seeing some of our artists perform, join us at ESPAfest this week February 8-13 – and bring your friends!
FREE PERFORMANCE - SOLO TRAIN
hosted by Judy Gold
with Heidi Armbruster, Laurie Braun, Beth Broun, Amy Crossman, Sam Given, Nan Hoffman, John Mudd, Gail Payne, Nicole Soul
Monday, February 8 at 7:30pm ET
via Live Stream on YouTube!
What's more exciting in the theater than a performer baring it all? Solo Train is an evening of new work by Solo Performers from the Primary Stages Einhorn School of Performing Arts (ESPA), who've been guided by renowned actress and Emmy Award-winning writer Judy Gold. Inspired by stories from their own life, each writer/performer has honed their performance to its most essential elements. Some stories are hilarious. Some stories are moving. Each story is bracingly fresh. Solo Train will be presented online! Once you RSVP, you will receive a Zoom link to our live performance.
FREE WORKSHOP - Intro to Dramatic Writing
with Mêlisa Annis (Writer, Director, and Dramaturg; Faculty, NYU Tisch Dramatic Writing Program)
Tuesday, February 9 from 12:00pm – 1:00pm ET
via Zoom!
What is dramatic writing? And what are the tools you need to get started, and keep going? Led by writer, director, and dramaturg Mêlisa Annis, you will demystify the art form together.
FREE WORKSHOP - Alexander Technique: How to De-Stress on Zoom
with Karen Braga (Alexander Techique for Performance Teacher)
Tuesday, February 9 from 2:00pm – 3:00pm ET
via Zoom!
Join Alexander Technique for Performance Teacher Karen Braga for a workshop on how to de-stress on Zoom. Whether you're online for meetings, auditions, or acting classes, learn how to sit for optimum comfort, use breath to release tension, and practice simple exercises to energize and rejuvenate.
FREE WORKSHOP - Seeing Between the Lines: The Night Watcher
with Erin Daley (Associate Artistic Director, Primary Stages)
Tuesday, February 9 from 6:00pm – 8:00pm ET
via Zoom!
The dramaturg's job is to read between the lines and enhance a script with specificity and accuracy. This workshop will teach you to watch and read a play from the perspective of a dramaturg and see what you've been missing.
For our upcoming Encore Virtual Presentation of Charlayne Woodard's The Night Watcher, you will read the script in advance of class and then delve into the text with Primary Stages Associate Artistic Director Erin Daley – giving you an exciting perspective and insight, whether you watched the virtual performance originally or are seeing it fresh the next week! With your eyes opened, you'll be able to incorporate dramaturgical practice into your work as a writer, actor, or director.
*All participants will receive a free link to our virtual encore of The Night Watcher, which runs from February 17-28.
FREE WORKSHOP - From "Why" to Website: Websites for Artists
with Kimberly Immanuel (Actor, Website Designer)
Wednesday, February 10 from 5:00pm – 6:00pm ET
via Zoom!
Get inspired to think outside the screen as you design your website. For folx looking to create their website from scratch and those wanting to give their site or brand a refresh, actor and website designer Kimberly Immanuel’s approach to designing an artist’s website will empower you to create and design a website that accurately represents, expresses, and celebrates who you really are!
FREE WORKSHOP - RECESS!
with Zachary Fine (Writer, Bewilderness at Playmakers Rep; Actor, China Doll on Broadway, Timon of Athens and Measure for Measure at TFANA)
Wednesday, February 10 from 7:00pm – 7:45pm ET
via Zoom!
Facilitating connection and boosting morale on an online platform can seem like a monumental task. Trust us, we know! Let us integrate some play into your workday.
Are you looking to increase collaboration? Are you curious as to how to optimize productivity, combat Zoom fatigue, and make online work more effective? Are you on the hunt for some fun ice-breakers and games that won't bore your group to death? Are you sick of the same old, oh-so-awkward "virtual happy hour?" If so, read on, player!
Founded by artists Zachary Fine and Arielle Yoder, RECESS optimizes teamwork, sharpens focus, and fosters creativity by integrating play into the workday through a series of games customized for your team and uniquely designed for the online workplace.
In this workshop, Zack will show you how to invigorate any virtual space with joy, curiosity, and fun. This workshop is for anyone – whether you want to enliven your company, team, rehearsal room, or family Zoom.
HOW WE HEAL – A Discussion with Chesney Snow and Sharon Washington
moderated by Erin Daley
Thursday, February 12 from 5:00pm – 6:00pm ET
via Zoom!
This discussion between artists Chesney Snow and Sharon Washington, and Primary Stages Associate Artistic Director Erin Daley will explore the role of artists in this extraordinary moment and our responsibility to avoid complacency and cultivate active motion. Join us as we imagine a better, more empathetic future and discover what we as artists have to say – and what we need to listen to.
FREE WORKSHOP - Write-In
with Winter Miller (Writer, In Darfur at The Public Theater, No One Is Forgotten at Rattlestick)
Friday, February 12 from 1:00pm – 2:00pm ET
via Zoom!
Last month, in response to the Inauguration and all that led up to it, we held a Write-In with Winter Miller, who provided a reflective space for all. Reflection can always deepen, so now that we are two months into this new year, we’d like to check in and invite you to another Write-In with Winter this Friday, February 12 at 1pm ET. We hope you will join us and facilitator Winter Miller to come together as a community and write it out.
FREE PERFORMANCE - DETENTION #51: Word Have Power
Detention is an evening of new and original theater pieces written, directed, and performed exclusively by ESPA artists.
Friday, February 12 and Saturday, February 13 at 7:00pm ET
via Live Stream on YouTube!
This virtual edition of Detention is a challenging opportunity for writers to create material for a specific person, for actors to receive and perform a monologue or scene written especially for them, and for directors to rehearse, film, and edit a virtual performance.
"At their best... words... can inspire. At their worst, they can incite." – President Joe Biden on January 6, 2021
As we've seen throughout history—and even these past weeks—words have immense power. They have the potential to instill great wisdom and insight, or incite violence... depending on where you place the emphasis. For this Detention, we asked out artists to think about the power of words—both our greatest tool for hope and our greatest weapon of fear—and create pieces about the power of words and the implications on those that choose to wield them. With hope and change in sight, we empower you to use your words to provide insight into who we are, and incite change toward everything we could be.
For more information about ESPAfest and to RSVP for all events, please visit: https://primarystages.org/espa/our-community/espafest
