In the Studio with Joyce Piven - Theatre Games & Story Theatre & Text Work for Actors

The Piven Theatre Workshop in Chicago has nurtured theatre artists celebrated in the US, Ireland and Britain including Joan Cusack, John Cusack, Jeremy Piven, Aidan Quinn, Sarah Ruhl, Lili Taylor and Kate Walsh

Co-authors Joyce Piven and Susan Applebaum describe the Workshop techniques (developed and refined over forty years of theatrical training) as a virtual fly-on-the-wall experience, taking the reader inside the director's studio, classroom, and green room

Part One introduces the central principles of game work and the concept of 'encounter' - finding the emotional experience at the heart of a set of given circumstances - and ends with a chapter on the role of story theatre as a bridge between games and play text

Part Two takes you into the classroom with Joyce Piven through fully-detailed transcripts of physical and vocal workshops on play, agreement, specificity, transformation and story theatre, accompanied by explanations and tips for teaching

The book ends with an alphabetical appendix of games taught by Byrne and Joyce Piven based on their work with Paul Sills and Viola Spolin, Etienne Decroux, Uta Hagen and Mira Rostova

A highly regarded guide and resource for actors, teachers, and directors, for anyone interested in the creative process of acting and actor training

Contents

Part One: The Principles of game work, the encounter and story theatre

Introduction to the Central Principle of Game Work
The goal: finding the encounter
Story theatre: the bridge between games and play texts

Part Two: In the Studio with Joyce Piven: scenes from workshops

Workshops on play
Workshops on agreement
Workshops on specificity and the Doings
Workshops on transformation
Workshops on Story theatre

Epilogue: Final Thoughts

Appendix: Alphabetical list of games

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