Art and Culture
Studio Retreat Ready to Celebrate
11th Anniversary with Master Classes in Acting and Playwriting By John Barry, Eugene O’Neill Foundation, Tao House
T
he 11th Studio Retreat is ready to roll at Danville’s Eugene O’Neill National Historic Site in June. This annual event enables high school students to hone their skills in acting and playwriting during ten days of intensive immersion in these disciplines. Sponsored by the Eugene O’Neill Foundation, Tao House, in partnership with the National Park Service, Studio Retreat is part of the Foundation’s mission of celebrating and promoting the visionary legacy of America’s foremost playwright and is recognized as a distinctive educational program that provides a thorough understanding of O’Neill’s important place in American drama. Maybe another great artist will emerge from the master classes offered in these disciplines. Workshops meet daily from 8:30 am to 3:30 pm. In the Acting workshop, students work with industry veterans to learn
Students attend the Studio Retreat in 2018
the foundations of acting techniques as taught at the college level. Participants gain insight into building characters, the importance of movement, and voice.
The Playwriting master class gives students the opportunity to develop an original ten-minute play, by learning from and collaborating with professional playwrights, actors, and stage directors. The two master classes take place during the first half of the 10-day program. In the second half, budding playwrights rehearse and stage their original works, which are performed by the acting students, culminating in a medley of plays for family and friends. “In conjunction with the National Park Service, the not-for-profit Eugene O’Neill Foundation inaugurated Studio Retreat in 2008 to allow creative, mature, committed students to take advantage of an intensive cultural and artistic immersion program,” said Valerie Cooper, the Foundation’s education programs coordinator. Since then, more than 250 students have participated in the program.
The Eugene O’Neill Foundation, Tao House
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Adding to the atmosphere of theatrical
MARCH 2019
