Notes from the Director of Autumn Garden, Susan Coromel discussing the process and development of a workshop production...

A workshop production is an excellent way for actor’s to concentrate on
the process of acting by working on a complete text. The foundation of
the work covered in the acting curriculum strengthens skills necessary for actors, such as concentration, imagination, and physicalization and script analysis. Traditionally in an advanced acting class, students solidify these skills by using a series of scenes from various areas of dramatic literature. When student actors work on scenes, they are usually focused on a character’s most extreme moments. In this workshop production students have the opportunity to work on the full character. This experience in a classroom setting adds more depth to the acting process.


In foundation classes students learn to free their instincts, with the goal to be fully present, available and immediately responsive, spontaneous and passionate. The students in this project have taken the first level of Meisner actor training, a training developed by Sanford Meisner with a specific step by step series of exercises to reinforce the foundation of acting. That foundation is “the realty of doing.”

Once actors begin to work in this more authentic way the next step is to add text, the play itself. The first encounter with text is very general, actors are given a script with simple relationships and they work from the scene without considering the whole play. Isolating the text in this way
helps to simply the techniques of working on text. The text is a
blueprint for the performance, students learn how to read a play as an
actor, to look for the clues that will define and create character.
They learn to read the script in a deeper and more specific way and become sensitized to the characters in the play, how they respond to each other
and how the characters relate to the world around them. They learn what
the pivotal circumstances are that the characters find themselves in and how the characters react to these circumstances, which defines the specific point of view of each character.


Working on a text in a workshop performance also requires that everything needed to bring the play to life, set pieces, costumes and props has to be found by the acting company. In this production the actor’s have chosen their costumes and most have found props that will only represent the world of the play, in some cases they are from the period the play is set, 1949.

Autumn Garden Rehearsals Underway

Rehearsals for Autumn Garden.
Visit our website at www.wutheatre.com for details.

Antigone Light Hang.

Some photos from light hang. Thirty instruments, hundreds of feet of cable. One day of fun (and a little work too)...

Girls in Men's Suits

Week Two of the 'Antigone' rehearsal/production process concluded with additional challenges of working in found spaces and its effects on lights, electricity and sound. Here's what costume designer Bobby Brewer-Wallin has to say about his challenges of costuming an entire female cast in male suits, shoes and hats:

"Now that I have the full cast’s measurements, I am able to begin scouting out and purchasing men’s suits, shirts, and shoes. We placed an order for one dozen grey wool fedoras for the chorus. One of the challenges of an all female cast in male dress is finding leather sole shoes to fit – our largest size is a men’s size 8. I guess I will be frequenting the children’s aisle.

This weekend I spent four hours shopping for men’s suits, shirts and shoes."

Having to work with the conventions of an all female cast poses other considerations for Brewer-Wallin:

"I continue to struggle with who Tiresias is as cast. My goal for the coming week is to see rehearsal and to make some design choices for this character.

We also need to continue our conversation about hair – I have strong feelings about short hair for Creon and Haemon."

Bobby's goal for the upcoming week: "I will be scheduling some fittings this week as more items are purchased and costumes constructed for Antigone, Ismene, and Eurydice."

Next week: What to do with the space? How set designer senior theatre major, Aaron Smith, is working to utilize and conquer the limitations of the Transfer Station and create the traditional elements of a greek performance space.

Welcome back bloggers! The summer moved smoothly and swiftly with the
second phase of the Playhouse remodel underway, we have been up for
the challenge of producing ANTIGONE in an alternative space. The
challenges are great, but worth every moment. Antigone will be
directed by Jonathan Cole with the following designers: Bobby Brewer-
Wallin - costume design, Rachel Kinsman Steck - lighting design,
senior - Aaron Smith - set designer. The above pictures are from
our "show and tell" where the Jonathan and the designers shared their
thoughts and work accomplished over the summer. We are looking forward
to getting the shops up and running. The location of our "show and
tell" is also special as it was our first event in the new costume
shop at the Playhouse. Enjoy!

Final weeks before opening...

Cast and crew of Woyzeck are hard at work and will go into technical rehearsal this evening! This weeks blog will give you an update on the cotume design/construction and lighting process, with words from costume designer Bobby Brewer-Wallin as well as light designer Rachel Kinsman Steck.
From Bobby:

This week in the costume shop the major players were Betsy, Amanda, Sara,
Bryn, Morgan and Rebecca - hey that's everyone. Yes, each person kicked it
in gear, carefully hand-sewing multiple snaps on military uniforms and
securing the steel cables to the Showman's crinoline cage.

Betsy should receive special recognition as corset constructress. She
painstakingly cut out multiple layers of think canvas for several corsets
and carefully aligned the pieces to create just the right fit. And the
each corset required multiple grommets - which on thick canvas requires
strong hands and a steady whack of the hammer. Believe it or not we do use
a variety of tools in the costume shop: hammers, exacto knives, awls,
utility punches.

In addition Betsy was a huge help in creating the text embellished fabric
that will make up the men's base costume and the women's petticoats. Here
a hot iron and an artistic eye made for a good blend. We are unsure if the
sheen of the transfers is the look we are after. And after washing the
first garment to test - it does loose some of the sheen, but it also
cracks some too - which may add to the distressed look. We will make it
work.

A special thanks to Rachel for breaking into her busy schedule to print
over 30 pages of transfer paper - all with Büchner's ilegible script!

And one more special kudos to Amanda who is willing to tacking any
project. She is carefully mastering her first pattern and beautifully
executing Margaret's blouse. She likes it so much she may be making some
for herself in some fun summer print. Given Amanda's sewing skills - all
of the soft props are coming her way too - she has created a special
likeness of Woyzeck for Christian to play with!

From Rachel:

Details! Details! Details! This week is all about the details! Chris Harris, set designer, has been working closely with the scene shop to incorporate materials recycled from previous set designs. The set has been created with 90% recycled materials!
At the same time, the lights have been hung and focused. I will begin to attend rehearsals and incorporate design concepts into the rehearsals. We are excited to try some special effects with lighting, haze, and water. We shall see how it turns out!
This weeks special thanks go out to Bob Alsman, Anthony Harvey, Tess Falcone, and Josh Rice for going the extra mile!

Thank you to our designers and crews working around the clock to perfect the world of Woyzeck, and to the acting company/directors for continuing to explore. Woyzeck, I'm sure, will prove to be a thought-provoking and visually stunning piece of theatre!

Woyzeck returns...

After what we hope was a restful Spring Break for the cast and crew of Woyzeck, we returned on Sunday evening to begin a week of what director Jonathan Cole described primarily as "layering." With the cast off book and the show roughly blocked, this week allowed the Woyzeck team to spend time working in exciting and innovative elements to the roughly sketched show.

With a cast of 12 that is onstage virtually the entire production, a lot of focus has been placed on determining which characters are doing what and when it occurs... Very exciting and challenging work for all involved... Special thanks this week to a dedicated shop crew and designer Christopher L. Harris for spending Spring Break pouring concrete and continuing work on the ever-expanding set, and to Assistant Director Britt Lauer for her hard work.

Costume elements are being added into the rehearsal process as they are developed, thanks to designer Bobby Brewer-Wallin and his diligent costume crew, and light hang and focus will occur this weekend. Lighting instruments will be hung and focused in the space to prepare for a technical rehearsal next weekend.


Be sure to keep checking back for rehearsal shots, this process is not to be missed!

Woyzeck runs April 17-May 2 with a preview on Thursday, April 16 at 7:30pm. Call 503.370.6221 or visit wutheatre.com for more information and tickets!