The decision was made at the end of December with new public health guidelines that we would postpone this workshop until the spring of 2022. Please watch the website and social media for the new dates.
Rivercity Players is pleased to be presenting two theatrical workshops January 8th and 9th. We're excited to invite to Rivercity Stage our special guest Dean Chadwick, Artistic Director of Nanaimo's Schmooze Productions. This will be Dean's first time facilitating workshops at our theatre.
The workshops will run Saturday and Sunday, in person at the Theatre. All attendees will be required to follow the current provincial health orders.
Saturday January 8th 2022 ~ 1:30pm - 4:30pm
Directing with Dean: A Foundations Workshop for Stage Directors
In this workshop, Dean will explore his directing process, including:
● Choosing a Project
● Table Work & Text Analysis and Prep
● Auditions and Casting
● Rehearsal Scheduling
● Characterizations and Emotional Arcs
● Communicating with Actors
● Organic and Dynamic Blocking
● Exploration through Leadership
● Intensifying Performances
This fun and interactive workshop relies on participants becoming actors for a portion of the
time. No acting or directing experience necessary.
Sunday January 9th 2022 ~ 1:30pm - 4:30pm
Acting with Dean: Acting ~ A Body Mind & Soul Workshop
Dean, an award-winning actor in his own right will explore his acting process, including:
● Mind ~ Exploring Evidence to Support Character Actions
● Body ~ Exploring Physicality of Characters
● Soul ~ Exploring Emotions within Characters
This is a great way for actors of varying degrees of expertise to discover some great ideas,
techniques, and activities for creating interesting and believable characters. Top Tips for
being a director’s dream actor will be intertwined throughout the workshop, including some
back to basic terminology that all great actors should know.
Cost is $50 per participant for one workshop, or $80 for both.
Please email Cleo cleopatracorbett @ gmail dot com to secure your spot and arrange payment. Come learn with us!
About your workshop facilitator
As the Artistic Director for Schmooze Productions, Dean enjoys the creative process. Excitement and exhilaration abound when he starts the directorial process. Guiding actors, creating pictures, and developing scenes keeps him energized during the rehearsal process. Making choices that will engage, engross and affect the audience is the ultimate goal for success. Challenging actors to step, or leap, outside of their comfort zones is the foundation for interesting theatre.
Dean’s directorial credits include: Jesus Christ Superstar, The Pirates of Penzance, All Grown Up, Oliver, Agnes Of God, Leading Ladies, Prok, All The Great Books Abridged,
The Full Monty, The Rocky Horror Show (2002, 2011, 2016), Sweeney Todd, Spring
Awakening, Spamalot, La Cage Aux Folles, Square, Fiddler on the Roof, RENT,
Footloose, Next to Normal, Little Dog Laughed, Urinetown, The Little Mermaid, HAIR,
Hand to God, Chicago, A Christmas Carol (X3), and MTI’s All Together Now ~
Mid-Island Edition. He loves directing all types of shows including dramas, comedies,
musicals, and farces.
Dean is a teacher, both philosophically and practically. During his training at Vancouver
Island University, he participated in a plethora of Drama, Theatre, and Creative Writing
courses, including script writing and analysis. Today, he is proud to be a retired
elementary school teacher, where he spent 22 years honing his skills to connect to a
wide variety of individuals, then applying those skills to instructing actors in his other
passion, theatre. Dean loves to guide performers to challenge their artistic choices,
build believable and flawed characters, and create performances that embody the entire
actor. All of Dean’s teaching, theatre, and communication skills afforded him the
position of an Adjudicator in the 2019 Echo Players One-Act Play Festival in Qualicum,
BC.
From a very early age, Dean was an actor, a word that encompasses so many different
styles. He remembers the smiles of his relatives as he sang and danced across the
hearth of the fireplace. It was never about the applause for Dean; conversely, it was
about how he could make other people feel. He loves all of it: acting, singing and
dancing. There is nothing more rewarding as an actor to make choices that affect your
fellow performers, your directors and ultimately your audience. His absolute favourite
roles include: Sweeney Todd, Tevye in Fiddler On The Roof, Jesus in Jesus Christ
Superstar, Max & Tito in Lend Me A Tenor, Cowardly Lion in The Wizard of Oz, Billy
Flynn in Chicago, Archie Craven in A Secret Garden, Otto Frank in the Diary of Anne
Frank for Nanaimo Theatre Group for which brought Dean recognition from Theatre BC,
as the recipient of the Best Supporting Actor Award during their 2019 Mainstage
Festival .
After years of helping to create a thriving theatre scene in Nanaimo, Dean is the proud
recipient of the City of Nanaimo’s Honour in Culture Award for 2019 in recognition of his
work as an actor, director, producer, technician and culture leader.