Neutral Mask
July 22 - August 7, 2013 (Mondays and Wednesdays from 6:30 - 8:30 pm)
Instructor: Aaron Coates
Would you like to make your performances more physically
dynamic? Are you interested in playing characters far from your own type? In
this workshop, students will use the Neutral Mask to discover greater freedom in
performance, to learn what real presence is all about, and to use your body to
its full potential as a storytelling tool. The work will begin with a discovery
of the habits, unconscious mannerisms, and accidental movements that we often
don’t recognize as we perform. After
discovering a “neutral state”, we will then examine how you create characters
with clear and specific qualities. We will examine extreme movement and minute
movement, making this class suitable for performance on stage or screen.
Aaron Coates is
an actor, director, playwright, teacher, and the co-artistic director of Trepan
Theatre. He studied acting at Mount
Royal College in Calgary and at Ecole Philippe Gaulier in Paris. With Trepan, a
company known for outrageous physical comedy, he has created and performed in SHE, Matadora,
The Cat Lady Show, and La Mexicaine de Perforation. Aaron has worked for many theatre companies
in Calgary including Cowtown Opera Company, Lunchbox Theatre, Theatre Calgary,
Ghost River Theatre, Vertigo Theatre, Calgary Opera, Quest Theatre, and
Downstage. His plays include: The End of the Rope, which has toured
throughout Alberta and was shortlisted for the Writers Guild of Alberta Award
for Drama; Tin Soldier, an adaptation
of the Hans Christian Andersen story, created in collaboration with UK-based
Aitherios Theatre and performed in an Off-West End Theatre in London; and
numerous short plays and monologues which have been performed in Canada,
Australia, and England. He is also a
faculty member of Company of Rogues Actors’ Studio and co-artistic director of
Calgary’s long-running “improvised soap opera” Dirty Laundry.
For more information, or to register for this class please call Company of Rogues at 403.228.5526 or email info@corogues.com.
