A fun and easy way to keep up with the workshops I’m teaching, the shows I’m performing, and the thoughts I’m having (related to theatre, art, and creativity) is to “like” my page on facebook. When you’ve got the time, please head over to that side of the internet and check it out. And if you know folks who might be interested in what I’m sayin’ over there, please spread the word! Thanks!
All of the cool kids are doing it….
7 01 2013Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: art, chicago, comedy, facebook
Categories : directing, performing, solo work, teaching, thoughts
One Small Difference
29 07 2012In the interest of speaking in highly general terms, there is one main difference between teaching improvisational theatre to kids and teaching improvisational theatre to adults. With kids, you are supervising play. With adults, you are facilitating play.
Keith Haring’s “Playing People”
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Tags: adults, art, generalities, improv, kids, play, teaching
Categories : teaching
One Spot Open in the Seattle Workshop
29 05 2012The master class for improvisers I’m offering in Seattle this weekend only has ONE spot open! I’m keeping the class size small, so sign up now!
Sustainable Scene Work Master Class
Saturday, June 2nd, 12:00-3:00 pm
Odd Duck Studio
1214 N. 10th Avenue
Seattle, WA 98122
$40 per person, $30 in advance
To register/pay for this workshop please click here to pay securely with paypal and receive the advance discount–or email Amanda at andthemonkey at gmail dot com.
Learn how you can nurture the skills needed to create grounded scenes that can sustain themselves for longer than just a few minutes. In this workshop, we will focus on breaking out of any habits you may have formed that can hinder grounded work, while we explore the small steps we can make to do truly sustainable, dynamic scenes. Come ready to dig in and play!
About the Instructor
Amanda Rountree has been performing improvisational theatre professionally since 1992, teaching since 1998, and directing since 2002. She relocated to Chicago in 2007 from Seattle where she was a performer and instructor with Unexpected Productions and a performer and co-artistic director of Playback Theater Northwest. Amanda has entertained audiences in seven countries and countless North American cities utilizing a wide variety of styles, disciplines, and formats. She is a resident teaching artist for Lifeline Theatre and the Second City Training Center. She is a graduate of the Second City Conservatory, a company member of WNEP Theatre, and an improv coach for groups around Chicago. She is currently writing her next one-woman show, after several successful runs and tours of The Good, the Bad, and the Monkey.
What People Are Saying
“Amanda is an amazing improv teacher. Her enthusiasm and performance experience shine through in her teaching, enabling her to help students make huge improvements in their skills while having loads of fun.” –Sean Harding, Seattle, WA
“Amanda’s teaching style was at once relaxed enough that I didn’t feel a need to impress, professional enough so that I felt compelled to do my best, and friendly enough that I didn’t feel it would matter how I did. Thankfully, with her coaching, I did better than my previous best and came away from her workshop feeling more confident in my abilities and able to approach Improvisation in a new manner.” -Greg G., Chicago, IL
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Tags: classes, improv, improvisational theatre, master class, odd duck studio, seattle, sustainable scene work, workshops
Categories : teaching
Attention Seattle-area Improvisers!
23 05 2012Check out Amanda Rountree’s master class that she’s offering in Seattle at the beginning of June! The class size is small, so sign up now. Wooty-woot!
Sustainable Scene Work Master Class
Saturday, June 2nd, 12:00-3:00 pm
Odd Duck Studio
1214 N. 10th Avenue
Seattle, WA 98122
$40 per person, $30 in advance
To register/pay for this workshop please click here to pay securely with paypal and receive the advance discount–or email Amanda at andthemonkey at gmail dot com.
Learn how you can nurture the skills needed to create grounded scenes that can sustain themselves for longer than just a few minutes. In this workshop, we will focus on breaking out of any habits you may have formed that can hinder grounded work, while we explore the small steps we can make to do truly sustainable, dynamic scenes. Come ready to dig in and play!
About the Instructor
Amanda Rountree has been performing improvisational theatre professionally since 1992, teaching since 1998, and directing since 2002. She relocated to Chicago in 2007 from Seattle where she was a performer and instructor with Unexpected Productions and a performer and co-artistic director of Playback Theater Northwest. Amanda has entertained audiences in seven countries and countless North American cities utilizing a wide variety of styles, disciplines, and formats. She is a resident teaching artist for Lifeline Theatre and the Second City Training Center. She is a graduate of the Second City Conservatory, a company member of WNEP Theatre, and an improv coach for groups around Chicago. She is currently writing her next one-woman show, after several successful runs and tours of The Good, the Bad, and the Monkey. Please check out amandarountree.com for more info.
What People Are Saying
“Amanda Rountree’s skill as an instructor is top notch. Her insight is amazing, and it is matched by her succinctness in giving constructive and critical feedback. She offers the learner clear directions on their path of development in the art of improvised theater and a deeper understanding of the nuances of performance.” -Brad Fortier, Director of Education, The Brody Theater, Portland, OR
“This class opened up my understanding of what improv can be…” -Brenda Kelly, Chicago
“Amanda’s workshop was just what I needed. It pushed me to go to new places, gave me new perspective, and was above all really, really fun. Her teaching style focuses on the improviser going somewhere, not just making the audience laugh. Which allowed us all to go amazing places that the audience would have never expected. She’s playful, respects the art-form and wants all her students to succeed. I hope everyone gets to spend time studying with Amanda Rountree.” -Adam H., Chicago
“Amanda is an amazing improv teacher. Her enthusiasm and performance experience shine through in her teaching, enabling her to help students make huge improvements in their skills while having loads of fun.” –Sean Harding, Seattle, WA
“Amanda’s teaching style was at once relaxed enough that I didn’t feel a need to impress, professional enough so that I felt compelled to do my best, and friendly enough that I didn’t feel it would matter how I did. Thankfully, with her coaching, I did better than my previous best and came away from her workshop feeling more confident in my abilities and able to approach Improvisation in a new manner.” -Greg G., Chicago, IL
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Tags: classes, improv, improvisation, improvisational theatre, master classes, seattle, workshops
Categories : teaching
The Improviser’s Palette
2 04 2012Most improvisers are so afraid of being cliché or “repeating themselves” that they try to avoid archetypes and typical relationships. Maybe they’re thinking, “You’ve seen one lovers-getting-together scene, you’ve seen them all.” But these are the stories that audiences crave to see and hear the most. If this was not the case, nobody would know who Shakespeare was and movies would never be remade. Just because you did a scene last week wherein you played a character who wanted to be respected by another character doesn’t mean you’re cheating or being a bad improviser if you play a character this week that is seeking respect. Human emotions are not limiting. They are our palette. Primary colors are limiting only to the unskilled painter.
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Tags: advice for improvisers, art, emotions, improv, notes, relationships, theatre
Categories : directing, performing, teaching
Sept. 17th Master Class for Improvisers
6 09 2011Whether you do short form or long form improv, being comfortably grounded in your scenework can take you to the next level. Come to this class to find out how to use the tools you already have to gain richness in your humor and a more dynamic relationship with the audience. Find out how to propel scenes forward into delightful territory absolutely effortlessly. This class is coming up soon and the spots are filling up. There’s still room, though! To secure your place in this workshop (and to save $10), click here now!
“This class opened up my understanding of what improv can be…” -Brenda Kelly, Chicago
“The Keepin’ It Real class I took from Amanda has been incredibly useful to me. The techniques Amanda taught in that class dramatically improved my ability to connect emotionally with my work and to bring genuine feeling to my improvised characters. It’s no exaggeration to say that Amanda’s teaching was instrumental in bringing my improv to the next level.” –Sean Harding, Seattle, WA
“Amanda quickly establishes an environment where it becomes easy to truly use yourself and your own life experiences in your improvisation, and feel completely safe in doing so, even in a room full of strangers.” -Dennis Frymire, Chicago
“Amanda’s workshop was just what I needed. It pushed me to go to new places, gave me new perspective, and was above all really, really fun. Her teaching style focuses on the improviser going somewhere, not just making the audience laugh. Which allowed us all to go amazing places that the audience would have never expected. She’s playful, respects the art-form and wants all her students to succeed.” -Adam H., Chicago
I hope to see you there!
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Tags: chicago, improv, theatre, workshops
Categories : teaching
I am one of the crazy people on the train.
29 08 2011
The other day, I was on my way to teach or direct and was planning on focusing on character wants that day. I had accidentally left my “bag of wants” at home, so I had to create more wants on slips of paper for my actors to draw out of a hat later for their scenes.
I want you to love me.
I want your respect.
I want you to like me more than you like yourself.
I want you to be my friend.
You annoy me, but I want to have sex with you.
I neatly wrote these thoughts and more like it in my notebook on the busy train. A few stops before I had to get off, the woman on the inside of my seat excused herself to get off the train. As she got up, she looked at me with a considerable amount of pity.
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Tags: chicago, comedy, directing, improv, life, lists, public transportation, theatre
Categories : directing, teaching, thoughts
Keepin’ It Real….Comin’ at ya in September!
24 08 2011Of all the workshops I teach, Keepin’ It Real is the most requested. I can’t believe it’s been nearly a year since I offered it here in Chicago!
“The Keepin’ It Real class I took from Amanda has been incredibly useful to me. The techniques Amanda taught in that class dramatically improved my ability to connect emotionally with my work and to bring genuine feeling to my improvised characters. It’s no exaggeration to say that Amanda’s teaching was instrumental in bringing my improv to the next level.” -Sean Harding, Seattle
This master class takes place on Saturday, September 17. Click here for all of the details about the workshop. The fee is $40 per person, but only $30 if you pay in advance! Click here to hold your spot for the workshop and pay securely online with paypal.
Keep it real!
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Tags: chicago, improv, theatre, workshops
Categories : teaching
improv and life….once again…
17 05 2011So once again, I look down at the pages of my notebook–the one I use when I’m coaching improv, teaching improv, and directing shows–and I notice that a note I wrote for creating an engaging and sincere moment on stage applies to creating an engaging and sincere moment in life.
It matters less what we say to each other than how we feel about each other.
Yes, yes. So very true.
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Tags: art, improv, improvisation, life, life is good, quotes, self quotes, theatre
Categories : directing, teaching, thoughts
mini me
12 03 2011So the other day, I was teaching an improv workshop to very young kids (ages 6-9). We began with sitting in a circle and I asked them if they knew what they were going to learn in the workshop. A few hands shot up, and I called on one of them. As I listened to his answer, I noticed that one of the girls had started crying. I asked her what was wrong and she replied, “I knew the answer to your question, but when I raised my hand I hit myself in the face. It hurt.”
Oh, honey. I have been there. I tried to comfort her as best I could, saying, “Oh, I’ve done that before….I’m sorry…..you’ll be okay….” Because I didn’t want to make it worse, I didn’t add that, if she’s anything like me, that won’t be the last time that she gets excited about something and then ridiculously injures herself.
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Tags: improv, kids, ridiculous injuries
Categories : teaching
