To receive the $10 discount for this workshop, simply register and pay securely by clicking here.
Keepin’ It Real! Master Class
Sunday, April 25
4:00-7:00 pm
Cornelia Arts Building, Studio B
1800 W. Cornelia
Right near the Paulina and Addison brown-line stops
$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.
About the Workshop
This workshop will help deepen your performance with the use of sincerity, emotional connection, and believability. Discover the real “first offers” of every scene, and make improv even more natural, playful, and invigorating than it was before. Gain richness in your humor and a more dynamic connection with your audience. How can your life be explored, translated, or applied in an improv performance? Come, find out!
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
“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’s honesty and enthusiasm for her craft are infectious! She’s great at encouraging us to open up and recognize our own lives and experiences for the rich sources that they are!” -Tony B., Seattle, WA
“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, thank you for the workshop! I love your practical and fun approach to improv. The idea of bringing more of myself to the stage has helped my improv tremendously. I felt like I relearned exercises that I’d known for years in a way that finally connected me to them and gave them new life. You rock!” -Galen E., Bellingham, WA
“Amanda’s honest, lovable personality oozes right into her workshops. I walked into a room with about 15 strangers, and I walked out of that room feeling like I’d just hung out with my buddies on a Saturday afternoon. She knows the importance of taking the time to establish an environment of acceptance, openness and trust, and that makes all the difference in the learning experience! SIGN UP, ALREADY!” -Jeremy Chapman, Chicago
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’s performed everything from improv games in Kentucky and improvised Shakespeare at the Colorado Shakes Fest to drama therapy in Japan and breakthrough formats in Germany). Chicago audiences have seen her in Impress These Apes 2, Damascus Steel, Don’t Spit the Water, Soiree DADA: Shmukt die Hallen, and The (Edward) Hopper Project. In addition to being a company member of WNEP Theatre, she can be seen performing her original solo pieces around town, with The Beast Women Cabaret, This Much is True Storytelling, and The Kates. She is a resident teaching artist for Lifeline Theatre, Pegasus Players, and the Second City Training Center and has directed for Theatre Momentum. Her one-woman show, The Good, the Bad, and the Monkey opened in Chicago last fall and is currently on tour.
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.
