Eric Domuret

Eric Domuret is an American actor, director and University professor. Eric was the fight choreographer for four seasons with the Trinity Shakespeare festival as well as an actor and director in the US and the UK. He received his MFA in Theatre Directing at Middlesex University in London, England where he was trained by Dame Janet Suzman, Nancy Meckler, National Theatre Scholar John Russell Brown, Playwright David Edgar, and RSC director Leon Rubin. Eric currently resides in Houston, Texas and teaches at the University of St. Thomas where he specializes in directing and the synthesis of traditional and contemporary performance styles.

WORKSHOP OVERVIEW

“The individual may be freed by the mask . . . the actor naturally wants to be himself and express himself.”

– Sir Peter Hall

The Greek Theatre Playground is an interactive workshop that provides a liberating and playful context for discovering a personal style of Ancient Greek performance.

The participants will actively engage a physical and playful environment of obstacles and levels while applying the mask work and text of the Greeks. While wearing the mask the participants will take on the persona of a child playing on a playground. They will then proceed to invite other ‘children’ over to show them how to play in their area. The only words that can be spoken are a single memorized line of the Greek Chorus. Through the course of the playground the participants will begin to use the words and their mask in their communication. It becomes a liberation rather than a hindrance.

By contextualizing the Mask and the text in the playground, the workshop applies contemporary methods to Greek performance such as Meisner’s “Reality of Doing”, Stanislavski subtext work, or Cecily Berry’s concept of physicalizing words. While providing contemporary methods, participants will begin to organically discover traditional Greek performance techniques.

This workshop is suitable for student and professional actors alike. The workshop can be applied in the rehearsal hall to help directors discover motivation or pictures, and provide their actors with context and impulses. This workshop is perfect for all ages, and can easily be adapted to fit any style or genre of theatre or performance.

PAST CONFERENCES

Organized by IUGTE in collaboration with "ArtUniverse"