Hudson Valley Summer Intensive
WHO DOESN'T LOVE AN INTENSIVE IN A BEAUTIFUL LOCATION?!!!!
It's the Hudson Vally, NY 2025 Summer Intensive
aka Turning Your Life into Art and Thereby Making It Bearable (And perhaps profitable)
aka It Was The Best of Times it Was the Worst of Times...it was a solo theater intensive
aka Remembering why art and our stories matter even when we are SICK OF OUR OWN FACES
Class size is limited to 10
*Auditing is available for this workshop (info below)
FIVE CLASSES!
2-three hour remote Zoom Classes to get us going. Monday July 21 and Monday July 28th (Time TBD)
2 In Person Workshop Days Friday August 1st (12-6) Aug 2nd (12-6)
ONE INCREDIBLE DINNER!
Simone-a Hudson local-is providing a Welcome dinner (including wine but no hooch)
Friday night Aug 1st after the first in person class
ONE FINAL CLASS PERFORMANCE
Sunday August 3rd. 3pm. PARK THEATER, HUDSON
Each student will have 10-12 minutes to share their new work
One music cue (maybe 2) for each piece
Tech will take place around noon on Sunday
Cost for intensive=$825
Auditing=$300
To register for the workshop or to ask any questions-
contact Simone at lwsolotime@gmail.com
You'll end the weekend with 10-12 minutes of new material to get you started on an entire full length show or to add to an already existing show
You will learn about the craft of Solo Theater and why it continues to be such a perfect art form. (it's not therapy but it is healing).
I'm a huge fan of this art form. It's cheap. You and a chair and some music cues. Easy to book into theaters-as long as they have an extra chair
Solo theater has allowed me to
Strengthen my voice as a writer
Hone my acting chops
Create the theatrical experience that I crave
Play characters I’m normally not allowed to play
Set the tone of the work environment
Tell the stories that I would want to hear/watch
Show other creative folks what I can do
(My first big TV job on The Daily Show came from producers seeing my show at UCB in NY)
The Intensive will include
gathering and sharing material
writing prompts
Collect Inspirations
Outline a full length show
talk about how to continue to develop the show after the class is over
Working with personal/intimate material without ending up with everyone hating you
Finding a cause or inspiration outside of yourself-a battle cry-a backbone. (Sometimes that’s easy and apparent. Sometimes it can be found once a theme emerges. (It’s about BLANK …but it’s really about BLANK)
**
CREATING A SOLO SHOW
Some people like to write out their shows. Come in with a new scene written each class and share their work with their script in their hands. Some like to improv a scene/tell a story from memory and record themselves during their class share and then transpose it into a draft at home. There’s no right answer. You can create a way of working that works for you and suits your energy and helps you feel comfortable and free to play.
You can have one idea one story or a bunch of ideas and stories. One idea doesn’t shut down another and an idea may connect to your theme in ways you can’t see yet. So don’t throw things away in the beginning.
THE CLASS WILL INCLUDE EXCITING ACTIVITIES SUCH AS
sharing inspirations
Mining for material
Digging for truth and themes
Finding theatrical elements that help evolve and push the story
Creating a piece of theater that feels personal and cathartic and fun to perform and watch. Work that will connect with the audience. Work that is vulnerable and real and personal and entertaining and with some risks. you know..all those buzz words that actually do matter.
**WHAT DOES INTERMEDIATE MEAN?
it means this class is limited to people who have had some performance experience. I'd also like for people to come to the workshop with 1-3 ideas of what they'd like to do. You dont have to know what you'll do with the material-just the ideas.
IT'S GOING TO BE A GOOD ONE
Again--if you have any questions please reach out to Simone and she can forward any questions to me that you may have about the class.
P.S.
Here’s a short excerpt from a grant application I wrote a many many years ago but it still works for me-
"I’ve always said that solo theater was about connecting with others. Feeling less alone. That the more honest we are…the deeper the truths the closer we will be. and I believe that. and I like finding story. Examining the why’s of humanity and giving dignity to our stories. And if we give respect and dignity to our stories, we will help someone else who isn’t a big show off like us permission to give dignity to their stories. And they may really really need that permission.
I am concerned with the flaws of humanity and enthusiastic about the hypocrisy of myself and the world around me. I’m obsessed with “Bad Women” secrets, race, comedy, evolving truth, adoption, the American penal system, death anxiety and life anxiety are all topics I’m drawn to.
I am addicted to digging for truth, with the audience and in front of the audience. My very lofty and personal goals are to lessen suffering and entertain.
With Solo theatre, the audience is the other actor. I never have to worry about them not making eye contact with me, or mouthing my lines along with me, or having affairs with other married actors. They are—for the most part—there. And I like them because they are completely unpredictable."
A SOLO THEATER/STORYTELLINGCLASS
BEGINS MONDAY APRIL 15TH
7 weeks plus performance
$630
Final Performance will be filmed so you'll have a copy of your work to watch every morning and evening....
-The class will be LIVE/IN PERSON! After years of zoom classes I am so happy about this.
-Location will be in Santa Monica. Santa Monica Playhouse 6pm-9pm
-CLASS SIZE will be limited. 77 people max. kidding. 9 Max.
We will explore things like—
Differences between showing and not telling/What’s a story and what’s an anecdote?
Finding and turning up the gas on theatrical elements/moments in a story. From page to stage kind of thing.
Vulnerability and storytelling. Trusting your instinct and learning to tap into it.
Artistic statements/intentions. Who are you? What matters to you? What ignites that FIRE IN THAT BIG OLE BELLY?
Collecting material and inspiration. Throwing all the ideas out at first. One idea doesn’t shut down another even though they may SEEM unconnected.
Having fun/getting your ya-ya’s out (your own personal form of that). Creating the show that you would want to act in and that you would want to watch.
Further opportunities/development of past the class. Like…Story telling shows. Fringe theater. Touring. Producing. Self producing or approaching producers. Turning material into on-line content.
Finding collaborators/directors and dealing with writing personal material without the worry of never being spoken to again by everyone you know.
-Every week you will have writing and performance assignments. (Sharing a stories).
-By the end of the 7 weeks you’ll have multiple stories/monologues to choose from for the final show. Before the holiday break you’ll decide which story to focus on for the final performance.
-All levels are welcome. I don’t work from a strict formula. Sometimes I give individual homework assignments so everyone can be working from WHERE THEY ARE. One person may get the assignment to ‘tell a story about your family that embarrasses you” and another may be assigned to “turn that monologue into a movement piece with no talking”. It will depend upon where you are and what you and your material NEEDS.
WARNING!
I love an inspirational quote! FOR EXAMPLE Maya Angelou // "There were people who went to sleep last night, poor and rich and white and black, but they will never wake again. And those dead folks would give anything at all for just five minutes of this... So you watch yourself about complaining. What you're supposed to do when you don't like a thing is change it. If you can't change it, change the way you think about it."
ANOTHER WARNING!
The Hollywood Asshole Clause
Many of us are working actors who are also single mothers AND are adopted. Therefore, I have a HOLLYWOOD ASSHOLE CLAUSE that states that the schedule may change and classes may need to be moved/rescheduled. I will always work with everyone and their schedules to MAKE IT RIGHT and make sure that you get what you came for. And the same goes for YOU ALL. If you have to miss a class I’ll offer make up classes.
TO SIGN UP
Send me an email @Lauren.weedman@icloud.com or weedman71@hotmail.com Tell me what you’re working on or hoping to work on. Why you’re taking the class. That kind of thing. There’s no right answers—I just want to know who I’m dealing with. Weed out the killers and the ex husbands.
Venmo @Lauren_Weedman
Or
Paypal@paypal.me/laurenweedmanstudio
Or leave an envelope stuffed with cash under my door mat.
!
That’s all for NOW. Please email me with any thoughts or questions.
xLauren
November 4th and 5th
Saturday and Sunday
10 am to 5 pm
Where:
Berg Studios Annex
3273 Casitas Ave, #105
Los Angeles CA 90039
Cost:
$300 student price (you must be currently enrolled in a scene study class to receive the student discount)
$350 non-student price
Solo Performance with Lauren Weedman: November at Berg Studios!
Ever wanted to tell your story? Either on the stage or online? And ever been daunted by exactly how to do it? In this new era of the content creator, there has never been a more necessary time to become familiar with the special set of skills this kind of performance requires.
Berg Studios is very excited to welcome award-winning comedic actress, playwright, and author Lauren Weedman to lead a Solo Performance Intensive in November!
Solo performance is an art form that at its core is about connecting with others in a profoundly personal and creative way. Examining the deeply personal nature of our humanity, and giving dignity and spark to our stories.
Lauren has created an exhilarating workshop that walks the actor through both disciplines of acting and writing specifically for this medium. The result is a set of skills that will give you the confidence to take your story out into the world, where it belongs!
Creating a solo show helps strengthen your voice as a performer. It allows you to create the theatrical experience that you crave. You will convert your questions, your memories, your obsessions, and your experiences into theater or film.
Now is the time to show other creative folks in the industry who YOU really are and what you’re capable of while generating exciting and personal material that can translate into theater or other online content.
If you have many ideas or want help finding one, this workshop is for you. Maybe you’re in the middle of developing a new piece, or you simply don’t want to lose touch with the feeling of creating a new work/making some art. We will share our ideas and stories, collecting the inspirations that will help feed your creativity and bring your show to life.
There are many different forms of Solo Performance. True personal stories, historical characters, a series of characters around a central theme, narrative first-person address, magic realism, and so much more. We will explore ways to turn your story into a piece of theater. Brainstorm scenes, characters, and themes. Figuring out what your material wants to be. Letting the material and stories dictate the form. It’s theater. It’s storytelling. It’s connection. Ultimately, this workshop is about believing that one’s own experiences and dreams are not only important enough to share with the world, but that it is essential to do so!
One on One Coaching
I am sometimes available for private coaching. email me with questions and for rates