Author Archives: lsegel

This summer the Theatre Company of Saugus provided a Youth Theatre Workshop. A place where children’s imaginations can learn and grow! Led by Music and Vocal coach Lori L’Italien, with Dance coach Crystal Joyce, and Acting coach Bobby Imperato. 15-19 August 2011. The location of the workshop was the Cliftondale Congregational Church, near Cliftondale Square.

It finished off with a Showcase performance starting at 7 PM on Friday (located at the East Saugus Methodist Church).

The Theatre Company of Saugus presented a Summer Workshop Series on Theatrical Crafts. If you’ve ever wondered “how did they do that?” this was the workshop series for you. We learned about the theatrical crafts that make every show come alive!

The Theatrical Crafts Workshops were held at the East Saugus United Methodist Church / 85 Chestnut Street / Saugus, Massachusetts. All sessions begin at 7:30 PM. The cost was $5 for each workshop.
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The Theatre Company of Saugus held another successful summer educational workshop series, the seventh annual. In the summer of 2010 the title was Basic Principles of Play Directing. Areas covered included play analysis, stage composition, stage movement, stage business, rhythm and tempo, and other topics. Lectures and discussions were presented by Professor Emeritus Leo Nickole, who teaches theatre courses at Emerson College. Professor Nickole has directed over 125 productions for community, college and summer theatres. He is one of the founders of the Theatre Company of Saugus, now in its 42^nd season.

There were six sessions, on two Wednesdays of each three months: June 16 and 23, July 7 and 21, and August 11 and 25, 2010. The main topics of the six sessions were: (1) The Unity of Production. (2) Play Analysis. (3)Stage Composition. (4) Stage Movement. (5) Stage Business (6) Rhythm and Tempo.
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The Theatre Company of Saugus presented a Children’s Theatre Workshop during the summer of 2009. Running on two Mondays, on 27 July and on 3 August 2009, sessions were held from 8:30 AM until 3 PM. The location was the Cliftondale Congregational Church, at 50 Essex Street in Saugus, Massachusetts. It was fully subscribed.

The workshop was designed for children ages 7 to 11. Each day the children engaged in various exciting new theatrical activities, including: Singing, Dancing, Masks, Puppetry, Pantomime, Acting, Improvisation, and Arts and Crafts. The workshop focus was on preparing participants to audition as the Munchkins in our production of The Wizard of Oz.

The workshop director was Terrie Bater. Terrie has a degree in Theater Education, teaches in a dance school, and is a schoolteacher. She was assisted by Theatre Company of Saugus personnel with expertise in various aspects of theatre, including Bobby Imperato, who has several years experience supervising children’s drama programs.

There was no cost for the sessions, they were free. A limited number of spaces were available. All the information and registration materials are in the brochure.

This program was supported in part by a grant from the Saugus Cultural Council, a local agency which is supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency.

The Theatre Company of Saugus presents a Free Summer Workshop on the Development of the Realistic Theatre. On Tuesday evenings at 7:30 during July and August 2008. Please revisit this page for late changes to the workshop schedule or subject matter. Continue reading →

Comedie Francaise, Moliere, Corneille, Racine, Theatre du Marais, Restoration, Commedia del Arte: What’s that all about?

The Theatre Company of Saugus is now in its third year of an ongoing educational program on the history of various styles of theater. Each year we have presented a series of sessions during the summer, free to the public. These are lectures by several highly qualified presenters, and/or participatory performance workshops. This is followed by a winter production of a play in that style. In the summer of 2004 we presented workshops on the history, language, and acting style of Shakespeare. This was followed in February 2005 by “Evenings With Shakespeare”, a presentation of shortened versions of two comedies, Midsummer Nights Dream and Taming of the Shrew. In the summer of 2005 we studied the Ancient Greek Drama, including the myths, comedies, tragedies, and theatres. In February 2006 we presented the Greek tragedy Iphigenia in Aulis, by Euripides.

In the summer of 2006 the Theatre Company of Saugus presented its third series of historical style workshops, on Understanding and Performing the French Neo-Classical Period of Theatrical Comedy, with emphasis on Moliere and the Commedia del Arte. The plan is to follow this up again with a related production; a comedy by Moliere to be performed in February 2007.

There were four weekly sessions, as follows:

18 July: History of the French Neo-Classical Period. Presented by Leo Nickole, emeritus professor of performing arts at Emerson College.

25 July: The Characters, Stories, and Style of the Commedia del Arte. Presented by Nancy Lemoine, drama teacher at Saugus High School.

1 August. Costumes of the French Neo-Classical Period. Presented by Rafael Jaen,Resident Costume Designer and Costume Shop Supervisor at Emerson College.

8 August. Performing on the French Neo-Classical Stage. Presented by John Conlon, emeritus professor of theater at U-Mass Boston.

The workshops were free and open to the public.

Those who wish to go further in the experience of French Neo-Classical Comedy may wish to participate in our full-scale production, of a comedy, to be determined, by Moliere, planned for February 2007.