Maddie Parker - A Swim in the Pond in the Rain

About the Workshop
In A Swim in the Pond in the Rain, George Saunders breaks down Russian short stories to illuminate the craft of fiction writing. In this workshop, we'll take the same approach to improvised storytelling - playing, re-playing, deconstructing, and discussing scenes, in order to put our collective fingers on why we make the choices we do, why some things just feel so right, and how we know what a story needs. This workshop aims to grow students' narrative skills; how to craft and support strong, cohesive stories, whether within a standalone scene or across a whole show.

Participant Experience
Participants should be confident with longer scenework and have some performance experience under their belts; experience with narrative improv desirable but not required (basically, anyone beyond very fresh beginner level is welcome)

About Your Teacher
Maddie has been teaching adults for 7 years and kids for 12. She has been a faculty member teaching all levels of the curriculum at Improv Theatre Sydney since 2017, as well as a house team coach and facilitator for the corporate training program. She has also taught with ImproAustralia, and at a bunch of festivals around Aus and NZ. Having never really taken improv classes herself, Maddie has a healthy scepticism of "teaching" and prescriptive approaches to improv - everyone wants something different out of improvisation, so she sees her role as just creating the conditions for them to experiment and explore and find out what works for them, and then helping them figure out how to best use their own personal peculiarities as part of an ensemble.

Details
Sunday 8th September 2024
10:00 - 13:00

This workshop venue is fully accessible and will take place at:
Squire Performing Arts Centre
Arboretum St
Nottingham
NG1 4JB