Norway Memorial Library, Norway Opera House Corp and theater artist Amanda Huotari are teaming up to offer an eight-week improvisational workshop for seniors.

The series will run from 5:30-7:30 p.m. on Tuesdays, September 6 through October 25. Classes are held at the library at 258 Main Street.

The Show Up and Play: Theater without a Script workshop series was made possible through the Creative Aging program of the Maine Arts Commission, an independent state agency of the National Endowment for the Arts. The grant supports experiential learning opportunities for area residents ages 55 and older, according to a press release from Huotari.

The program will be taught by Huotari. For more than 20 years, she has worked in professional theater, appearing in various venues from Montreal to Bogota, from the New York Clown-Theatre Festival to the White House. In 2021, she was awarded the Maine Arts Commission’s Performing Arts Fellowship, recognized for her artistic excellence and “joyful spirit for fierce acting.”

As an artist teacher and creativity coach, she has worked with professionals in a variety of fields, from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to the American College of Nurse Midwives, helping team members build collaborative relationships and to unleash creative potential. His improvisation and ensemble building masterclasses have been held at numerous colleges including Dartmouth, Bates and Bowdoin.

For 15 years, she served as Executive Artistic Director of the Celebration Barn Theater, where she hosted thousands of international artists for workshops dedicated to amplifying the uniqueness of everyone’s artistic voice.

Huotari explains, “It’s so liberating to create original theater together, without having to memorize a script. Participants will learn tools to manage performance anxiety, free their bodies and voices to be more expressive, create characters, develop stories and activate their imaginations through a playful approach to improvisational theatre.

Due to grant support, the eight-week series is offered to participants at a discounted rate of $20 to $80 (sliding scale). Additional scholarship funds are available for those for whom the cost is prohibitive.

For more information and to register, visit amandahuotari.com/workshops.

Discover the other upcoming events in the region!

” Previous

Next ”

Related stories