TheatreBridge

Six Weeks of Immersive Theatre Study for High School Students

TheatreBridge offers a connecting link between high school and college theatre and encourages a commitment to a life of creative engagement. This highly selective pre-college company provides promising young actors an opportunity to stretch their imaginations and skills as they create new work under the mentorship of established theatre professionals.

Our gifted teachers nurture company members as they develop their acting, directing and writing skills in this intensive six-week residency. Rising high school juniors and seniors create original performance pieces inspired by a variety of creative workshops. Students work alongside the artists of the Brown/Trinity Playwrights Rep and the undergraduate Apprentice Company, and are encouraged to achieve their highest potential. Residential Advisors are carefully selected Brown Theatre Undergraduates. They serve as mentors and role models to help students make the most of their time at Brown.

Four of the top five most frequently produced plays
in America were written by Brown alumni: Peter
Nachtrieb ‘97, Stephen Karam ‘02, Sarah Ruhl ‘97;
MFA ‘01, and Rachel Sheinkin ‘89; American Theatre
Magazine October 2009 Issue.

Brown University turning out one exceptional
playwright after another
Providence Journal article; December 20, 2009.

The Curriculum

The central experience of the pre-college program is an ongoing exploration of the creativity and craft of acting. Faculty will draw from the Meisner technique which includes interdependent series of exercises that build upon one another. Meisner's technique is based on the idea that acting finds its most profound expression in specific behavior that comes from the actor's real human response to situations and other people. As actors, students will rely heavily on accessing their impulses, through which real responses and real behavior can be accessed in the moment. This technique is applied to improvisation with another person as well as the actor's way of finding things to do in rehearsal, interpreting a script, and creating the specific physical characteristics of each character the actor played.

Daily classes (including Saturdays) in text, improvisation, and movement make up the basic program. Students can expect to spend the majority of their evening and weekend hours rehearsing and preparing for classes. Some Mondays offer trips to popular destinations for TheatreBridge students and when time permits, students are encouraged take advantage of co-curricular and recreational programs offered in the pre-college program.

The Faculty

A highly accomplished core faculty ensures continuity and one-on-one mentoring throughout the program. To further enrich the foundation program, visiting artists offer workshops in specialized areas. The TheatreBridge summer finishes with a showcase of original performance pieces staged during the Festival Week.

A Network of Opportunities

TheatreBridge provides numerous opportunities for interaction with members of the undergraduate Apprentice Company, Brown theatre faculty, and other artists from the Playwrights Rep. in a variety of formal and informal settings. Students work front-of-house at Rep performances, attend special workshops and Q&A sessions with Brown faculty and visiting artists, and participate in post-performance talkbacks.