| | Fall 2022 Newsletter At the changing of the seasons we reflect on the changes we have experienced as an organization in the past year. Some are big and bold like the beautiful new mural at our Weller Street entrance, painted by local artist Shogo Ota (come see it at our Open House tonight!). Others are just as big but a little more subtly experienced. This past year, after deep trainings and conversations with staff, faculty, and board, we updated our mission and vision which, while still holding true to the original core, now communicate more specifically the goals of our practice that benefit everyone. Mission: Freehold engages the artist in every human, through theatrical training, experimentation, and practice; to foster a deeper connection with themselves and with each other in pursuit of radical mutuality. Vision: We at Freehold believe that theatre should inspire people to embrace the full range of human experience and connect us more deeply in community. To accomplish this, we must create a space where all people of all identities will be welcomed, respected, and valued. The practice must be truthful, illuminate the unseen, and articulate the unspoken. This shift is a part of our new strategic plan and more is in the works. We're excited to continue sharing our efforts to deepen our practice and open up the circle for all to feel at home at Freehold. Want to join us? We're recruiting new board members! As we broaden our community we're excited to celebrate many of our inspirations. There are those we honor like the remarkable Peter Brook who passed away earlier this year. And those we learn from today like our incredible faculty, welcoming HATLO, teaching Solo Performance this fall. You'll also hear from longtime Engaged Theatre composer Gino Jevdjevic about what inspires him to make music. All this and more, below — read on! |
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| Open House TONIGHT! Join us at 6pm for our Fall Quarter Open House! Come celebrate a new year of creative exploration at Freehold. Get a first peek at our beautiful new mural by Shogo Ota. Meet the staff and faculty, and learn about our work and the classes offered this fall. Partake of some beer, wine, and light food. Mingle with fellow artists and art-lovers. Connect with your community. |
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| |  | | Remembering Peter Brook (1925 – 2022) He was a director, theater artist, and more importantly, a theater innovator for decades. He became a beacon for all of us – venturing into what is not yet known, and challenging us all to go further. One can say a true artist is always ready to make any number of sacrifices in order to reach a moment of creativity. The mediocre artist prefers not to take risks, which is why he is conventional. Everything that is conventional, everything that is mediocre is linked to that fear.
- Peter Brook |
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| He brought this risk to his artistic practice and he continued to undertake voyages and new ways of voyaging until the end. RIP We aspire to his version of risk at Freehold. We created Freehold as a safe place to practice what is not safe. We ask our collaborators, students, board, audience, and extended community to practice risk in rehearsal and performance, in individual practice, and in collaboration. One of the core truths in this risk is that you have to be willing to fail, learn from failure, and agree to be changed by what you’ve learned. There is a mighty resource in failure, and vulnerability is powerful if inhabited fully. We know we humans are like the crows – we figure out adaptation:
but it takes grace, guts, and generosity to be changed by what we experience. In our Lab, our experiments court failure – so we can learn, change and evolve the art and the process. In this last project, The Pericles Project, we adapted to sudden cast changes, shut down of the DOC, Covid cancelling audience sharing and feedback – and we are (were) still able to learn from what was, and was not working yet. In the studio, in the craft of acting, we are working on listening, and availability to the other: which demands the openness of true vulnerability, and demands the willingness to be changed by what is coming at you. Risk is, in part, the courage to be changed by the information that failure is giving you. That deep strength in vulnerability is a force any and all of us can tap.
It is the artist in us; it is the warrior in us; it is the pliant, ever newly being born part of our human being with each other. What a remarkable practice this is….
Thank you, Mr. Brook. |
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| Meet Gino Jevdjevic, Composer for Freehold's Engaged Theatre, Pericles Project Workshop "Art came first. We know, historically, that art came first, and then a man circled a piece of land and said 'This is mine, that’s mine, and this is mine.' Then it became a tribe, and then it became the state... When civilization disappears, it goes the other way around. First, technology disappears. Technology was the last thing that we inherited. After that, food sources. And then we’re left with art." Read the rest of the interview here! |
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| | Freehold Class Spotlights We still have classes available to stretch your generative and performance skills! Questions? Check out our catalog or email info@freeholdtheatre.org for more information about classes, discounted tuition, and internships for class credit. Check out these exciting fall classes that still have spots open! - **Stage Combat: Sword and Shield with Geof Alm--Starts Saturday, September 24
- **Playwriting with Kaela Mei-Shing Garvin--Starts Sunday September 25
- Audition with Annette Toutonghi--Starts Monday, October 3
- **Basic Improv with Matt Smith--Starts Monday, October 3
- **Advanced Scene Study with David Hsieh--Starts Tuesday, October 4
- **Step II: Acting with Text--Starts Wednesday, October 5
- Solo Performance with HATLO--Starts Thursday, October 6
- Intro to Directing for the Camera with John Jacobsen--Starts Thursday, October 6
- **Step III: Basic Scene Study with Elena Flory-Barnes--Starts Tuesday, October 11
- Voice with Gin Hammond--Starts Saturday, October 15
- Intro to Shakespeare with Sarah Harlett--Starts Tuesday, November 1
- Alexander Workshop with Alyssa Franks--Starts Thursday, November 3
**Learn more and get a taste of these classes at the Open House tonight! |
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| Meet HATLO New faculty member HATLO will be teaching Solo Performance this fall. Their hope is to facilitate collaboration with the actors who take their class, and to test the limits of solo performance as a medium. "Fundamentally I am a collaborator. I enjoy teaching, but I really like to partner with people creatively, to push their ideas forward, to dream and imagine, and to find stretch points of emergence and discovery. That’s my work as a collaborative artist. One thing I’m really excited about with this class is getting to practice those skills with a group of people, and really think about this environment as a lab: to let ideas try out breathing and walking on legs, to see what we discover, to find out together what wants more life. I view my role as creative partner and collaborator, while also understanding that I’m holding the space and facilitating the space for everyone." |
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| | Opportunities to Support Freehold |
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| Passionate about Freehold and What We Do? Join Our Board! We are seeking volunteer board members to support our small but mighty organization. Join us in commitment to our core values as we emerge stronger than ever from the pandemic: - Artistic Practice, Risk, and Artistic Excellence rooted in organic truth: Deepening the transformational power of theatre through experimentation, training, and performance.
- Equity & Social Justice and Radical Accessibility: Working to meet the unique needs of all groups for full participation.
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| | Monthly Giving Support comes in all sizes. We have been blown away as our community has come together to celebrate the power of theatre in the midst of a pandemic. As we continue to push what art can do not only for us as individuals but for those around us, we are asking that you consider a monthly gift to Freehold. Whether that gift is $5, $10, or $100, your generosity allows us to pay it forward to our students, participants in Engaged Theatre, and all of our working professionals as they take what they've done with Freehold into the larger artistic community. To donate, please visit freeholdtheatre.org/donate! |
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| Thank you! We're pleased to highlight those who were honored by their friends and family with gifts to Freehold Theatre Lab / Studio in their name. This quarter, thanks to those who have donated in celebration of others: In Honor Of: Ian Nelson, All the imprisoned people in Washington State |
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| | Freehold Theatre Lab/Studio
PO Box 14183 | Seattle, Washington 98114
2063237499 | info@freeholdtheatre.org |
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