Master Class: Scene Study
Remy Bumppo returns with its scene study class designed for the working professional actor. This class provides the opportunity to work with four professional Chicago directors on a variety of materials – each week the director will choose scenes and/or monologues for each student in the class. Over the course of the class, every student will experience multiple in-depth approaches to scene work. This March, we are running TWO sessions of this class, one on Mondays and one on Tuesdays. Please register for the day that is most suitable for your schedule! The Guest Directors will be the same for both sessions.
Guest Directors: Tara Mallen (Artistic Director of Rivendell Theatre Ensemble), Georgette Verdin (Associate Artistic Director of Northlight Theatre), Malkia Stampley (BOLD Artistic Producer of Goodman Theatre), Remy Bumppo’s Artistic Director Marti Lyons (Monday Session), and Remy Bumppo’s Creative Producer Christina Casano (Tuesday Session).
DATES:
Mondays: March 3, 10, 17, 24
OR
Tuesdays: March 4, 11, 18, 25
TIME: 6:00-9:00 pm
COST: $200
CAP: 12 students for each session
About the Instructors
TARA MALLEN
A producer, actor, and director, Tara is also the founder and Artistic Director at Chicago’s award-winning Rivendell Theatre Ensemble. She is a 3Arts William Franklin Grisham Awardee, a 2024 Impact Award winner from the Chicago Foundation for Women and a Volunteers of America Silver Star Awardee. Most recently she directed the sold-out, critically acclaimed world premiere WIPEOUT for Rivendell. She was seen onstage in Rivendell’s smash-hit production Motherhouse as part of their Jeff Award winning ensemble. In 2018, she won the Jeff Award for “Actor in a Principal Role” for her portrayal of “Della” in The Cake. Recent stage credits include The Luckiest at The Raven Theatre (Jeff Nomination – Supporting Actor); the world premiere of Lynn Nottage’s Sweat at Arena Stage; Rivendell’s world premiere productions of Laura and the Sea, Look, We Are Breathing and Rasheeda Speaking among many others; and How Long Will I Cry at Steppenwolf Theatre. Since Rivendell’s inception in 1996, Tara has produced and acted in over fifty productions. She received a Joseph Jefferson award for “Supporting Actress” for work in WRENS and was also a part of that production’s Jeff winning “ensemble”. She was nominated the following year for “Actress in a Principal Role” for her work in My Simple City.
Screen credits include the critically acclaimed indie film Ghostlight (IFC); Steven Soderbergh’s Contagion (WARNER BROS.); The Emperor of Ocean Park (MGM+);The Last Shift (Sony Pictures); Dark Matter (Apple TV); Empire (Fox); Boss (Starz); Chicago Fire (NBC); Doubt (CBS/Sony Pictures); Chicago P.D.(NBC); Sense8 (Netflix) and the independent feature FOOLS.
For Rivendell, Tara directed the world premieres of WIPEOUT and WOMEN AT WAR, the Midwest premieres of The Electric Baby, 26 Miles (co-production with Teatro Vista); Fighting Words; Psalms of a Questionable Nature; Elliot, a Soldier’s Fugue (co-production with Stageworks/ Hudson); and the brief and brilliant Shady Meadows by Lisa Dillman as part of the 2007 Chicago Humanities Festival.
MARTI LYONS (Monday Session Only)
Marti Lyons (she/her) most recently directed Love Song by John Kolvenbach and Galileo’s Daughter by Jessica Dickey at Remy Bumppo Theatre Company. Lyons also directed Georgiana and Kitty: Christmas at Pemberley at Northlight Theatre, Wife of a Salesman by Eleanor Burgess at Milwaukee Rep, Sense and Sensibility adapted by Jessica Swale at American Players Theatre and the world-premiere of John Proctor is the Villain by Kimberly Belflower at Studio Theatre in Washington, D.C. Selected other credits include: The Niceties by Eleanor Burgess at Writers Theatre; Cymbeline at American Players Theatre; The Wolves by Sarah DeLappe and Kings by Sarah Burgess at Studio Theatre; the world-premiere of How to Defend Yourself by Liliana Padilla, a Victory Gardens and Actors Theatre of Louisville co-production; Cambodian Rock Band by Lauren Yee at Victory Gardens and City Theatre; Witch by Jen Silverman at Geffen Playhouse and Writers Theatre (LA Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Direction); Native Gardens by Karen Zacarías at Victory Gardens; Botticelli in the Fire by Jordan Tannahill at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company; I, Banquo at Chicago Shakespeare Theater; Title and Deed by Will Eno at Lookingglass Theatre Company and Laura Marks’ Bethany and Mine at The Gift Theatre. Lyons is also an ensemble member at The Gift Theatre and a member of Stage Directors and Choreographers Society.
CHRISTINA CASANO (Tuesday Session Only)
Christina Casano (she/her) is a theatre artist based in Chicago. Her training includes a BA in Theatre from Miami University, Victory Gardens Theater’s Director’s Inclusion Initiative, and the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey’s Summer Professional Training Program. Selected directing credits: Dear Elizabeth (Remy Bumppo), I Build Giants and Poison (The Plagiarists), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Stone Soup Shakespeare), Socks & Co. (workshop, Eclectic Full Contact Theatre), Work in Progress (workshop, The Plagiarists) How To Murder… (workshop, Bramble Theatre), Blood of My Mother’s (workshop reading, Wayward Sisters), Plaid As Hell (Babes With Blades), Deep Shadows (audio drama, EFCT), Fame Heaux (staged reading, Lanford Wilson New American Play Festival). Other favorite projects: Short Shakes! Romeo & Juliet (Chicago Shakespeare Theater), Some Like It Red and The Epic of Gilgamesh, etc. (The Plagiarists), How To Defend Yourself (Victory Gardens), Bury Me (Dandelion Theatre), The Light Fantastic (Jackalope Theatre). www.cmrcasano.com
GEORGETTE VERDIN
Georgette Verdin is a Cuban-American freelance director, the Associate Artistic Director of Northlight Theatre and a company member with Rivendell Theatre Ensemble. Recent directing credits include: the adaptation of Dial M for Murder (Northlight); the revival of Night Watch and the Chicago Premiere of Ironbound (Raven Theatre); the U.S. premieres of The Writer (Steep Theatre) and Out of Love (Interrobang Theatre Project); the World Premieres of Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women (Northlight); The Singularity Play (Jackalope Theatre); A Mile in The Dark (Interrobang Theatre Project/Rivendell); Enough to Let the Light In (Teatro Vista); Chagall in School (Grippo Stage Company); and Spay (Rivendell). Georgett
MALKIA STAMPLEY
Malkia Stampley is an actor, stage director, arts advocate, teaching artist, arts consultant and producer. Born and raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Malkia attended Marquette University where she studied theater arts. She currently serves as Goodman Theatre’s BOLD Artistic Producer. Malkia co-founded Bronzeville Arts Ensemble in 2013, serving as Producing Artistic Director for three years. In 2020, Malkia co-founded the Milwaukee Black Theater Festival and served as the founding Artistic Producer.
Theater directing credits include TimeLine, Shattered Globe, Raven Theatre, Black Arts MKE, First Stage, Skylight Music Theater, American Players Theatre, Milwaukee Jewish Community Center, Milwaukee Repertory Theater, Chicago Shakespeare, Milwaukee Black Theater Festival, Farmers Alley Theatre and Milwaukee Fringe Festival. Malkia’s stage performance credits include a host of theaters in the Midwest, New York and two international touring productions of “Disney: On Classic” in Japan and Taiwan. TV credits include 61st Street, Shameless, Work in Progress, The Chi, Chicago PD, Chicago Med. Films include Native Son, Beats, Small Town Wisconsin, Killing Eleanor and an extensive voiceover career. Malkia has been a guest instructor for UW-Osh Kosh and Lawrence University.
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