·
Teaching - Developed a new class (Acting I), which
incorporated exercises and projects based on the work of several theatre
theorists (Stanislavski, Lee Strasberg, Sanford Meisner, Stella Adler, Michael
Chekhov, etc.). Also, collaborated with
Joseph Ritsch on merging this group with the Directing class throughout the
year in order to provide directing students with actors in scene work, and
actors an opportunity to implement acting theory work with peer directors.
·
Professional Development –Prior to
the school year (Summer 2012), taught in the Shakespeare Summer Camp program
for the Tony Award winning Shakespeare Theatre Company. Taught primarily students of ages 10-12 in an
early summer (late June to early July) session that culminated in a “mini-production”
of Much Ado About Nothing, which I
co-directed. Also, was invited to work
with older students (15-18 years old) in the Advanced Camp as a substitute for
a colleague, and was asked to help block/choreograph difficult large ensemble
scenes in their culminating production of Love’s
Labours Lost.
·
Professional Development – From
September to November, rehearsed and performed in a critically acclaimed
production of Our Class by Tadeusz
Slobodzianek at Washington DC’s Theater J.
During the course of the production I was also able to receive direct
personal feedback from the playwright, Polish ambassador to the United States,
and Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg about the artistic, cultural,
international, and historical significance of not just the text, but our
production in particular. The production
was chosen by The Washingtonian as
one of its “Top 12 Plays of 2012” and was also nominated for Best Resident
Production Award at The Helen Hayes Awards.
An interview about my personal history and its connection to the piece
was conducted with The Washington Post (http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2012-10-16/lifestyle/35500464_1_krawczyk-labor-camps-poland). Also, provided the script and dramaturgical research
material to Katelyn Shanklin in order to aid her in developing a new lesson plan
for material related to Elie Wiesel’s Night. We are also planning a collaborative lesson
in which I will visit her class to talk to students about how we approached the
text as actors. Finally, one of my
students (to my knowledge) was able to attend the production, and I was able to
speak to him, and his parents, about their reactions/thoughts after the show.
·
Professional Development – Performed
extra/background film acting work for an independent film called Jamesy Boy, sometime in early December.
·
Professional Development – Was
approached to become the Executive Director and to help develop the Mission
Statement, and the legal/financial foundations for a new Montgomery County
based arts group called “M.Y. Actors Society” (aka – Montgomery County Young
Actors Society). The group focuses on
introducing young people of Montgomery County to productions and the realities of
working in the acting profession in both film/TV and theatre.
·
Professional Development – Was asked
to submit materials by a colleague, Dara Weinberg, for a possible theatre grant
project titled End of The Line, which
is about personal experiences of people of Polish or Jewish heritage in
relation to a grandparent. I submitted
written material which became large chunks of the script that is currently
being performed by Polish actors in theatres in Poland and Hungary.
·
Professional Development – Was part
of a theatre field trip with the theatre students to see Double Edge Theatre’s The Grand Parade and was able to talk to
my students about the process of creating new work. Also, took part in a weekend workshop with
the theatre company in order to further immerse myself in their devised theatre
process.
·
Community Outreach – The work
in Our Class led me to take part in a
project with a soup kitchen in Washington DC called “Miriam’s Kitchen.” Initially I was simply one of two cast members
invited to take part in a conversation with several homeless people who
frequent the soup kitchen (and Theater J) and are members of its arts group to
talk about the difficulties in developing a production that spans around 80
years of history. However, the majority
of the conversation ended up focusing on the difficulty of “being a part of
on-stage trauma night after night…” (which can be found documented in the
following link: http://www.theatrewashington.org/content/because-we-matter). Because of this talk, one of the participants
from the group personally requested that I read his written work in public for
a projects called Stories from The Kitchen,
a one-night only event during which some of the homeless people from the group,
as a means of art therapy, have their work read aloud/performed by a
professional actor on the stage at Theater J.
This event took place on December 19th, 2012 and I read a
piece titled, “Oh Canada.”
·
Professional Development – Co-produced,
rehearsed, and remounted/performed a critically acclaimed production of Ivan
Vyrypaev’s play Oxygen with Taffety
Punk theatre company, located at the Capitol Hill Arts Workshop in the Eastern
Market area of Washington DC. The
production was originally developed over a 6 month period in 2012, and received another 6
month rehearsal/re-contextualization period from January to late March 2013 for
a 4 week performance run. Also, the show featured new
music, composed and performed exclusively for our show in the style of late
90s/early 2000s “east European electronica”, by DC based bands The Caribbean,
E.D. Sedgwick, Electric Blanketland, The Gena Rowlands Band, The Inexhaustible
Chalice, and Jupiter Rex. The production was chosen to be archived on video by the Washington Area
Performing Arts Video Archive (WAPAVA) for its cultural/artistic significance. Also, participated in an audience talkback
with a Russian cultural group to talk about the cultural significance of the
text, and the process of contextualizing it for an American audience. Several of my students were also able to
attend the performance and talk to me about their reactions.
·
Guest Speakers – Was able to have several guest speakers
come in to work with the students in our program. Emma Jaster (an international and DC area
choreographer/actor) and Joe Isenberg (a Helen Hayes Award winning fight
choreographer) came in to work with Freshman acting students on a movement
workshop that incorporated both basic dance and fight choreography, and those
two also gave professional evaluations and feedback to the Audition Seminar
students. Also, Paul Diem (former Fellow
and now a current member of the Single Carrot Theatre Company Acting Ensemble)
came in on two separate occasions to work with the Freshman ensemble and the
Audition Seminar students. Once was on
basic monologue performance evaluations.
Another time he worked with the Freshman on ensemble work generation and
with the Audition Seminar students he led a workshop on the realities of
working in the Los Angeles acting community.
·
Directing – Directed a production of Lillian Hellman’s
The Children’s Hour. Developed
a concept that didn’t change the text, but allowed for dramatically increasing
the stage time of all student actors playing even minor characters, which increased
their overall involvement in the collaborative process. Also, empowered two students to take on
significant leadership roles within the company during the rehearsal process. J.A. (Junior - Theatre) was brought
on to be Assistant Director and took on significant responsibilities involving
staging large scenes, and working individual moments with other actors while
other work was being done with the rest of the company with the Director. Also, I cast M.R. (Sophomore - Music)
who plays Lois Fischer. M.R. was given
the given the task of being Music Director and coordinating the harmonies sung
by the actors playing the young students in the production. Also, incorporated elements from the
exhibition of Robert Miller’s work into the overall color scheme for the
costumes of the adult characters in the play, and used several visuals as
inspiration for different aesthetic choices in the production. Personally, I’m really proud of the fact that
several students who have viewed the
production feel compelled to come multiple times, or have already seen it
twice. This includes both theatre and
non-theatre students.
·
Coaching – Coached several acting students outside
of class in order to prepare them for college auditions. Several of the students I helped coach, along
with other acting teachers, were accepted to schools such as Hofstra, Pace, Rutgers
Mason Gross, Howard, Bowling Green, UMBC, Nazareth University, and Towson
University (among others). Also, independently
coached several other students in order to prepare them for theatre auditions
in the Baltimore area theatre community several of whom were cast in local
productions.
·
Carver Community – Gave my time to several business and
literary students who wanted to do interviews for the various
publications/writing projects being done here at Carver Center. K.Y. (Business) interviewed me for two
different articles. One was on the
effect of theatre and film on the populace in terms of views of homosexuals,
and the other was a profile on C.G. (Theatre).
T.H. (Literary) interviewed me for an article on The Children’s Hour process. D.S.M. (Literary) interviewed me
for a literary profile project. R.A.(Literary) asked me to answer an email questionnaire on another teacher.
·
Prime-Time Day – Successfully ran two devised theatre
workshops for Dance students from the Freshman and Sophomore classes. The workshop was one I run with my Freshman
students in order to develop FSE pieces, but this workshop was slightly
reworked in order to 1) engage the dance students in showing them their ability
to create independent theatre pieces with their dance training, and 2) engaging
them in a feedback session of what the workshop meant to them as dancers. Received particularly moving and enlightening
feedback from the Sophomore group that their work rarely engaged them in a way
that asked for their personal input, or emotional experience and that this
workshop truly helped them engage in their work in the creative process in a
new way.
·
Auditions – Helped administer incoming Freshman
auditions for the 2013-2014 year on the initial day of auditions, as well as several
makeup days for students who either missed the initial audition, or appealed
the results of the initial audition.
·
Teaching Assistant – Was able
to empower I.C. as T.A. for my Audition Seminar class to give
enriching and necessary feedback to her peers/colleagues, as well as lead two
entire classes as instructor on how to audition for the camera in both close-up
and wide-angle shots.
·
IN TOTAL – I might be wrong about this, but some
students might have either learned something about acting and theatre, and some
might actually like it more, or at all, now.
I’m going to assume that happened with at least a few kids.
