International Master Teachers to Offer Workshops in NY, LA, and Portland

International Master Teachers Paul Binnerts and Nancy Gabor, a disciple-cum-guru of Brechtian theater and a collaborator and confidant of the great Joseph Chaikin respectively, are thrilled to offer their wisdom and insights to American actors, theater professionals, or anyone looking to get onstage and tell a story. Their ESSENCE & PRESENCE workshops will be held from May 6-8 at Westbeth Artists Community in New York City, May 13-15 at Paloma Street Studios in Los Angeles, and May 20-22 at the Headwaters Theater in Portland, OR. Tickets to the workshops are available now at www.essenceandpresence.com.

Paul Binnerts is an international theater director, author, playwright, acting teacher since 1968, and renowned expert on the Epic Theater of Bertolt Brecht. His teaching credits include Princeton University and New York University's Tisch School of the Arts' International Theatre Workshop (ITW) in the United States, theater schools in The Netherlands and Germany, as well as many international acting and directing workshops.

Mr. Binnerts developed Real Time Acting (the ESSENCE) as a new technique for the contemporary theater and has directed Real Time Theater productions in The Netherlands, the UK, Germany, France, US and Japan. His book Acting in Real Time

is translated from the Dutch, and is also available in German.

Nancy Gabor is an international theater director, teacher, and acting coach, and a longtime collaborator with Joseph Chaikin of the legendary Open Theater. She began working with Joseph Chaikin as an actress and continued as his co-teacher and director for over 15 years. She has directed over 75 productions and taught at such institutions as Princeton University, Warren Robertson Studio, New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, and the Amsterdam Theater School.

Ms. Gabor's technique, The Actor's Core (the PRESENCE), focuses on allowing actors to let go of tension and release their physical and emotional blocks. By taking the space on their own terms, actors free their body and their voice to be fully present and say "I am enough."

ESSENCE & PRESENCE is greater than the sum of its parts, combining the best and most accessible practices of Brecht's powerful theory with the broad and generous heart of the Open Theater's transformative techniques to create a new breed of present,

dynamic, and empowered performers. Under the experienced and wise guidance of Nancy Gabor and Paul Binnerts, there is no training like it.