Cutting Ball Theater Announces Acting Workshops 1/24/2010

San Francisco's cutting-edge Cutting Ball Theater announces that its popular workshops for actors and playwrights will return this season. A monologue intensive, led by Cutting Ball Associate Artistic Director Paige Rogers, and scriptwriting workshop, led by acclaimed Bay Area playwright Eugenie Chan, are open to both aspiring and accomplished artists. All proceeds from the workshop events will support Cutting Ball's 10 years of groundbreaking Bay Area theater. The events will be held on Sunday, January 24, 10am-3:30pm at The Cutting Ball Theater, in residence at EXIT on Taylor (277 Taylor Street, SF). Donation $20-30. Space is limited; for more information, the public may call 415-292-4700 or contact annie@cuttingball.com (RSVPs must be received before January 20).

Events are as follows:

Dr. Monologue - Paige Rogers, Cutting Ball Associate Artistic Director and award-winning Bay Area actor, will offer instruction and guidance in honing monologue skills just in time for the January 2010 Theatre Bay Area general auditions. Participants should come prepared with two memorized monologues and have several additional monologues to choose from. The last hour of this seminar/tutorial will be used to do a reading of the five-minute plays generated by playwright Eugenie Chan's simultaneous writing class.

Ms. Playwright - Cutting Ball Artistic Associate and Playwright's Foundation resident Eugenie Chan will mentor this writing salon where participants will create a five-minute play (no prior writing experience required). Workshop actors, led by Cutting Ball Associate Artistic Director Paige Rogers, will read the plays aloud and select a winning play to be produced on Cutting Ball's main stage in March, before a performance of ... and Jesus Walks the Mississippi, a new play by Marcus Gardley.

Co-founded in 1999 by theater artists Rob Melrose and Paige Rogers, Cutting Ball Theater presents avant-garde works of the past, present, and future by re-envisioning classics, exploring seminal avant-garde texts, and developing new experimental plays. Cutting Ball Theater has partnered with Playwrights Foundation, Magic Theatre, and Z Space New Plays Initiative to commission new experimental works. The company has produced a number of World Premieres and West Coast Premieres, and re-imagined various classics. Recipient of the 2008 San Francisco Bay Guardian Goldie award for outstanding talent in the performing arts, Cutting Ball Theater earned the Best of SF award in 2006 from SF Weekly, and was selected by San Francisco Magazine as Best Classic Theater in 2007.

The Cutting Ball Theater continues its 10th season with a second extension of its hit production of Eugene Ionesco's THE BALD SOPRANO, featuring a new translation by Cutting Ball Artistic Director Rob Melrose, January 7-24. The season continues in March with . . . AND JESUS MOONWALKS THE MISSISSIPPI, a new play by Marcus Gardley, directed by Amy Mueller. Eugenie Chan's BONE TO PICK, and a newly commissioned companion piece, DIADEM, directed by Rob Melrose, round out the season in May. For tickets, subscriptions, and more information about Cutting Ball's main stage season, the public may visit cuttingball.com or call 800-838-3006.