LALT News:

Los Alamos Little Theatre will host a Script Analysis Workshop on Sunday, April 14. The workshop will be taught by Shep Sobel.

“The workshop is based on the premise that a great play is built on a strong skeleton – or structure – and that examining the play with a mind to articulating the details of that structure can inform the choices of the playwright, director, design team, and actor,” said John Gustafson, president of the LALT Board of Directors.

“We will endeavor to ‘take the x-ray,’ if you will, of Arthur Miller’s  “All My Sons” as an example of the process, but what we’re really after is a familiarity with the approach, a way to get to know how plays work,” Gustafson said.

“The goal is for us all to walk away with a refreshed understanding of how to read – or write – a play in a way that enhances our ability to effect the solicited response from the audience. The first 90 minutes of the day will lay out the structure; the remainder of the time will be a team endeavor to apply the structure to a script,” he said.

Shep Sobel was the founder and artistic director of the Pearl Theatre Company of New York City, which produced 125 plays in his 25 years there. He holds a Master of Arts in Theatre from the University of Florida. Sobel taught at Annandale High School and acted at the Folger Theatre. He currently lives in Albuquerque and is a teacher and freelance director.

“Shep gave this workshop once before at LALT to a full attendance and a very positive response,” Gustafson said. “If you are interested in gaining a new perspective on how to consider a script, whether as an actor, director, designer or patron, this will be a day well spent.”

Participation is on a first-come, first-served basis and is $20 per person. There is a minimum workshop size of 10 and maximum of 20. Participants should read “All My Sons” at least once and bring the script with them to the workshop.

Those interested should send an expression of interest to johngus@cybermesa.com