Study movement and acting at Friches Théâtre Urbain, a thriving theatre in Paris, France. Learn script development, movement, choreography, stilts, floor and aerial acrobatics, promenade performance, and interactive improvisation. Create an energetic and unique theatrical event to take place "en déambulation" (promenade) in the theatre space and on a journey through the streets of Paris. For undergraduate students; open to graduate students.

During the course, Professor Susan Haedicke, theatre director Sarah Harper, a graduate of the famous International Lecoq School, and their colleagues will introduce students to the tools of total theatre. American students will join an equal number of French students to participate in intensive movement and acting workshops, inspired by the teacher's training in the Lecoq method.

Two weeks of acting workshops will open the course with an introduction to the techniques, such as neutral body, analysis of movement, rhythms of the chorus, the musical power of the voice, levels of tension, and dramatic construction. The remaining weeks will consist of workshops exploring physical, dramatic, and promenade performance techniques. Students will learn an imaginative approach to exploration of a theme and development of a text using acrobatics, stilts and dance. They will create an energetic and unique theatrical event to take place "en déambulation" (promenade) in the Friches space and on a journey through the streets of Paris.

Students must be ready to take rigorous workshops in acting, voice, and movement (dance, floor and aerial acrobatics, and stilts) and to perform. Students will also be involved in developing the script. Workshops will be conducted in English and French, and students perform in either language or in both.

This program offers the unique opportunity to experience French theatre from the inside while creating a production with French theatre professionals for a public performance. TRDA 195.60 is a three credit course open to undergraduates; graduate credit may be arranged with permission of the instructor. GW students can fulfill the CSAS General Curriculum Requirement for Creative & Performing Arts.

To learn more about the program visit the Inside French Theatre site.

Open to undergraduates; graduate credit may be arranged with permission of the instructor.

Visit the home page of the Department of Theater and Dance to learn more about theatre programs at GW.

June 15

Meet in Paris

June 17-July 16

Meet in Prague
Acting workshops

July 17-July 20

Preparation for performances

May 28

Program concludes.

The estimated cost for tuition and fees is $1935. Housing, theatre fees, in-country transportation and the course packet are estimated at $2900. International airfare is not included.

To apply, please complete the on-line application and mail your college transcripts to:

Professor Susan Haedicke
Inside French Theatre
Rome Hall 760
The George Washington University
801 22nd St., NW
Washington, DC 20052.

Applications are due by March 15, 2002. Upon acceptance to the program, a non-refundable deposit of $500 is due April 2, 2002, payable to The George Washington University.

Questions about the program can be directed to Professor Haedicke, or the GW Office of Special Academic Programs.

Dr. Susan Haedicke currently teaches dramatic literature, theatre history, and dramaturgy at The George Washington University in Washington, D.C. She has also taught at University of Massachusetts/Amherst and Mount Holyoke College. During the summer of 1999, Dr. Haedicke led a group of American students to Alsace and Corsica for first annual "Inside French Theatre." She has published numerous articles and reviews in theatre journals, including the Journal of Dramatic Theory and Criticism, Theatre Journal, Theatre Topics, and Essays in Théâtre/Etudes Théâtrales. Her book on community-based theatre entitled Performing Democracy: International Perspectives on Community-Based Performance was published in the Fall of 2000. A professional dramaturg, Dr. Haedicke has worked on numerous productions in the Washington, D.C. area and in Massachusetts. Her adaptation of Victor Hugo's The Man Who Laughs was nominated for a Helen Hayes award (Outstanding New Play) in 1996.