Free workshops in stage combat, acting Shakespeare and clowning at NJCU in March

March 8, 2012 - PRLog -- JERSEY CITY, NJ (March 9, 2012) – As a member theatre company of the New Jersey Theatre Alliance (NJTA), Actors Shakespeare Company at New Jersey City University will present three theatre workshops as part of NJTA’s The Stages Festival, a unique statewide program providing free and heavily discounted tickets to performances and special events throughout the state of New Jersey in March.  
On Saturday, March 17 and Sunday, March 25, ASC at NJCU offers Introduction to Stage Combat at 11:00 a.m. The workshop is free and open to all, 12 or older, and will last 90 minutes. “Learn the art of stage violence: hand-to-hand, swordplay, rapier and dagger. Be safe, but look deadly,” says Colin Ryan, ASC education director, who will conduct of the workshop.
On Saturday March 24, ASC at NJCU will hold Shakespeare for the Whole Family at 11:00 a.m.  This workshop invites all children over the age of 10 and their parents to play in the world of Shakespeare, with costumes, props, text, and staging of famous scenes.
Finally, at 11:00am on Saturday, March 31, ASC at NJCU offers a physical comedy workshop, Get That Laugh, in which participants will discover how to physically characterize their comedic instincts. “Learn time-honored, stage-tested techniques used by Plautus, Bergson, and Brooks to consistently get the laugh,” says Mark McCarthy, who will instruct the participants.
All workshops take place at the company’s performance space, the West Side Theater, which is located at 285 West Side Avenue, Jersey City.
For more information about the workshops and theater, call ASC at NJCU at 201-200-2390 or visit www.ascnj.org.
NJCU’s West Side Theater is conveniently located on West Side Avenue near Culver Avenue, just minutes from Routes 440, 1-9 and 78. There is ample parking in the University's lots and on West Side Avenue.  Public transportation is available by bus 80 from Journal Square in Jersey City; and by Hudson-Bergen Light Rail to West Side Avenue.   For further directions, visit www.ascnj.org.
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ASC at NJCU became the University’s theatrical company-in-residence in 2008, making NJCU only the fourth institution of higher education in New Jersey to be affiliated with a professional theatre company.  The collaboration between the company, which is in its twelfth season, and NJCU began in 2005.  Since that time, NJCU and ASC at NJCU have partnered to present professional classical theatre to both the NJCU and wider Jersey City communities and NJCU faculty and students have been regularly involved in ASC productions and workshops.  
ASC at NJCU works through the NJCU Foundation, a non-profit, tax-exempt organization, and is supported in part by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, New Jersey City University, and contributions from individuals, corporations, and foundations.   For further information, visit www.ascnj.org.
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Season 2011 – 2012: Rough Magic

Christmas with Dickens & Dylan
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, adapted by Greg Oliver Bodine
& A Child’s Christmas in Wales by Dylan Thomas
Directed by Peter Galman
West Side Theater, NJCU Campus
December 8 – 18, 2011

No Holds Bard: Much Ado About Nothing
Self-staged by the ASC Resident Artists
West Side Theater, NJCU Campus
Thursday, January 26, 2012

Throne of  Blood, a film by Akira Kurosawa
Grossnickle Hall, NJCU Campus
Sunday, February 12, 2012

Macbeth
By William Shakespeare
Directed by Colette Rice
West Side Theater, NJCU Campus
March 16 – April 1, 2012

The Tempest
By William Shakespeare
Directed by Colette Rice
June 2012  Times and places TBA

Call 201-200-2390 for more information.

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The Actors Shakespeare Company at New Jersey City University is a professional, non profit ensemble theater, entering into its Eleventh Season of service to the Hudson County area, and its sixth at New Jersey City University. www.ascnj.org