Education

WHAT IS INVESTIGATIVE THEATRE

The phrase “investigative theater” was coined by The Civilians to describe our combination of a creative process with field research and in-depth residencies with specific communities. Though the practical elements of the technique has evolved over time, each investigation maintains the same core qualities: keep an open mind, allow yourself to be surprised, and employ deep, active listening in every interview. At the heart of each investigation is a topic that is genuinely intriguing to the company.

Shows developed with this methodology include:
Gone Missing  |  The Great Immensity | Another Word for Beauty  |  Pretty Filthy

STUDY /

The Civilians Investigative Theater Education Program features full-semester classes, workshops, and masterclasses designed as an introduction to The Civilians’ work and method of creating theatre.  Sessions teach students the investigative techniques that The Civilians use to create new work and take them through a brief creative process. 

UPCOMING VIRTUAL WORKSHOP

Introduction to Investigative Theatre with Alison Weller

Learn the introductory principles of Investigative Theatre with actor, writer, producer and educator, Alison Weller. Over the course of two, three-hour workshops, you will take a deep dive into the process of creating work through investigation. Alison will cover how to choose a subject and build a network of contacts related to it, the basics of effective interviewing and active listening, strategies for constructing a narrative from disparate voices, and songs from interviews. And then she’ll get you started on a subject of your own. There will be some discussion and much participation throughout.

Register Here

About Alison:

Alison has been an Associate Artist with The Civilians since 2002 and was an original collaborator on their long-running hit Gone Missing and critically acclaimed This Beautiful City. In 2017 Boundless, her docu-musical about fishing on Cape Cod, premiered at Cape Rep Theatre in Brewster, MA. Based on interviews with people in and around the Cape Cod fishing community, the show has since been performed at Gloucester Stage, the New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center and Cape Cod Community College. A seasoned actor, Alison is particularly grateful to have been in a tour of ReEntry, performing the piece for active service members in the US Navy, and facilitating subsequent conversations with them as part of their official reintegration process. She has taught documentary theatre at The New School since 2018.

THE CIVILIANS AT YOUR SCHOOL /

The Civilians frequently tour around the country with stops at colleges around the country. If you’re interested in the Company performing at your school, please email us at INFO@THECIVILIANS.ORG. There are a number of other ways to bring the work of the Civilians to your college campus. You can create your own productions of many of our plays. Civilians’ company members teach WORKSHOPS and give LECTURES at schools around the country. The Civilians often tour recent productions, and RESIDENCIES at colleges and universities have often provided crucial support as we develop new work.

WORKSHOPS

Workshops are led by experienced Associate Artists with the Civilians, who have collaborated on the creation of past works and have experience in all of the Civilians’ methods. After that, workshop participants will receive an overview of the Civilians method—an innovative and collaborative approach to creating theatre. Through acting exercises and interview practice, the participants will gain insight into the process of creating a Civilians show, and learn firsthand how the Civilians’ approach is useful in creating art and performance work. Skills taught include:

• Engaging peers and community members in meaningful dialogue about the chosen topic
• Putting together a successful interview
• Research techniques
• Presenting interview material back to the class
• Performance techniques
• Writing and editing skills to build a monologue or scene from interview material

ONE-DAY MASTER-CLASS

In a one-day Master Class (5 hours is recommended) students are taught about conducting interviews: how to approach an interview subject; how do you explain the project, how do you listen to them while they’re talking so that you absorb their persona as well as their words; how to guide the interview to the most interesting places? Students will have the opportunity to interview each other, and possibly those outside of the room depending on time, and perform those interviews for the class. Students will also be guided in the beginning steps of collecting those interviews into a cohesive performance.

MULTI-SESSION WORKSHOP

Multi-session workshops (4-6 2-hour sessions recommended) include all of the instruction of the Master Class. In addition, students, working with the Associate Artist, can choose a topic to investigate and over the course of the workshop conduct interviews on a given topic and build them into a short performance. Students learn additional editing, writing and directing skills as well as having the option of performing in front of an audience.

LECTURES

If you’re interested in having a Civilians Associate Artist speak at your school, please contact INFO@THECIVILIANS.ORG.