KRISTIE L. FARR is an award-winning Theatre teacher at Indian River High School. Several of her productions have received Awards of Excellence in Directing from TANYS. Some of her favorite directing credits include: 26 Pebbles, Who Will Carry the Word, Almost, Maine and The Laramie Project. Her Theatre program was recognized as the Educational Theatre Association’s Outstanding School in 2007. In 2012 she received the national Reba R. Robertson Award for Outstanding Theatre Teacher, and in 2017 she received the NYSTEA Rod Marriott Lifetime Achievement Award. She was thrilled to have been a part of the American High School Theatre Festival in Edinburgh, Scotland in 2013.
DRAMATURGY (Kristie Farr)
What is dramaturgy? Explore different strategies for enhancing your production process through research. Come with a show in mind! We’ll use lots of hands-on approaches.
Kristie Farr
2024 TANYS Festival Workshops and Presenters
INTRO TO PLAYWRITING OR DRAMATIC STRUCTURE (Craig Thornton)
Thinking about writing a play? Don’t know where to start? This workshop is a preview of playwriting. We’ll cover topics including: Does this story work for theater? What is theatrical? Formatting, outlining and structure.
CRAIG THORNTON’s first play, Yoo-Hoo Sheila, was produced in New York City shortly after his college graduation. Subsequent productions or staged readings of his work have occurred across the country. His docudrama In My Shoes, true stories of teenagers whose parents were actively deployed in conflict in the Middle East, was featured in a national story on CNN and referenced in a congressional study on military communities. Several of his plays have been finalists in nationally recognized playwriting contests – most notably The High Cost of Heating, which was the silver prize winner at the Yale Drama Series Prize in 2015. He currently teaches screenwriting at the Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University.
ONE PLAY, TWO DIRECTORS (Tanya Roy & Jim Goodenbery)
Have you ever attended a production and thought, “I really like that director's choice” or “I certainly would have done that differently”? Join this lively discussion between two directors as they discuss a single show, their directorial choices, the motivations behind them, and how those choices are the same or different from each other.
TANYA ROY has been storytelling on the Eastern seaboard for over 20 years. As an educator, business owner, divorcee, actor & director, and mother to daughters, she has never had a shortage of inspiration – finding humor and humanity in the everyday experiences of life. Tanya uses her understanding of a story well told to connect productions to their audiences. Tanya can be found on iTunes, North Country Public Radio, and the Moth Story Hour.
JIM GOODENBERY is an award-winning actor and director, and currently teaches Music and Theatre at Carthage High School. Favorite professional roles include Dick Deadeye (HMS Pinafore), Smudge (Forever Plaid), and Robert (Company). Since moving to the North Country, he has been involved in more than 60 productions. He is co-owner of The Butler Did It Players professional acting troupe and serves on multiple boards of directors for performance arts organizations. He also continues to serve as guest conductor, clinician and actor throughout the state.
STAGE COMBAT (Jim Goodenbery)
Few things make a production as exciting as the confident and safe use of stage combat. Join this discussion-based workshop for the basics of staying safe on stage, during a chase scene, a stage slap, and so much more.
Craig Thornton
Tanya Roy
Jim Goodenbery
Tricia Moore
DANCING FOR ACTORS WITH TWO LEFT FEET (Tricia Moore)
Have you ever been hesitant to audition for a show because of the choreography? Are you an actor with no dance training who’d like to develop theatrical dance skills? Has it been a while since you’ve pulled out your dance shoes? We’ll go over some basic moves and techniques that will help improve your confidence and add new skills to your performing toolkit.
TRICIA MOORE has been teaching dance in the North Country for over 25 years. She is a graduate of the State University of New York at Potsdam, where she earned B.A. degrees in Dance and Elementary Education and a M.S.Ed in Reading. Tricia is a reading specialist at Indian River Middle School and a dance educator at Indian River High School. At IRHS she teaches dance electives, co-teaches Jazz Rock, and has formed a dance performance group. She has been the Indian River musical choreographer since 2004 and has been recognized for her choreography by TANYS. Tricia is also an instructor at Artistic Designs Dance Company where she works with competitive and recreational dancers.
INTRO TO DIRECTING (Kristie Farr)
I’ve been asked to direct! Where do I start? This workshop will be a crash course in directing. You’ll work with an open scene and sharpen your directing tools.
HOW DO WE PLAY (Craig Thornton)
In this workshop, we’ll review techniques for how to read a play.
ANATOMY OF THEATRICAL INTERPRETING: CREATING EQUITY OF EXPERIENCE (Michelle Smiley)
Historically, the Deaf and Hard of Hearing communities have had limited access to equivalent live theatrical experiences. In this workshop, participants will be exposed to fundamental theatrical interpreting techniques, necessary and appropriate to the production of Shadowed, Zoned, and Artistic Platform performances. They will learn the important roles the actors, directors, producers, interpreters and crew play in helping your productions come ALIVE for both deaf and hearing audiences.
MICHELLE SMILEY is owner of Third Eye Interpreting, LLC. She received her BA in Drama from SUNY Potsdam and MS in Deaf Education from Canisius College. Michelle has been involved with the dramatic arts, education and sign language her entire life, and is an honorary member of the International Thespian Society. She received a TANYS Meritorious Achievement award for her work in the Indian River High School production of Bocon, and she, along with the directors, received a TANYS award for Excellence in Overall Direction of the Production and Integration of ASL Interpreters into the Body of the Production for her work in As You Like It at Indian River. She has interpreted countless musicals and dramas over the last 12 years. A highlight was when she was part of the Indian River troupe that performed Graceland at the AHSTF in Edinburgh, Scotland.
Michelle Smiley
Dan Allington-Turner
INTRO TO IMPROV (Dan Allington-Turner)
This class will teach you the techniques and best practices to improv and creating improv scenes. You will “zip, zap, zop” through the warm-ups and games which will culminate into a “conducted story” to tell your friends about.
IMPROV: LEARN THE GAMES (Dan Allington-Turner)
This class will let you play the games that you see in an improv show. After a few quick warm-ups, we’ll go a little “crazy eight” and bring “four actors, four scenes” to the stage. Don’t worry about the comedy, we’ll laugh at everything.
IMPROV: CHARACTER BUILDING (Dan Allington-Turner)
This class will use best techniques to create a character for an improv scene in mere seconds. Whether “it’s Tuesday” or just “our small town,” these warm-ups and games will “move” you into a character in no time at all.
DANIEL J. ALLINGTON-TURNER is a part-time improv performer with Front Porch Improv in Savannah, Georgia. Prior to moving to Georgia, Daniel was a member of Little Theatre of Watertown and Watertown Lyric Theater for many years. He has taken acting lessons and improv training from many members of Front Porch Improv, Groundlings, Second City, Upright Citizens Brigade, and Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD).
