"Harold" Held Center Stage at SCC

Somerset Community College (SCC) Theatre kicked off the second half of its current season with a lively improvisation workshop on November 28, 2016 in SCC’s Stoner Little Theatre. The event was one in a year-long series of community theatre workshops that SCC is offering for no charge.

“I was pleasantly surprised by the turnout,” said SCC Theatre Director Steve Cleberg. “We had over a dozen enthusiastic participants of all ages and experience levels.”

Participants were introduced to the “Harold.” A “Harold” is an improvisational framework that can be both challenging and invigorating for actors.

“The large turnout meant that we were only able to introduce the framework,” Cleberg admitted. “But everyone got a chance to learn what it was and were able to go through the Harold at least one time.”

The workshop was the latest in community arts events that SCC Theatre has been offering this season. Earlier this year, Cleberg conducted a workshop that explored how actors could improve the process of learning their lines. Another workshop will be conducted later this season that will demonstrate for playwrights and actors how the techniques that were employed by Shakespeare can improve their own work as artists.

The workshop series is just one program that will be employed this season to reach out to the Somerset community, though. Beginning on Tuesday, January 17, 2017 the theatre program will begin the SCC Theatre Collaborative. The college will host a series of open sessions where playwrights, actors, directors, designers and audience members will explore and engage in the collaborative process of theatre.

SCC will also reach out to young theatre goers on March 11, 2017 with the 15^th annual Teen Theatre Festival. Teenagers from around the region are welcome to join local theatre artists in a day-long that will focus on improvisation and theatre production. 

Alongside these events, SCC will develop an original prohibition era musical entitled “All the Boys Love Mary” in preparation for a full production to be presented on Stoner Little Theatre’s stage next fall. Anyone who would like to participate in this development is encouraged to contact the theatre program.

For further details regarding theatre events at SCC, contact SCC Theatre Assistant Sommer Schoch at 451-6766 or by email at Sommer.Schoch@kctcs.edu. You can also find updates on the Somerset Community College Theatre and Film Facebook page.