• Your completed registration form
• Your payment of: registration fee, full workshop fee*, payment in full*
• Your headshot and resume sent to us via postal mail or email.  (see below for details).
• Your answers to the Actor Questionnaire, which we will email to you upon registration.

When we have your payment, you will be sent a registration letter.  When we have the information from the checklist above, we can place you in a small group, assign your scene & scene partner.  Scene assignments usually go out by the Christmas holidays.  We prefer that actors do not have the scenes too far in advance.   

*When you have paid the full workshop fee or payment in full, then we will secure your room choice (keep in mind, room choices are available on a first come/first serve basis, so the later you register, the lesser your chance for your first choice). 

Casting Information ::
Therefore, AS SOON AS POSSIBLE, we need a headshot and resume, plus, please answer the questionnaire that is at the end of your registration letter and send headshot, resume and answered questionnaire to us, so that we can cast you in your small group and in your scene with a partner. Please take your time and be thoughtful about your answers, as they help the casting process immensely.  

You can email us the casting information: scan your headshot, save it as a JPG file, send your resume as a Word document to the studio, cut & paste the questionnaire into a new email, answer the questions thoroughly, and email everything back to us, saving yourself the loss of your valuable resources and postage.  If you do not have access to a scanner, you can do it at Kinko's and even email it from there for just a couple of dollars.  You can send it to soar@greenwoodstudio.org.  Please do not compress the files.  
If you do not have a headshot, you can also get an inexpensive passport photo at Kinko's or send us any RECENT photograph.  If you do not have a resume, please send us a list of your experience and workshops. 

PLEASE SEND HS/RES AND ANSWER QUESTIONNAIRE IN REGISTRATION LETTER AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.

YOU WILL NEED TO PREPARE SOME MATERIAL :: (READ CAREFULLY)

Guidelines for Selecting Your Monologues :: EDITS COMING HERE, CHECK BACK. 

Two monologues of your choosing for the Audition Workshop and Playing the Classics.

One contemporary monologue of your choosing for the Audition Workshop – ONE MINUTE, PLEASE!  Anything from Contemporary Prose: Realism (Ibsen, Chekhov, Shaw) to present, for this workshop. 

One classical verse monologue for Playing the Classics.  14-16 lines is about ONE MINUTE.  Anything from Classical Verse: Greeks – Restoration, pieces which are written in poetic form, for this workshop. 

You will be timed - our favorite pieces are 30-45 seconds and no more than a minute. 

If you need help selecting a piece that is right for you, please contact the instructors asap.  They will need your questionnaire in order to help. 

How to begin?  Look for a piece which you feel reveals YOU as a person.  Select material about which you feel strongly - not politically but emotionally.  Select material that you would be cast in right now.

DON'T's ::
NO MATERIAL FROM MONOLOGUE BOOKS UNLESS THEY ARE FROM PLAYS OR SCREENPLAYS.  Please no original material, instructor must be able to refer to full story as reference.  Actors must be able to work with other writers' material. 

A Los Angeles Casting Director friend of Molly's said, "I am sick to death of people swearing at me, screaming at me, talking about rape, incest or other violence and foulness for general auditions and showcases. Be EMOTIONALLY risky and naked, instead. If you wouldn't walk into the casting office and say, 'Hi, my f---ing name is Joe Smith, How the f—are you?' and drop your pants and play with your genitalia, then don't do it in your monologue." Just a quote from a high profile casting director we thought would help you.

Please bring a typed copy of your material with you for Molly to use for the work we are about to undertake.

THREE IMPORTANT NOTES ::
-- IT'S VERY IMPORTANT THAT YOU LOVE YOUR  MATERIAL, DON'T WORK ON IT IF YOU DON'T LOVE IT.
-- On performance day, audition monologue will be timed and stopped, so make 'em short.
--Please bring typed copies of your monologue(s) with you to camp for your instructor.  

Checklist for selecting monologues ::

• one monologue that really exposes who you are – as a person – don’t worry about how you represent yourself as an actor; advanced students - two contrasting monologues: meaning contrasting emotionally; one should be more dramatic and the other more comic

• one minute or less – SERIOUSLY – time it before your arrival

• select pieces in which you would be cast, play your age, play your type -- if you need help, please contact instructor (they will need your questionnaire before they can help you select a piece)

• please select monologues from plays or screenplays;

• select pieces which are written in the present tense versus memory; the "remember when" pieces contain traps which are worth avoiding
  

Preparing for Scene Work ::
You will also need to prepare a scene for Scene Work. The scene suggestions will be sent out to you from us prior to the retreat - usually by the Christmas holidays - so you will have time to find and memorize them. No scene will be so obscure that you would not be able to find it easily at a good public library or your local playscript store. The idea is that we could approach the work as if you were showing up for rehearsal at a theatre company in another city. You know what role you are playing but perhaps no one else in the cast! 

Again, you will need to be off-book by the time you arrive at the retreat - so that you and your scene partner can effectively jump into the work.  If you need to do historical research or looking up archaic words, we encourage you to do so.  You do not need to do other preparation, in terms of deciding everything about the character or specific line-readings, let the work at camp take care of developing character & relationship with your partner.  Bottom line - We do not want you to decide ahead of time "how to play" the scene nor the "perfect line readings" nor everything about your character. 

Again, our normal deadline for scene assignment is by the Christmas Holidays. 

Please send in the necessary casting information as soon as possible to help us with casting you in your small group, scene and with your scene partner.  Remember, too, that there is a partner out there, too, awaiting your questionnaire and other information. 
 

Other Workshop Preparation/Information ::
Improvisation (Michael Gellman), Embodiment/Movement (Rob O'Neill) require no specific preparation, materials, equipment but you need to bring comfortable clothing in which you can FREELY move - nothing constricting around the waist! (No zippers or tight pants - Jeans will not work well.)  Sweats, yoga pants or workout clothes will do very well.
 

Performances ::
On the 2nd Saturday Workshop day, we have scheduled large group sessions for showcasing the work actors have accomplished all week. There may be guests present to observe the sessions.  After all, we are focusing on a performance art here, what's the use of painting a lovely portrait and hanging it in a closet?! (You may want to think about bringing one audition outfit and/or something that makes you feel like the character in your scene – it's hard to feel like the Princess of France in court when you are clomping around in heavy jeans and hiking boots! You don't need a costume, just clothes that make you feel like the character should feel!) 
 

General Preparation :: Workshop Information
For more information on what else to bring, visit our Seattle Resources page.  
Some retreatants have brought hand-held tape recorders to tape their work and instructor's notes.  Often, that's easier than trying to scribble everything down and then miss what's being said next!  If you don't have either a recorder or a notebook, we trust that everything you need will seep into your instrument, to be played later when you need it most!

Most of our classes are held at the camp's Dederer Conference Center in the lodge cabins so we won't have to trek far around the site. The teachers will predominately stay in one place and groups will travel to them (i.e., you'll be able to walk across to the "Molly" cabin, after finishing in the "Michael" cabin.) One teacher (most likely Rob O'Neill for Movement) will use the main camp lodge, which has a giant room off the dining area with windows and a deck that faces the ocean. Upon arrival, you will be given a specific schedule and there will be schedules posted on each cabin.  Each day includes a nightly scheduled rehearsal slot – to rehearse your material with your partner and/or alone. 

There will be scheduled free time at the retreat to use for yourself.  Those sessions can be used to: apply new techniques to the work, write in your journal, take a walk, climb a mountain, visit the village, row a boat, feed some deer, take a nap, etc.

During our last evening, Saturday, after all the work sessions are over, we will light a fire in the cafeteria of the Main Camp Lodge and a "fireside" evening of storytelling, songs, poems and anything else one wants to perform/share with the group.  Please bring musical instruments! 

In our final session, Sunday morning, we will breakfast together and have an opportunity to debrief or "post" with check-out comments/feedback from retreatants, instructors, producers and administrators. It's terrific closure after such an intense week and vitally important for both students and staff.

For other questions about specifics of the workshops, feel free to contact Molly or the individual teachers. (See contact information.)

In addition, you will also receive an Artist's Agreement for the week of work, which includes expectations & commitments: agreements to learn lines, work with scene partner outside of class, etc.  We ask that you read that, sign it and bring it with you to camp.

Workshop Schedules for the week will be handed out upon arrival along with camp maps, room charts, cabin & group assignments, etc.

For other information on how to prepare for the weather, what to pack and bring with you, visit our Seattle Resources page.

If you want information on lodging or meals at SOAR, visit our Camp Orkila page.

:: REGISTER NOW ::

Final Checklist -- the week before we arrive ::

• typed copies of your two monologues for the teachers of those classes

• an additional copy of your scene for the scene study teacher & archive library

• your balance due payment

• your actor's agreement

• toiletries

• clothes you can move in with free waistlines

• rain gear including shoes with tread

• paper and pens for any notes you may want to take or writing you may want to do

• appropriate costume pieces and necessary props for your scene