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Piven Theatre Classes in Lake County

Theatre classes to help your child find their unique creative voice through improvisation, theatre games, and story theatre

Clockwise Theatre in downtown Waukegan and Piven Theatre Workshop are partnering to offer Piven’s nationally-recognized training for 4th thru 8th grade students. The Piven Theatre Workshop is an acclaimed training center and professional theatre which, for over 40 years, has helped thousands of students celebrate play and find their unique creative voice through improvisation, theatre games, and story theatre. Clockwise Theatre is a professional, not-for-profit theatre company located in the heart of Waukegan’s downtown theatre district. Now entering its fifth full subscription season, Clockwise produces new works which explore a diversity of experiences and cultures. With Piven’s forty-three years of expertise in ensemble-based, community-oriented theatre training and performance, Piven Theatre Workshop is thrilled to join forces with Clockwise to bring our legendary training method to the community of Waukegan and beyond.

Register by visiting http://piventheatre.org/register-for-classes-2/ or call (847) 866-6597. As with its other programs, Piven will also offer scholarships to students interested in participating in the program. Clockwise Theatre is located at 221 North Genesee Street in downtown Waukegan. There is generous, free street parking and numerous local eateries for before or after class dining.

 

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Classes Offered

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Theatre Games, Improvisation, and Scene Study for 4th & 5th Grade

 

Join us for our first Waukegan-based class! Learn the games that form the core of the legendary Piven training method, exactly as we have been teaching it in Evanston for over 40 years. In this class, students will learn to build ensemble, jump into improvisation, and begin to explore the Piven approach to scene study. We can guarantee that you'll never see freeze tag the same way again!

Mondays 6:00-7:00pm

Ten Weeks

September 15-November 17

$195

 

Improvisation and Scene Study for 6th, 7th, & 8th Grade

 

In this scene study focused class, students use the fun and impulsive play of improvisation to create lively characters and realistic relationships. Students will rehearse scenes from contemporary plays, under the expert direction of their Piven teaching artist.

Mondays 4:30-6:00pm

Ten Weeks

September 15-November 17

$275

 

 

More About Piven Theatre Workshop

 

For the past 40 years, Piven has run the training center for children and adults, annually serving 1,000 students with mentorship opportunities for emerging theatre artists and educators, offer extensive scholarship and community outreach programs, and their professional Equity theatre is committed to new works and literary adaptations.

Founders Byrn and Joyce Piven, and the Workshop, have won countless awards over the years which have included lifetime achievement awards and recognition from the University of Chicago, The Joseph Jefferson Committee, the Chicago Improv Festival, the Evanston Arts Council, and the Chicago Tribune. While many Piven students such as John and Joan Cusack, Jeremy Piven, Lili Taylor, Aidan Quinn, and Kate Walsh have pursued rich careers in the entertainment industry, Piven is equally proud of the many students who have influenced our wider artistic and civic communities with their significant contributions.  From playwright and MacArthur Genius Fellow Sarah Ruhl, to award-winning director Jessica Thebus, to Academy Award nominated Documentary Filmmaker Leelai Demoz and nationally recognized legal scholar Jonathan Turley, our students have taken into their lives the skills honed in Piven classes. 

The Piven training technique teaches our students the value of creative and improvisational thinking, strong communication skills, swift reaction to impulse and trusting their instincts, truth and honesty in performance, and connection to the people and physical world we interact with on a daily basis.

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