Manhattan Experimental Theater Workshop

a program of the Manhattan Arts Center in Manhattan, Kansas

Category: 2017

  • NeXT/MXTW Collaborative Piece

    NeXT/MXTW Collaborative Piece

      I apologize for the quality of the images. My main HD card died on me and all I had to work with was my 8 GB extra card, so I couldn’t shoot in RAW, only JPEG. Full resolution ones are available on our Flickr.

  • “We Are Like Lightning Forming Our Own Path. Electrified Unification.”

    “We Are Like Lightning Forming Our Own Path. Electrified Unification.”

    Exciting things are afoot for MXTW! Last summer we embarked on a new experiment as we added an international artistic and cultural exchange opportunity to our regular workshop fun. We had some friends from Norway come for a visit, and they shared with us some new works they had created in their own experimental theater…

  • All the way from Oslo!

    All the way from Oslo!

    This week we have some friends from the Norwegian Experimental Theater Workshop (NExT) coming to Kansas for a visit! Come see the special encore performance this Sunday, June 25 at 7:00 pm at the Manhattan Arts Center! This performance will include all of the work showcased in last weekend’s MXTW performances, AND two pieces created…

  • Refracted Habits: Through the Wardrobe

    Refracted Habits: Through the Wardrobe

    MXTW 2017 refracted habits: theater This year MXTW takes on The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe using the techniques of Peter Handke, Jon Fosse, Gertrude Stein, Caryl Churchill, and Lee Breuer! Here are a few pictures from our whole company tech rehearsal earlier this week. I promise the show is even better than these…

  • Big Decisions and Script Writing!

    So last week we had to say goodbye to the fun of all our purely training and exploration sessions and move on to making the decisions needed to get the creation process rolling. First decision: What playwright’s techniques they will emulate? Each participant is asked to rank their top four choices from the playwrights we…

  • refracted habits in the works

    This year’s workshop is in full swing. In fact, despite the fact that this is my first blog post we’ve already finished up the exploration phase, decisions have been made, and the piece creation train has left the station and is barreling down the tracks with no breaks (like it always does). But I don’t…

  • Something Extra Exciting is Happening This Summer!

    This summer we have the opportunity to offer our audiences and participants an exciting additional cultural experience.  Last year MXTW director Gwethalyn Williams and alum Megan Clark collaborated with Scenelusa Produksjoner of Oslo, Norway to help create the Norwegian Experimental Theater Workshop (NExT) which offers an experience similar to MXTW to Norwegian high school age students. This…

  • Session 1: Stein in time

    I have not been able to AD the last few years since moving to Minnesota, and I am so very happy to be back! When we settled into ye olde yellow chair circle, now featuring RED chairs, which will continue to be referred to as yellow chairs, now signifying the type of chair, rather than…

  • I was so surprised to see that at the bottom of the sealskin

    Normally MXTW plays Word Jazz like this Groups of four are arranged with two people sitting on chairs facing side by side in the same direction with a person standing directly behind them. The director gives them a simple sentence—hopefully with lots of juicy syllables and different types of sounds—and assists the group in memorizing…