MXTW Responds to the Pandemic
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic this summer’s Manhattan Experimental Theater Workshop will be held as an online course.
We did not come to this decision lightly. We know that a great deal of what we value about the experience MXTW offers is because of our work together in the same physical space as each other and our audience. But information coming out now about strategies for dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic moving forward contains too much uncertainty. Our students’ welfare is of utmost importance to us. Even a small chance that our work might endanger our students and their families is unacceptable. We will not convene physically for this year’s workshop.
MXTW LIVES ON THIS SUMMER!
We will offer MXTW as on online course. A team of experienced and dedicated MXTW staff are working hard to figure out how to make an online workshop a worthwhile and enjoyable experience for our participants.
We know that we cannot run the workshop in the same way we usually would in this new format. We must be flexible and creative to figure out how to do our work within a new set of extremely different constraints than we are used to. We are working to preserve as much of our usual process and goals as we can, but we are changing and restructuring how we go about the work of creating together and sharing our work with an audience.
Just as we always do, we will explore the techniques of several experimental playwrights and complete games and training exercises to explore our own capabilities, including the capabilities of the technology through which we are creating. Then we will use the techniques we have studied and what we have learned about our capabilities to write new plays and present them to an online audience.
We are working ahead of time to organize the class well for ease of participation, but we also look forward to collaborating with our participants to figure out together how to solve this grand new experiment in creating together while apart.
How Will Online MXTW Work?
An exact schedule has not been set, we are working on it, but the workshop will take place over the course of five weeks from May 16th through June 21st. The course will be a combination of online meetings and completing individual work. We will expect our participants to work hard, because your art deserves hard work! But we are designing the class to be flexible enough to accommodate people working with different capabilities in terms of technology and schedule.
This new online format will allow people in different places to join in the work! Participants are not required to be present in Manhattan, KS. However, the schedule will be designed towards ease of use in the U.S. central time zone.
New Online Format Allows for Alums to Join in Again!
In the spirit of fostering connection while we must stay apart, we are also opening up this summer’s workshop for participation by alums of the program. We believe broadening the range of perspectives and experiences among our participants will be of great benefit to our work. So if you have participated in the workshop in the past, you are invited to join in again for this summer’s theatrical adventure.
Eligibility and Registration Information:
This summer’s workshop will be open to new and returning students completing grades 8 through 12 and any person of any age who has completed at least one previous MXTW workshop session.
We must meet a minimum enrollment in order to hold the class, so we are now accepting pre-registrations. Once we have enough pre-registrations to meet the minimum requirement everyone who has pre-registered will be notified and will then need to complete their registration and pay the course fee through the MAC website. The fee for the course will be $55. High school students who qualify for free or reduced lunch are eligible for tuition reductions. If you wish to participate but cannot pay your tuition rate please contact director Gwethalyn Williams at gwethalyn@manhattanarts.org
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