Thought it might be worth mentioning that I'm going to be joining the
founder of the Groundlings and some Second City alum to teach at the
weeklong Summer Improv Retreat near Woodstock, NY.

You may be familiar with a book I wrote about Second City called
SOMETHING WONDERFUL RIGHT AWAY. While I was writing it, it occurred
to me that the audience doesn't much care how a scene is created so
long as it holds stage. Clearly, some scenes created
improvisationally do hold stage. (Second City will be 50 years old in
2009, so they're doing SOMETHING right.) I started looking at the
relationship between improvisational principles and playwriting and
discovered that they pretty much all apply. Indeed, I wrote a play
based on improvisation -- WITH AND WITHOUT, which has had several
productions, was done as a radio special with Jill Eikenberry, Lindsay
Crouse and Michael Tucker, and is currently under option for a West
End production.

Anyway, that's what I'll be teaching at the Improv Retreat -- scene
creation. The dates are July 29-August3. The food is good, the
company is always stimulating, the work is exhausting. And yes,
projects that originated out of this community have gone on to be
produced. (One year, on the first day of the retreat, we read two
reviews in the NY TIMES praising shows that had originated out of our
work.) This will be the 13th summer of the retreat.

If you have questions, drop me a line at my e-mail address --
dgsweet@aol.com.

The retreat's website is at http://www.artisticnewdirections.org/index_andretreat.htm

As they say, thanks for your kind attention ... Jeff

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