CREATING A SOLO SHOW WITH TJ DAWE! (LEVEL 1)

Jan 5 - Jan 30, 2023
Thurs & Mon, 6-9pm PST

Online via Zoom

$550 CAD

Deadline to apply: Dec 30, 2022

Solo shows are a growing form, and there are all kinds of them. If you’ve never quite fit into the mould of auditioning actor or stand-up comedian but would like to express yourself on stage, this might be the artistic avenue for you. You can be yourself, you can be any number of characters - there really are no limits.

This course covers the basics: how to figure out what your show’s about, which techniques to use, what structure to give it, and what your working process will be. There’ll be a mix of presentation, discussion, partnered and group exercises, and one-on-one coaching.

You can come with a fully formed idea of what you’d like your show to be about, or you can come in with no idea whatsoever. All levels of experience are welcome. What you’ll need to bring is curiosity, openness and a desire to communicate something on stage. And cue cards. You’ll need to buy some of those small index cards. And a pen.

Covid brought live entertainment to a halt, but it looks like Fringes and other theatre festivals around the world are opening up. We’ve all been stewing in our emotions and stories. Creative work is one of the best ways to process what’s on your mind, in your heart, and moving through your body. Get your wheels turning now so you can be ready for that incredible day when we gather with live audiences again.... which is not long, now.

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TJ DAWE

your instructor

TJ Dawe has been been writing, performing, directing and touring solo shows since the late 90s. He’s participated in more than one hundred theatre festivals across Canada and abroad. He’s worked on shows that have toured the world, won awards, been on TV and had off-Broadway runs in New York. He’s worked with movie stars and high school students. He’s got published scripts he hocks after performances. You can find his solo show Medicine on YouTube, in full. He teaches a course on solo show creation at Langara College in Vancouver, and has lead workshops in cities ranging from Charleston, South Carolina to Winnipeg.

MEGAN PHILLIPS

your TA

Megan Phillips is an award-winning singer, actor, comedian, songwriter and vocal coach based in Vancouver, BC, Canada. She has written and toured shows across North America (Periscope, Not Enough, Strapless Comedy). Perhaps her fanciest accomplishment is the musical song cycle People Suck – co-written with Peter Cavell, winner of Best of Toronto Fringe, Patron's Pick, and optioned by Second City Theatricals, it has been produced by Salty Theatre at Theatre Works St Kilda in Melbourne, AUS. A Vancouver, Canada-raised human and wombat-lover, she uses her BA in Music and MA in Musical Theatre to teach musical theatre, singing, and drama from her home studio (Zoom). You can sing, she promises. She does stand-up, improv and sketch, most notably as the creator and show runner of The Anxiety Show, a comedy show where she can be seen calling feelings and supporting others to turn their personal demons into ha-has and lolz. Her creative wheelhouse is taking big feelings and making beautiful art and comedy out of them. Because otherwise, what's it all for?

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TESTIMONIALS

TJ’s creativity and seemingly boundless curiosity are matched only by his willingness to move forward into further creative endeavours. We’ve taken our love for Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, and Batman and transformed it into theatrical expressions that embody truth and love. These solo shows have transcended borders and won over the confidence of Lucasfilm and the Lord of the Rings people. TJ was the key to this success. He helped me confront my concerns and doubts surrounding my own limitations (both as actor and writer), and he walked through the many doors with me. As an actor, writer and director, TJ continuously challenges his own self-doubts and sees a production to its fruition. He does not give up and because of that I refuse to. - Charlie Ross (creator/performer: One Man Star Wars Trilogy, One Man Lord of the Rings, One Man Stranger Things)

Working with TJ has made me a writer with guts. That is to say his encouragement, guidance and teaching has helped me to trust my gut, and write with a sense of abandon. He has also helped me to find humour through exploring the truth, and poetry through writing with honesty. -Alice Nelson

TJ Dawe makes a jungle gym of his expertise and experience: you climb through and discover your own instincts, fears, and fascinations. His teaching process focused on finding my own voice for my own show. - Devon More (writer/performer: Berlin Waltz)

From the first day, TJ (without any obvious effort) created such a safe place - to say whatever, try anything and open myself up to honest feedback. What emerged from the experience was unexpected and wonderful:

• I found a creative community - now, months later, we still meet to create, collaborate, attend each other's shows and readings

• I found my voice, started a blog and performed several times at storytelling events

-Maia Gibb

TJ’s teaching style is highly supportive, accepting, and non-judgmental, allowing we the students to relax, as much as possible, given the degree of self-exposure each of us feels with our personal material. But his exercises also usefully allow and challenge us to express and reveal our stories, to experience different ways of presenting the material, and to find our own personal ‘voices.' - Falcon O’Hara

TJ has an empathy for the story like no other dramaturge I know. He inspired a belief in me that my story needed to be told. He freed the words from my grasp, held them to the light and then gently handed them back to me. - Richard Lett (creator/performer: Sober but Never Clean)

TJ has helped me develop four solo plays. He is a joy to work with as he is always positive and always looking to improve the work. He draws on more than twenty years of experience and has an exceptional career as a solo artist himself. - Keir Cutler (creator/performer: Shakespeare Crackpot)

TJ has this magical way of guiding you to push through your fluff and find your truth, but in such a way that he guides you to authenticity for you to find it for yourself. He creates an extremely safe and fertile environment that supports deeper and deeper creative growth, and gently nudges you into mining your own experiences to alchemize into creative gold. I already have years of writing and performing under my belt, and my confidence as a writer, performer, and human skyrocketed under TJ's supportive, nurturing wing. - Megan Phillips (creator/performer: Breaking Velocity, Not Enough, Periscope)

I still have a question!