as•sem•bly |ə-sěm'blē| (noun)
1. a group of people gathered in one place for a common purpose.
2. a public facility to meet for open discussion.
3. the action of fitting together component parts of a machine or
other object.
4. a collective of artists dedicated to realizing a new American theater.
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EDUCATION
"The Assembly actually puts into practice what so many of us say we want to do: they devise their work, and it's great, inventive, serious, and deep. What's more, they can show you how to do it, as they have with my students. The Assembly is a role model for the future of the American theatre." - John Gould Rubin (NYU Stella Adler)
WORKSHOPS IN OUR METHOD
For the first time since 2020, the Assembly is offering training in our unique collaborative process!
Our course is designed for theater practitioners eager to craft exciting new work that synthesizes writing, action, design, and dramaturgy in a supportive environment. Assembly training emphasizes intellectual curiosity, expert communication, visceral theatricality, and—above all—interdisciplinary collaboration. In our weekend intensive, Assembly artistic directors Stephen Aubrey, Ben Beckley, and Jess Chayes will guide participants in exercises designed to create dynamic dramatic moments drawn from personal experience and physical actions based on academic and visual research.
No previous theatrical knowledge or training is required, just a desire to create and collaborate (and get a little sweaty in the process). We welcome actors, directors, writers, designers, dramaturgs and anyone else who’s interested in understanding how The Assembly makes its work.
Saturday 5/4 & Sunday 5/5, 12-5pm both days
Manhattan Location TBD
Cost: $250 *Early bird special: $200 if you register by April 15*
Limited financial aid is available. For more information, contact us at info@assemblytheater.org.
Capped at 12 participants.
Can’t come to the workshop, but want to support this important work? Donate to our scholarship fund to help subsidize an artist. Even $10 helps us make this workshop accessible while still paying the artists who create it.
The Assembly offers a rigorous interdisciplinary workshop in our unique collaborative process, for theater practitioners eager to explore how to craft theater that synthesizes writing, action, design and dramaturgy in a supportive environment. The Assembly training emphasizes intellectual curiosity, expert communication, visceral theatricality, and – above all – interdisciplinary collaboration.
The Assembly's training draws from Jerzy Grotowski's physical actions, Chuck Mee's collage aesthetic, the techniques of documentary theatre, modern dance, installation art, performance art, and theatrical realism. The training is experimental in nature, and all theatrical vocabularies are fair game. The workshop is conducted in three-hour sessions over the course of three consecutive days.
Participants will learn how to create personal monologues and physical actions based on academic and visual research. Select source materials will provide the scaffolding upon which we will develop uniquely personal responses and ultimately devise nuanced and character-driven theatrical events.
The workshop is led by members of The Assembly: playwright Stephen Aubrey, director Jess Chayes, and actor-writer Ben Beckley.
The Assembly has conducted workshops at Wesleyan University, NYU (Stella Adler) and at the Ice Factory. Assembly members have experience teaching at CalArts, NYU, New School, Brooklyn College, Kean University, University of Scranton, and more.
The Assembly is available for workshops in both educational and private settings. To inquire about workshops, email info@assemblytheater.org
"Taking a workshop with The Assembly made me more aware of my own collaborative instincts. I’ve taken this awareness into every theatrical project I‘ve worked on since. Both in their workshop and in my summer internship, The Assembly has shared their devising process with me in a way that is personal, generous, and honest." – May Treuhaft-Ali, Playwright & Director
"My workshop with the Assembly showed the importance of building kinship with your theatrical collaborators. The folks at the Assembly trust each other to make strong, bold choices because they share a clear theatrical grammar and process." – Terah Ehigiator, Actor & Playwright
POST-SHOW DISCUSSION SERIES
As part of our dedication to building community and fostering conversation, we try whenever possible to engage in post-show discussions with experts in the field of our research. Alongside our 2016 production of HOME/SICK at Los Angeles's Odyssey Theatre Ensemble, we produced Your Brain Is a Bomb: A Revolutionary Conversationn Series and our 2016 run of I Will Look Forward to This Later featured a series of post-show conversations entitled I'll Sleep When I'm Dead: Long-View Conversations About Life in the Arts.
Below, you can take a look at some excerpts from talkbacks with two former Weathermen following our 2012 remount of HOME/SICK.
Bernadine Dohrn and Bill Ayers, former leaders of The Weather Underground, are interviewed by Ben Beckley following a performance of The Assembly's HOME/SICK. They respond to questions about the emotional accuracy of the play, and of their current views towards violence.
More from Bernadine and Bill.