Devised New Work

Three of Cups is excited to announce a workshop in advance of our Fall 26 production, a devised piece to be directed by Ashley Connell with Head Writer Hannah Baker. We will be casting the production in part from these workshops and in part from our standing ensemble. However, the workshops are open to anyone regardless of interest in the final production participation!

The workshop will be led by the directing team and involve vocal and physical exercises, as well as time devoted to practicing and learning techniques for building a devised piece.

About the show:

Three of Cups is a new theatre company, focusing on methodology-driven, ensemble-based work,  inspired by theorists and practitioners such as Viola Spolin and Anne Bogart. This show will be the first step in developing our practice and methodology, and the actors who participate in this process will have a huge impact on the identity of the company and its future process. Together, the cast will create, write, refine, rehearse, and perform an entirely devised show.

The concept for the show is drawn from the work and theories of Friedrich Durrenmatt, a Swiss playwright from the 20th century whose absurd, macabre plays reflected the world he lived in, one increasingly dominated by fascism and violence. Rather than tackle one of his plays directly, we will build our own piece, rooted in (but not defined by) his theories, and reflected through our own complex world.

It’s difficult to predict exactly how the play will be shaped until we start generating material with our ensemble, but we are interested in  capturing a sense of the wider American cataclysm, the chaos of our fractured media landscape, American cultural archetypes and iconography, doomsday prophecy, and nuclear proliferation.

How to prepare for the workshop:

Please prepare a writing sample: 6 pages maximum for scripted formats (such as sketch, play, or TV/film scripts), or 2 pages maximum for non script material (prose, poetry).  Pieces should demonstrate your strengths as a writer. Content is open but we would love to see writing that showcases something you care about. If you don’t have an existing writing sample, please write a 1-2 page character monologue or personal essay about something happening in the world that moves you to emotion.

In return we are offering payment for the writing and rehearsal processes (separate stipends) and a commitment to honoring our artists and the work that they do. We want to be a space where artists can do the kind of work that they will always be proud of,and where your individual voice is heard and uplifted. We are so excited to begin this process, and to see what our artistic community has to offer to these ideas and vice versa.