THE ODYSSEY PROJECT
Magis Theatre Company is proud to team with Creative Educational Services to bring the Odyssey Project to underserved populations here in New York and across the country.
Joseph Brockett's adaptation of Homer's epic poem uses the story as a metaphor for each person's odyssey through life.
The mythic figures give lessons about personal choice, addiction, power, perseverance, and the value of each person's life.
We have already teamed with Red Cloud High School in the Oglala Lakota Nation (Pine Ridge, South Dakota.)
Thanks to the kindness of our supporters, Magis is bringing workshops and classroom visits to these students. The project has launched a new after school program at Red Cloud, and we continue to advise and provide resources to the school as they enhance this program.
We bring the project to incarcerated persons at the Otisville Federal Corrections Institution and the Queensboro Correctional Facility. Thrive for Life Prison Ministries has asked us to bring it to their residents at Ignacio House. This portion of the project is supported by the Maldari Foundation
Click here for a letter from Otisville Federal Corrections Facility.
TRAINING OUTREACH
Magis training is made available to artists not only through our monthy ActorSpa® , but is also making its way into the training regimens of such groups as La MaMa's Trojan Women Project, and schools and studios in the New York area.
Our open sessions happen on the final Tuesday of each month, normally at our training space at 327 W. 13th St, but during the pandemic we are offering it on Zoom and reaching actors all over the world. Join us online, or when things are safe again, in person.
PARTNERSHIPS
Over the years Magis has teamed with many inspiring artists and organizations to help us do "more" together. Our collaborators include:
Elizabeth Swados, Acuity Productions, Broadview Phoenix, Kristin Kusanovich, Charisma, The Emily Harvey Gallery, Long Distance Productions, Elizabeth Coffman, Main Street Theatre and Dance Alliance, The Four Freedoms Park Conservancy, Meena Alexander, Rita Dove, Iraj Anvar, Afshin Goodarzi, Rebecca Keren, Nessa Rapoport, Priscilla Smith, the Dervishes of the Halveti-Jerrahi Order, Sevin Yaraman, Pax Christi Metro New York, Thrive for Life Prison Ministries, The Sheen Center for Thought and Culture, Ralph Martin, Boys Club NYC, Notre Dame School of Manhattan.
MAGIS STUDENT ACTOR TRAINING INSTITUTE
The Magis Student Actor Training Institute has three components:
- Training the student for the demands of acting by sharpening the instruments of voice, imagination and physicality and increasing awareness of the interconnection of these tools.
- Empowering students to go into an audition or interview situation with confidence by teaching the practical skills of auditioning, articulating the different demands of different kinds of auditions and interviews, and giving each student practice and feedback.
- Working with professional actors who will coach the student on one specific monologue so that the student will learn the process of crafting a monologue in depth.
Magis has created a special program in which high school drama students work with professional actors, training together and learning about both the business and the craft of acting. The aim is to empower and prepare students to audition both for college theatre programs and for entertainment industry professionals.
Students were accepted into the the theatre departments at NYU, Marymount Manhattan, Fordham, and Suffolk University in Boston. One of our students received the “audience pick” award at English Speaking Union Of New York's Shakespeare competition. Four of the students of the Institute will make their Off-Off Broadway professional debut this May in The Witlings.
At a special workshop for Magis students, Amy Gossels, a professional casting director for theatre, film and television said this about the program: I give a lot of workshops to actors, most of whom are considerably older and more seasoned, but this group really held their own, and was actually just as strong as many of of the groups I work with who have much more professional experience. This goes to show that this program is not only a great one, but that it is working... as I believe that many of the young actors I met and worked with really have the talent and skills to pursue working in this business!”