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I will be teaching Acting classes for adults and teens and Playwriting classes for adults and teens in the NYACK - MIDDLETOWN - Port Jervis Areas. Call for  information 845 -754-7508    Welcome to the lab. This is where it all starts to come together for the writers and actors. Our labs are for the writers to actually see and hear their words in action. We cast actors from the company and then rehearse the plays. The plays are then presented at various levels of production. Depending on the play and our production cycle, the play(s) may be presented in a night of prepared readings, as was done at both The Rhinebeck Arts Center in Rhinebeck New York, and I.M. Films Ltd. in Nyack New York. Or they may be taped with full production values as we are preparing to do with a number of short plays. Whichever the case, we are always excited about the process. The lab was conceived in the discipline of the theater labs of the late Avant Garde Off Broadway scene of the 60's in New York. Today the forums are gone and the great ones of the past have closed. This is an attempt to create anew a safe place of excellence for writers to explore and polish individual works with the help of actors, who, by giving prepared renderings of the material, can illuminate for the writers in a complete way, what works and what doesn’t work. Mr. MacMillan will conduct the virtual part of the lab and make suggestions as to what changes are necessary. These will be delivered to the writers in either print or e-mail. Twice a month the writer will bring rewrites of the material till it is polished. At this point the repertory of actors will give the piece a mounted production with full values. This will be recorded and reproduced to tape or cd-rom, a copy of which will be presented to the writer. Then, with the permission of the author, it will be posted on the web site in Real Player format, hopefully, for all the world to see. Each writers group will have a maximum of 50 writers meeting once a week. Hopefully the talent pool will be worldwide and the only restriction (for now) is that the written material must be in English, until we get reliable translating devices or software. Those who have successfully completed the writer’s training program will be invited into the lab. Writers who are not part of the program and who want to be considered for the lab will have to submit short pieces and a one-act play. Limited scholarships will be awarded and a monthly fee for members will be required to cover costs of the lab and for a production budget pool. We will create a space we hope will translate into an opportunity for all who are involved. Here are some stills mixed with audio from our show in Rhinebeck. These are excerpts of some of the plays from the writers lab. At Rhinebeck, we presented dramatic, prepared readings (we don't believe in cold readings. How does that help the playwright?) of some one act plays that were all written in the playwriting labs. To see the excerpts you don't need anything but your browser and speakers. Depending on your connection speed, it will take from 20 seconds(cable/DSL), to about a minute and a half (dial-up) to download. So please be patient while the excerpts load...and enjoy! Just click on each picture to watch the selection.     Margin Of Error A tale of sibling rivalry taken to the "nth" degree. Written by Michael Glassman With Chris Sabato And Dean Goldman The Complete Film "Margin of Error" The Fling    No better way to start the weekend, until... Written by Ellen Forman With Catherine Giordano And John DeFate The Complete Film  The Fling Red Christmas    Christmas in the gulag; and you think you have problems shopping... Written by Jeff Sobel With Meryl Hartstein And Jim Coakley The Devil's Plaything    The final act between a father and daughter? Written by Chris Sabato With Lindsay Hartstein And Michael Glassman The Kiss    Some things are harder to stop... Written by Ian MacMillan With Lara Figueroa And Scott Montigelli A Waiting Game    Does this give a new meaning to "bad service?" Written by Jeff Sobel With Michael Glassman And Dean Goldman Lil' Liza Jane    A family's last stand... Written by Dean Goldman With Douglass Aguirre And John DeFate Snowbound    A mother will do anything to defend her own... Written by Jay Olstad With Kathy Mann And John DeFate Going Shopping    Is this on your list?... Written by Irv Burros With Meryl Hartstein And Scott Montigelli Robin's Vanity    The hardest thing is facing reality... Written by Jeff Sobel With Kathy Mann And Doug Aguire Bird Of Glass    The persistence of memory... Written by Ellen Forman With John DeFate And Chris Sabato Frozen Stiff    Reason number 28: Why nepotism is NOT a good idea... Written by Michael Glassman With Jim Coakley And Dean Goldman Tinted Windows    Communications breakdown... Written by Ellen Forman With Meryl Hartstein And Doug Agguire Why Can't You Hear The Black Finch Sing?    What price love? Written by Irv Burros With Catherine Giordano And Chris Sabato