Calendar of Events

Taught by Tom Chalmers
Ages 18+
Mar 6-Apr 10 | Mondays at 6:30-8:30 PM

This class will be offered in person on the ACT Mainstage, following all the recommended protocols for safety and sanitation. Limited to 10 students. For ages 18+.

This six-week course taught by local comedian Tom Chalmers covers the fundamentals of improvisational acting with an emphasis on comedy; such as listening, commitment, intuitive reaction, as well as recognizing and capitalizing on emerging patterns. A final showcase will be held on Friday, April 14th.

**If the class if full, we encourage you to sign up for the waitlist. If there is enough interest, we may add an additional class for the session.**

Registration opens 1/25/2023. Tuition will be $180– Scholarships are available.

NOTE: If applying for a scholarship, please fill out the Scholarship Application INSTEAD of filling out registration. If your application is approved, we will be in touch with you to register.

Taught by Tom Chalmers
Ages 18+
Mar 7-Apr 11 | Tuesdays at 6:30-8:30 PM

PREREQUISITE: Improv 1 and Improv 2 (must be pre-approved by instructor)

The Performance Lab works with students to take the skills they have learned in the earlier levels and improve upon them by applying them to structures intended for performance. Students will be instructed on how to make “show-worthy” choices, choosing sustainable characters over quick-laugh caricatures, establishing relationships rather than just spouting punchlines, but at the same time developing instincts as to when a scene needs a spring or a solid blackout line. A final showcase will be held on Friday, April 14th.

**If the class if full, we encourage you to sign up for the waitlist. If there is enough interest, we may add an additional class for the session.**

Registration opens 1/25/2022. Tuition will be $180– Scholarships are available.

NOTE: If applying for a scholarship, please fill out the Scholarship Application INSTEAD of filling out registration. If your application is approved, we will be in touch with you to register.

Enrollment is now open for two adult improvisation acting classes offered by Hendersonville Theatre (HT). Classes will be taught by professional improvisation actor and comedian Emily Swindal. Both classes are open to anyone over the age of 18, regardless of experience level.

Improv Level One: Communicate. Collaborate. Play. meets on Wednesdays from April 5 to May 24. Tuition is $180. In the class, students will work at getting comfortable on stage while having fun doing it. Students will learn to have compassion for themselves and their classmates as performers as they learn the fundamentals of improvisation and develop support and spontaneity. Together, they will learn the importance of “yes-and-ing,” heightening the absurdity and raising the stakes. They will also cover the differences between short form and long form improv. This is a short form class similar to Whose Line Is It Anyway?

By Christopher Durang

Winner of the 2013 Tony Award for Best Play.

Middle-aged siblings Vanya and Sonia share a home in Bucks County, PA, where they bicker and complain about the circumstances of their lives. Suddenly, their movie-star sister, Masha, swoops in with her new boy toy, Spike. Old resentments flare up, eventually leading to threats to sell the house. Also on the scene are sassy maid Cassandra, who can predict the future, and a lovely young aspiring actress named Nina, whose prettiness somewhat worries the imperious Masha.

Discretionary Content: Adult themes and Language

DIFFERENT STROKES! PERFORMING ARTS COLLECTIVE PRESENTS

THREE SIX NINE MONOLOGUE AND SHORT PLAY FESTIVAL features a curated selection of original pieces written by emerging Black Playwrights, primarily from our emerging Black Playwright’s program, A Different Myth. Join us for nine evenings of heart-warming, dramatic, funny, heart-breaking, and provocative short plays and monologues. Three Six Nine features represents 3 weekends, 6 short plays, and 9 monologues. No two weekends will be the same, and neither will you. Join us as we mix and match 12 pieces over the course of 90 minutes on 9 very different evenings.

April 6-8, 2023
April 13-15, 2023
April 20-22, 2023
at 7:30 p.m. each evening

In this Tony Award® winning comedy by Christopher Durang, middle-aged siblings Vanya and Sonia share a home in Bucks County, PA, where they bicker and complain about the circumstances of their lives. Suddenly, their movie-star sister, Masha, swoops in with her new boy toy, Spike. Old resentments flare up, eventually leading to threats to sell the house. Also on the scene are sassy maid Cassandra, who can predict the future, and a lovely young aspiring actress named Nina, whose prettiness somewhat worries the imperious Masha. Hilarity, a bit of pathos, and just a touch of Chekhovian ennui ensue as the family, neighbor, boyfriend, and housekeeper navigate the complexities of their relationships.

Discretionary Content: Adult themes and Language
COVID protocol: masks still required in the theatre during the performance

By Christopher Durang

Winner of the 2013 Tony Award for Best Play.

Middle-aged siblings Vanya and Sonia share a home in Bucks County, PA, where they bicker and complain about the circumstances of their lives. Suddenly, their movie-star sister, Masha, swoops in with her new boy toy, Spike. Old resentments flare up, eventually leading to threats to sell the house. Also on the scene are sassy maid Cassandra, who can predict the future, and a lovely young aspiring actress named Nina, whose prettiness somewhat worries the imperious Masha.

Discretionary Content: Adult themes and Language

RTS: The Good, The Bad, & The Guilty

Directed by Margaret Crowell

Friday and Saturday performances are held at Asheville Community Theatre; Sunday performances are held at the Reuter Center on the campus of UNCA. 

The Good, The Bad, and The Guilty is presented as readers theatre by The Autumn Players.

A Trio of One-Acts

What dramatic truths lie behind a woman’s strange laugh, a suitor’s palpitating heart, a whistle in the night, or an Irish ballad singer and a hundred pound reward? When will the small rise up and the big fall down? When will we all change places? Three one-act plays explore how we seek to embrace – or escape – the ties that bind us.

The Rising of the Moon by Lady Gregory
Trifles by Susan Glaspell
The Proposal by Anton Chekhov

DIFFERENT STROKES! PERFORMING ARTS COLLECTIVE PRESENTS

THREE SIX NINE MONOLOGUE AND SHORT PLAY FESTIVAL features a curated selection of original pieces written by emerging Black Playwrights, primarily from our emerging Black Playwright’s program, A Different Myth. Join us for nine evenings of heart-warming, dramatic, funny, heart-breaking, and provocative short plays and monologues. Three Six Nine features represents 3 weekends, 6 short plays, and 9 monologues. No two weekends will be the same, and neither will you. Join us as we mix and match 12 pieces over the course of 90 minutes on 9 very different evenings.

April 6-8, 2023
April 13-15, 2023
April 20-22, 2023
at 7:30 p.m. each evening

FISH
By Cyndi Williams
Directed by Ashleigh Goff

When two characters connect unexpectedly in a lonely bar, they wind up playing a dangerous game. Who will survive, and how can they forgive themselves in the process?  Shifting timelines and unearthing skeletons, Fish is a fever dream twisting through memory, fantasy and the present.

In this Tony Award® winning comedy by Christopher Durang, middle-aged siblings Vanya and Sonia share a home in Bucks County, PA, where they bicker and complain about the circumstances of their lives. Suddenly, their movie-star sister, Masha, swoops in with her new boy toy, Spike. Old resentments flare up, eventually leading to threats to sell the house. Also on the scene are sassy maid Cassandra, who can predict the future, and a lovely young aspiring actress named Nina, whose prettiness somewhat worries the imperious Masha. Hilarity, a bit of pathos, and just a touch of Chekhovian ennui ensue as the family, neighbor, boyfriend, and housekeeper navigate the complexities of their relationships.

Discretionary Content: Adult themes and Language
COVID protocol: masks still required in the theatre during the performance

By Christopher Durang

Winner of the 2013 Tony Award for Best Play.

Middle-aged siblings Vanya and Sonia share a home in Bucks County, PA, where they bicker and complain about the circumstances of their lives. Suddenly, their movie-star sister, Masha, swoops in with her new boy toy, Spike. Old resentments flare up, eventually leading to threats to sell the house. Also on the scene are sassy maid Cassandra, who can predict the future, and a lovely young aspiring actress named Nina, whose prettiness somewhat worries the imperious Masha.

Discretionary Content: Adult themes and Language

We’re putting our build crew back together and we’d love to have you join us. Every 2 weeks, we’ll meet at 9 am for hands-on set construction! Whether your talents are building, painting, or you just want to learn, come out and join us every other Saturday for some creative fun. Tools and work gloves are helpful but not required

RTS: The Good, The Bad, & The Guilty

Directed by Margaret Crowell

Friday and Saturday performances are held at Asheville Community Theatre; Sunday performances are held at the Reuter Center on the campus of UNCA. 

The Good, The Bad, and The Guilty is presented as readers theatre by The Autumn Players.

A Trio of One-Acts

What dramatic truths lie behind a woman’s strange laugh, a suitor’s palpitating heart, a whistle in the night, or an Irish ballad singer and a hundred pound reward? When will the small rise up and the big fall down? When will we all change places? Three one-act plays explore how we seek to embrace – or escape – the ties that bind us.

The Rising of the Moon by Lady Gregory
Trifles by Susan Glaspell
The Proposal by Anton Chekhov

DIFFERENT STROKES! PERFORMING ARTS COLLECTIVE PRESENTS

THREE SIX NINE MONOLOGUE AND SHORT PLAY FESTIVAL features a curated selection of original pieces written by emerging Black Playwrights, primarily from our emerging Black Playwright’s program, A Different Myth. Join us for nine evenings of heart-warming, dramatic, funny, heart-breaking, and provocative short plays and monologues. Three Six Nine features represents 3 weekends, 6 short plays, and 9 monologues. No two weekends will be the same, and neither will you. Join us as we mix and match 12 pieces over the course of 90 minutes on 9 very different evenings.

April 6-8, 2023
April 13-15, 2023
April 20-22, 2023
at 7:30 p.m. each evening

FISH
By Cyndi Williams
Directed by Ashleigh Goff

When two characters connect unexpectedly in a lonely bar, they wind up playing a dangerous game. Who will survive, and how can they forgive themselves in the process?  Shifting timelines and unearthing skeletons, Fish is a fever dream twisting through memory, fantasy and the present.

In this Tony Award® winning comedy by Christopher Durang, middle-aged siblings Vanya and Sonia share a home in Bucks County, PA, where they bicker and complain about the circumstances of their lives. Suddenly, their movie-star sister, Masha, swoops in with her new boy toy, Spike. Old resentments flare up, eventually leading to threats to sell the house. Also on the scene are sassy maid Cassandra, who can predict the future, and a lovely young aspiring actress named Nina, whose prettiness somewhat worries the imperious Masha. Hilarity, a bit of pathos, and just a touch of Chekhovian ennui ensue as the family, neighbor, boyfriend, and housekeeper navigate the complexities of their relationships.

Discretionary Content: Adult themes and Language
COVID protocol: masks still required in the theatre during the performance