New Texas Friends Theatre Skill Swap

La Fenice is an award winning Commedia dell’Arte and physical theatre company based in Adelaide's Sister City, Austin, Texas, USA.

Two La Fenice company members (Artistic Director Kate Meehan and Director of Intimacy and Violence Tobie Minor) will be in Adelaide, and they want to swap skills and make friends with Adelaide performing artists.

These sessions are held free of charge, with the hire of the space supported by the City of Adelaide Sister City and International Arrangements Program.

Donations are completely optional, and help to cover travel expenses.

Monday, October 19th: Physical Theatre Performance

La Fenice has developed a special sauce for teaching and performing Commedia dell'Arte to students and for modern audiences. We'd love to share that with you and pick up some of your tricks of the trade!

Thursday, October 22nd: Stage Combat

La Fenice has developed a couple of very handy tools for stage combat, focusing on layering character work on top of safe performed violence. We've also got a very handy methodology for improvised stage violence, with a solid foundation in consent and intimacy. We'd love to share this with you and see how Adelaide maintains safety while performing violence.

About La Fenice

As a company, they believe physical performance is for everybody and every body. Since their founding in 2009, they have taught physical theatre to thousands of students of all ages.

Kate Meehan has been performing, teaching, and writing about Commedia dell’Arte for over three decades. She is the award-winning Artistic Director of La Fenice, and teaches mask, devising, and long form improvisation. She holds an MA in Theatre History and Criticism from Texas State University, and she has trained with Giangiacomo Colli, Joan Schirle, Antonio Fava, Carlo Boso, and many others. She has produced dozens of postmodern Commedia dell’Arte productions, and acted as a movement consultant or dramaturg for dozens more. Her work is featured in Commedia dell’Arte: A Handbook For Troupes and The Routledge Companion to Commedia dell’Arte.

Tobie Minor has been a certified Advanced Actor Combatant with the Society of American Fight Directors since 2000, and is a certified Vocal Combat Instructor (VCT). He is the founder and Head of Training at Violent Crown, and currently serves as the Director of Stage Combat and Intimacy at Texas State University, which is consistently named one of the top 25 drama schools in the world. He holds a B.A. in Theatre Arts from New Mexico State University, and has provided fight choreography for hundreds of theatrical productions across the U.S.A. and around the world, including the Globe Theatre in London.