I’m convinced that we’re capable of making stories out of any series of occurrences, that we search for and find relationships between events no matter how unrelated they may be.  This impulse to make logical sense of the world can make it hard to generate the surprise, the unexpected, the vitality that I think we’re all after in our writing and performing and that our audiences crave.  This workshop aims to counter our search for narrative by breaking down our various writing processes and demanding a more focused and ephemeral attention through fragmentation.  We’ll reach extensively into new writing and experiment with new approaches to generating fragments that will eventually become the basis of stories that surprise and engage us.  Open to intermediate to advanced writers and performers.

Mike Geither is a playwright, solo performer and stand-up comic whose work has been seen in San Francisco, Chicago, Toronto, Ottawa, Halifax, New York and London. He is a four-time Ohio Arts Council fellow and has served as a resident artist at Headlands Center for the Arts in Sausalito. He is currently a Professor of English at Cleveland State University where he teaches in the Northeast Ohio MFA in creative writing.

In this workshop, we will look at the creative nature of art as a healing piece. While not a traditional therapy session, working through grief, trauma, and processing them through artistic expression can be very therapeutic and an emotional release. With this workshop, we will touch upon how creation of a piece of art (written/performance) can help your mind move on from these events. Part group healing, part self expression, this workshop blends the two knowing that all good art needs to be communicated and shared. Throughout the experience, gaining more insight from others and ourselves.

Kurt Jolly (he/him) is a Queer Chicago-based writer, director, and interactive artist. He has a diverse experience in many artistic avenues: art education, on the stage, behind the writing desk, and behind the camera. Like his name, he looks to find the joy and happiness in the world while also acknowledging its darkness. He has a Masters in Education and Leadership, and has studied at the Harold Ramis Film School at The Second City Chicago. One of his comedic pilot screenplays was selected as a semi-finalist in the Teen Movie Contest from Powederkeg (Paul Fieg) and ColorCreative (Issa Rae/Deniese Davis), and his latest short film “GlitterLand” was accepted into various film festivals around the country, and will be featured on ImageUnion TV.