MACT

MACT*Fest ’25 workshop session 3 will start at 8:30 am on Saturday morning. It will give attendees a choice of three topics: Done on a Dime, Fighting & Why do Shakespeare.

Getting it Done on a Dime
presented by Steven LaVigne

This workshop will show you how to access plays in the Public Domain, titles you can produce without having to license them, pay for performance rights and making any changes you need to make for a successful production.

Steven LaVigne (Director, Playwright) has been with Corcoran Park Players and Classics Lost ‘N‘ Found Theater Company since 1982. This fall’s Mary Rose by Sir James M. Barrie will be his 77th production. He has directed for many theaters. He’s happily retired and enjoys travel, theater, movies, opera and reading.

Acting (with Fights)
presented by Mike Speck

Looking at stage combat from the perspective of an actor pursuing an in-character objective.

Mike Speck is a Certified Teacher with the Society of American Fight Directors. He teaches and choreographs stage combat regularly for Viterbo University in La Crosse, WI. Favorite projects include a six-man small sword fight choreographed as a theme-and-variations; a full-cast bar brawl incorporating thrown drinks, tipped furniture, and Latin Dance; a 6’2″ Tybalt vs a 4’10” Mercutio; and a case of rapiers fight where Phrase IV’s choreography was “Phrase II, only backwards.”

Why Do Shakespeare?
A Guide for a Community Theater Approach to the Bard
presented by Carney Gray

This workshop will look at both the benefits and the challenges to a community theater producing Shakespeare. We will give participants tools to make Shakespeare more approachable and understandable, for the actors and the audience. We will look at the advantages and challenges of producing Shakespeare. We will break down the language, and look at strategies to help make the language comprehensible, without sacrificing the poetry.

Carney is a Twin Cities based professional producer, director and actor working in film, video, commercial, industrial, voice-over, print, hand modeling and the stage.  He has a long history of stage credits.  He earned an MFA in theater (professional actor training program) from Ohio State University, and a BA in theater arts from the University of Minnesota.

About MACT*Fest

MACT*Fest will be March 7-9 at the Depot Theatre in Duluth. It will feature 4 performance sessions, with 2 shows Friday afternoon, Friday night and Saturday night and 3 shows Saturday afternoon. Following each show’s performance there will be comments by each of the three adjudicators. There will also be 4 workshop sessions, 2 Friday morning and 2 Saturday morning, with a choice of 3 options in each session. Saturday, after the final adjudication, there will be an “afterglow” social at Incline Station, located across the street from the Radison Hotel. Sunday morning there will be an awards brunch at the Holiday Inn.

Full packages are available at a discounted price until February 28. After that they will cost a little more. Most of the events are also available al a carte. Visit the MACT*Fest 25 page on our website for more information. Full packages and al a carte items can be purchased on-line here.