On Education
As the son of two public school educators, Ryan has always been invested in theatrical education as a means to ensure the theatre has a new generation of artists. His first venture into theatrical education began where almost all love of theatre starts... summer camp. He has previously developed multiple intensives for South Tampa Center for the Arts, with curriculums including sketch comedy, original play development, and stage combat.
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Additionally, Ryan served as the Festival Director for ThinkTank Theatre's now annual T.Y.A Playwright's Festival, a weekend long program featuring new work for today's family friendly audiences. As a part of the first festival, Ryan helped to develop the Gen Next! series which featured four original plays written by students (grades 9-12).
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He has continued to dedicate his work since moving to Detroit, where he had the opportunity to direct A Midsummer Night's Dream for Shakespeare in Detroit's S.T.E.A.M program, which provides students from the metro Detroit area the opportunity to not only perform, but be paid for their work as well.
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Check out some of his projects below!
Here is the full performance from Shakespeare in Detroit's 2nd Annual STEAM Conservatory Performance of A Midsummer NIght's Dream by William Shakespeare.
Starring the best and the brightest young artists in Detroit, this production has been made available to stream in conjunction with the Detroit Public School's Shakespeare curriculum.
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Check out all the amazing work Shakespeare in Detroit is up to on their YouTube page!
From ThinkTank Theatre's first Sketch Comedy workshop, students were tasked with generating a completely original sketch comedy show!
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The ensemble, comprised of high school aged artists, was asked to find a common thread between them. What is something that they all knew about and more importantly... were able to poke fun at with love?
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Our answer ended up being... THEATRE. This workshop ended with four original sketches:
- An Actor's Nightmare
- A Director's Nightmare
- A Stage Manager's Nightmare
- The premiere of an original parody song
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... all written and performed by the ensemble!
Having the opportunity to direct a show is a privilege, but having the opportunity to collaborate on the direction of a play is an absolute dream.
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Pictured here with co-director Ryan Prince (left), Theatre eXceptional's Our Town by Thornton Wilder brought together the greater Clearwater area's professional talent with ensemble members from Theatre eXceptional's educational programs. All performers were compensated for their work on this production.
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Theatre eXceptional's Our Town remains one of Ryan Bernier's favorite projects.