Wesley Broulik

 My research practice centers around Improvisation & Play, Space & Architecture, Creative Producing & Access, and of course Early Modern/Renaissance/Shakespeare Scholarship.

IMPROVISATION & PLAY

To quote Viola Spolin, “Play is democratic.” Every culture on the planet plays and play is at the heart of what we do as theatre artists. The tools I use to access play are primarily sourced in the work of Viola Spolin, Keith Johnstone, and Michael Chekhov. I have to yet to find a directing or acting obstacle that couldn’t be solved by a theatre game or improvisation. A sense of play is essential. Improvisation and play is how I foster and cultivate ensemble. As an artist I believe that ensemble is a practice and it is everything. My applications of theatre games range from directing, to writing, to devising, and of course training performers. My approach to clown work resdies in play, improvisation, and imagination. I believe in a theatre of imagination and intuition.

Some of the ways I explore this research is through my directing practice, teaching Improvisation & Ensemble at CCSU, and in the last few years I trained as a teacher under Aretha Sills in the work of Viola Spolin. Here is a link to a soon to be published book I contributed to on writing and improvisation https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/edit/10.4324/9781003243014/embodied-playwriting-hillary-haft-bucs-charissa-menefee

Here is link to an article written about my work as a guest at Bates College https://www.bates.edu/news/2023/02/10/peek-behind-the-curtain/

SPACE & ARCHITECTURE

Too often we take our theatre spaces for granted and we don’t mine their use for the maximum narrative potential of the story being told. Much of my directing work lies in the exploration of spaces. From ensuring spaces are more democratic and accessible for the audience, to exploring the relationship between the audience and the play, and to the relationship of the performers to the audience and the play - these experiments in space are an essential part of my practice.

Recent explorations in space and architecture include directing Sense & Sensibility by Kate Hamill in a traverse staging, Constellations by Nick Payne in the round, Much Ado About Nothing outdoors and in the round, Macbeth outdoors, and a series of Beckett shorts (Act Without Words I, A Piece of Monologue, Ohio Impromptu, and Not I) staged in large storefront windows behind glass in a promenade style. Also a performer and producer in a solo version of A Christmas Carol where we transformed a ballroom in a community building into a victorian drawing room.

CREATIVE PRODUCING & ACCCESS

Since founding Time’s Fool Company I have been deeply engaged in how we make and produce art. Time’s Fool is an attempt to interrogate old producing models. Instead of investing in spaces, I suggest we invest in people and artists. We are in constant pursuit of finding ways to make professional theatre affordable for all so that everyone can make attending the theatre a regular part of their lives. Access can take on many forms, from how we engage and connect with our audiences to the spaces we produce in, to the work we curate and create. How do we balance earned income from tickets against the decrease in philanthropy, against shrinking funding from foundations and government agencies? This is the great work that lies before us as non-profit leaders and art makers. I believe there is a unique path forward for every organization based on their unique values, mission, and culture. I’d love to sit down and discuss it with you.

In 2022 I gave a paper at the Mid American Theatre Conference on Time’s Fool’s producing practices. In summer 2023 I am directing AS YOU LIKE IT with Time’s Fool Company. We are conceiving the production from the perspective of access for all and from the very beginning we are examining practices and methods that would make the production more accessible for the neurodiverse.

EARLY MODERN/RENAISSANCE/SHAKESPEARE SCHOLARSHIP

A great deal of my directing and performance practice centers around writers such Shakespeare, Marlow, and Lope de Vega. It is only natural that more “traditional” approaches to scholarship would be included in my practice.

In Fall 2019 I co-presented a paper at the Blackfriars Conference in Staunton, Va and in Spring 2022 I co-presented a workshop at the Shakespeare Association of the America.