MARION — Interested in theater? The Marion Art Center will hold four workshops focusing theater tips and tricks — from information for those who would rather work backstage, to skills needed get a chance in the spotlight. 

These workshops will be presented in collaboration with the Watermelon Alligator Theater Company and instructors Garrett Olson and Jess Wilson.

All four sessions will be held on Saturday, Jan. 20, 2024. Each session costs $40 for Marion Art Center members and $50 for nonmembers, and those enrolling in all three paid sessions receive 10% off registration. The
fourth and final session is free and open to all. A foul weather date is Feb. 10, 2024. See all details and register online at marionartcenter.org/events.

Session one will run from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. and will be an “relaxed and casual conversation with experienced theatre professionals” about “what goes on behind the scenes” during a theater production, according to a Marion Art Center press release. 

Session two will run from 1 to 3 p.m. and will be a “very basic overview” of the first steps someone needs to take to get into acting — “from theatre terms and the difference between stage and film acting to how to get started with headshots, monologues, best audition practices, stage etiquette and self-care.”

Session three will run from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. and will be a “master class in self-advocacy and consent-based practices, including intimacy and fight safety is designed to motivate the participants and encourage them to make themselves priority one.”

The fourth and final session is free to attend and it will run from 6 to 7 p.m. This session will serve as an introduction to upcoming theater classes and workshops at the Marion Art Center.