Summer at the Library: Artist-in-Residence: “Storytelling through the Arts” with Roundabout Theatre Company

Join The New York Public Library and Roundabout Theatre Company's Artist-in-Residence for twelve sessions of artistic workshops!

The workshops will be held in person at St. George Library.

Join us for curated artistic workshops designed to spark the creative process. Teaching Artists, Carrie Ellman Larsen and Nick Simone will guide participants to create their own piece of original theatre by telling stories and sharing memories with words, movements, and soundscapes. Through the exploration of theatre games and improvisation techniques along with sound, set, and costume design, participants will dive into playwriting and ensemble building to begin to create their own original piece of theatre.

We will be kicking off this exciting program with theatre games centered around Roundabout's production of Home, where participants will recreate scenes from this Tony Award®-nominated play The New York Times calls “an uplifting folk ballad about the pure in heart”. Samm-Art Williams’ Home is a muscular and melodic comingof-age story, where participants will recreate scenes from this moving coming-of-age story reflecting on identity, belonging, and the exploration of self. Kenny Leon (A Soldier’s Play) directs. In the following inter-generational workshops (all ages welcome), participants will collaborate to create their own plays, designs, and songs exploring various playwriting techniques which will culminate in an original theatrical production.

Free tickets to see Roundabout shows will be available, please see Library staff for more information. Supplies are limited.

START DATE: May 4, 2024

END DATE : August 17, 2024

IN-PERSON WORKSHOPS: Saturdays starting at 11 AM

12 Workshop Sessions

Upcoming Artist-in-Residence Workshops:

• Saturday, June 8th 11am-12:30pm 
• Saturday, June 15th 11am-12:30pm
• Saturday, June 29th 11am-12:30pm
• Saturday, July 6th 11am-12:30pm - REGISTER HERE for July Sessions
• Saturday, July 13th 11am-12:30pm
• Saturday, July 20th 11am-12:30pm
• Saturday, July 27th 11am-12:30pm
• Saturday, August 3rd 11am-12:30pm - REGISTER HERE for August Sessions
• Saturday, August 10th 11am-12:30pm
• Saturday, August 17th 11am-2:00pm – Final Sharing

Space is limited | Registration is recommended but not required.  Register above with your email address. Walkups will be permitted as space accommodates.

Learn more about this year's Roundabout Productions

Doubt A Parable John Patrick Shanley’s Pulitzer Prize- and Tony Award®-winning Best Play has blazed back to Broadway starring Academy Award® and Tony nominee Amy Ryan and Tony winner Liev Schreiber. This “excellent new revival, directed by Scott Ellis, affords the pleasure of watching two supremely good actors going toe to toe” (The Wall Street Journal). “Ryan and Schreiber are electric on Broadway” (Entertainment Weekly). The fireworks begin as the exacting principal of a Bronx Catholic school—feared by students and colleagues alike— suspects improper relations between a charismatic priest and a student. She’s forced to wrestle with what’s fact, what’s fiction, and just how far she’ll go to expose what she sees as the truth. As the New York Post says, “It keeps the audience guessing and second-guessing through the play’s famous final line.

Home In the Tony Award®-nominated play The New York Times calls “an uplifting folk ballad about the pure in heart,” Cephus Miles has the whole world in his callused hands—until his sweetheart Pattie Mae goes off to college and marries another man. Originally staged by the Negro Ensemble Company in 1979 and featured in the first year of Roundabout’s Refocus Project, Samm-Art Williams’ Home is a muscular and melodic coming-of-age story that gives voice to the unbreakable spirit of all Americans who have been searching for a place to belong. Kenny Leon (A Soldier’s Play) directs.

Learn more about our Artists-in-Residence

CARRIE ELLMAN-LARSEN (she/her) (Acting/Devising/Applied Theatre) is a born and raised NYC theatre maker and teaching artist. Carrie has been a proud Roundabout teaching artist since 2008. She holds a BFA in Drama from NYU Tisch and an MA in Applied Theatre from CUNY SPS. Her passion is devising theatre with young people based on social issues that they care about. She also works in classrooms using theatre as a tool for language acquisition of ELLs, community building, connecting to literacy and social studies curriculum, and developing life skills with students with disabilities. Carrie created and produced The Staten Island Dialogue Project, a documentary theatre piece where she interviewed Staten Island residents about the life experiences that influence their vote. Carrie is dedicated to being part of the revolution that professionalizes Staten Island theatre and can be seen acting and directing with local theatre companies such as Ghostlight Theatre Productions and The Staten Island Shakespeare Company.

NICK SIMONE (he/him) has worked in the performing arts field for many years. He currently has several titles including an engineer, musician and a teacher. Starting out as a trained musician and learning many instruments, his talents allowed him to perform at various venues such as the renowned Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center. He became a music teacher at the Staten Island Conservatory of music that gave NYC schools the opportunity to have an after school music programs. After many ventures with performing music, Nicholas began to understand the art of recording these accomplishments. Shortly afterwards he became greatly intrigued by the audio industry and sound design. Working for several studios paved the way for him to become a Chief engineer for Fenix Studios. With such a demand for sound engineers for live events in the theatrical field, he felt it necessary to be familiar with all aspects of the stage and sound. After designing many performances, recordings and other media, Nicholas then became a teaching artist for the Roundabout Theatre Company which allowed him to share his craft and experiences as a sound designer with students. Educating young minds has been his passion for the past several years and continues as he works on new projects and sound design.

Roundabout Theatre Company celebrates the power of theatre by spotlighting classics from the past, cultivating new works of the present, and educating minds for the future. A not-for-profit company, Roundabout fulfills that mission by producing familiar and lesser-known plays and musicals; discovering and supporting talented playwrights; reducing the barriers that can inhibit theatergoing; collaborating with a diverse team of artists; building educational experiences; and archiving over five decades of production history. Learn more about  Roundabout Theatre Company.