Explore your creativity with Deep End Theater!
"If everything else is built on the foundation, then the foundation must be continually cared for to ensure that the performer never loses strength and integrity." ~ Domeka Parker
About our training program:
At Deep End we don't subscribe to the levels system of classes you often find in other improv training programs. Instead we move more organically and based on each students unique process, interests and next steps. This way you never become lost in the illusion of progress, you make actual progress, quantifiable and truly satisfying. In our program you'll follow your interests, your curiosity and your instructors recommendations to deepen your experience and develop your skills.
If you are new to Improv, curious but inexperienced, start with our Intro to Improv class.
If you have some experience in improv but are new to our program, Foundations of Sound Improv is a great place to start.
Scene Study is a wonderful class to take to explore and strengthen your acting and storytelling skills. This class is a beat by beat exploration of what makes great improvised scene-work, its a terrific opportunity to practice what you've learned in Foundations with the guidance of an excellent instructor.
Form & Function is a class that focuses on the devised structures used in improvised theater, edits, formats, styles, vocabulary and exploration toward innovation.
Improvising Drama digs into working with emotional content, performance savvy, stage craft and dramatic storytelling. The goal of this class is to strengthen the actor, broaden their work and develop their skill not only to tell dramatic stories on stage, but to enrich all improv shows with dynamic characters and great acting.
Storytelling is a unique class wherein students explore the art and craft of personal narrative storytelling. This is not an improvisational theater class but supports the work through teaching about story structure, timing and engaging your audience.
Scroll down to view all of our classes and details. We hope to see you soon.
At Deep End we don't subscribe to the levels system of classes you often find in other improv training programs. Instead we move more organically and based on each students unique process, interests and next steps. This way you never become lost in the illusion of progress, you make actual progress, quantifiable and truly satisfying. In our program you'll follow your interests, your curiosity and your instructors recommendations to deepen your experience and develop your skills.
If you are new to Improv, curious but inexperienced, start with our Intro to Improv class.
If you have some experience in improv but are new to our program, Foundations of Sound Improv is a great place to start.
Scene Study is a wonderful class to take to explore and strengthen your acting and storytelling skills. This class is a beat by beat exploration of what makes great improvised scene-work, its a terrific opportunity to practice what you've learned in Foundations with the guidance of an excellent instructor.
Form & Function is a class that focuses on the devised structures used in improvised theater, edits, formats, styles, vocabulary and exploration toward innovation.
Improvising Drama digs into working with emotional content, performance savvy, stage craft and dramatic storytelling. The goal of this class is to strengthen the actor, broaden their work and develop their skill not only to tell dramatic stories on stage, but to enrich all improv shows with dynamic characters and great acting.
Storytelling is a unique class wherein students explore the art and craft of personal narrative storytelling. This is not an improvisational theater class but supports the work through teaching about story structure, timing and engaging your audience.
Scroll down to view all of our classes and details. We hope to see you soon.
Spring 2019 CLASSES
Your Instructor:
Leann began storytelling at the young age of six in the first-grade classroom of Sister Eileen Francis during Show and Tell. To this day she does not know how it was that the Sister let her go on and on…and on. Since then Leann has become a professional storyteller, improviser, host and improv coach with an knack for on the spot, improvisational storytelling. Leann is the co-producer and host of The Blackonteurs, a storytelling show featuring only black and African American storytellers. Her ability to improvise stories from the stories of others, recently got her voted Best Host of the 3rd Annual Northwest Black Comedy Festival. Leann has also appeared as a storyteller at 7 Deadly Sins, Telltale, Roar and Front Porch Sessions. Leann has a strength-based approach to coaching and is grounded in the philosophy that story gives meaning and connection to that which seems random and meaningless. “Stories,” she says, “are our significance. If we lose story, we lose our existence.” When not onstage, Leann is the Director of the Equity and Inclusion Division for the Oregon Health Authority and an Industrial/Organizational (I/O) Psychology Practitioner. |
Storytelling
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Creating Selves
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Your Instructor: Renowned for performances and writing that are described as “edgy, vibrant, manic and insightful”, Victoria Parker-Pohl is a veteran actor and writer who uses personal life experience to feed her ‘ever-present’ muse. During her long career in Portland and NW Regional Theater, Victoria has acted, directed, collaborated, written and taught with a wide range of theater companies. She is the recipient of many awards, including ‘outstanding new work’ for her full-length one-woman show, You Can’t Tell Me from One Another. For over twenty years Victoria taught Theater Arts at Portland State University, founding the course Creative Thinking in the Arts – a study of how individual creativity can be identified, understood, expanded and fully expressed.
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Introduction to Sound Improv
The catapult toward skill, craftsmanship and creative freedom Instructor: TBA
Mondays - 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm July 22 - August 26th $215- 6 classes (payment plans are available) No experience necessary! Are you interested in learning more about improvisational theater? Do you want to break out of your shell or rejuvenate your creativity? If you are new to improv, this class is an incredibly accessible, playful, and exciting introduction. Rooted in acting, this class is incredibly fun, low pressure, and community-based radness!
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Payment plans are available. If you cannot pay the full price of your class today, you can hold your spot with a non-refundable $50 deposit. When we receive it we will contact you to discuss your payment options.
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I didn't think I could like this class any more, but each week was better than the last." ~Andrew C.
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Foundations of Sound Improv
Learn to innovate improvisational theater Instructor: TBA
Tuesdays - 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm July 23 - August 27 $255 - 6 classes + 1 performance (payment plans are available) This class focuses on the fundamentals of Sound Improv and lays the groundwork for further study. Our Foundations class develops and strengthens the most important skills of theatrical improvisation. This class benefits performers of all ranges of improvisation experience, but some experience is preferred. Sound Improv is a unique approach to improvisation that emphasizes acting, honors theater, and broadens our understanding of what improv is and can be.
Sarah Thompson
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Payment plans are available. If you cannot pay the full price of your class today, you can hold your spot with a non-refundable $50 deposit. When we receive it we will contact you to discuss your payment options.
Meet Your Instructors:
Sarah Thompson Sound Improv training has improved me as a performer and a person." ~Katelyn L. |
The art & craft of
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Improvising Comedy:
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Improvising Drama
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Payment plans are available. If you cannot pay the full price of your class today, you can hold your spot with a non-refundable $50 deposit. When we receive it we will contact you to discuss your payment options.
Meet Your Instructor: Mariah Muñoz was a funny kid — but when anyone would tell her so, she would vehemently and seriously deny her funniness by proclaiming "I AM NOT FUNNY". Today, Mariah is an improvisational actor, director, designer, podiatry specialist, and global geolocation entrepreneur who specializes in digging deep intellectually and emotionally in every performance. Born from the womb as a warrior, Mariah embraces improv as she would any other art form, with everything she’s got.
She's best known as the founder/curator/producer and host of Girls With Heads, a monthly theater showcase at The Secret Society. In her spare time, Mariah is a fierce advocate of queer inclusivity, body positivity, agitating for social justice, and eating cheeseburgers. |
Improv For Kids
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Payment plans are available. If you cannot pay the full price of your class today, you can hold your spot with a non-refundable $50 deposit. When we receive it we will contact you to discuss your payment options.
Meet Your Instructors: Robyn Vazquez is an actor and storyteller. Originally from New Mexico, Robyn has been dancing, acting and telling stories since she was five years old. She graduated from Portland State University with a B.A. in Theater Arts and is currently an member of the Deep End Theater Ensemble. She is also member of the improv group Mom Jeans, Splash, and half of the duo Bourbon Break. She’s performed internationally with the Deep End Ensemble in Victoria, B.C as well as appeared with Mom Jeans at the Del Close Marathon in New York City. Robyn just finished directing her first show at Deep End called "No Place in Particular: an improvised show based on Twin Peaks and Welcome to Night Vale". Malcolm McClinton is an illustrator of science fiction, fantasy, and horror by day and an improviser by night. He can be found at various theaters around town performing as one half of the duo Moneypenny and 1/5th of the improv group Splash. But his home is the Deep End Theater where he has been part of the ensemble for two years. Malcolm made his directorial debut with Domeka Parker combining his illustration work with improv in a immersive improvised horror show called The Hotel Leviathan. A dramatic horror show that pushed the boundaries of Portland improv. Its his passion to explore creative worlds that he brings to the stage and into the class room. Kristin Casey has a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance from the University of the Arts. Over her lifetime, she has performed on stage in plays, musical theater, choral singing, solo vocal recitals, sketch comedy, and of course, improv. Kristin is currently an extended ensemble member with Deep End Theater, and is an actor in the local sketch comedy group, Almost Boston. Kristin is experienced in teaching in a variety of settings to diverse populations (from a musical theater program for adults with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, to instructing in juvenile detention) and is adept at meeting learners where they are, facilitating growth, and creating a safe and fun learning environment. |
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Deep End Theater classes are a true joy to experience, and a great way to connect with other creative, fun people.
Gunther O.
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Deep End focuses on strength, skill and trust based instruction with equity and inclusion at the core of teaching and learning methodology.
Leann J.
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Classes at Deep End Theater are an intuitive, refreshing approach to improv. It's rare to feel both safe and challenged to reach new heights in improv class -- and Domeka has managed to accomplish exactly that in her classes. I found myself stretching new muscles of emotional truth and connection with my partners on stage and the audience. This theater offers classes as rewarding as they are fun!
Sarah T.
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Deep End Theater is a genuinely inclusive and safe environment not only for the exploration of improvisation, but the exploration of one's self!
Linnea W.
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My experience in this class was unlike any other theater or improv class before. Domeka creates an environment of trust, safety and compassion that allows the students the choice to go beyond the structures and formulas of traditional improv, to create daring, inclusive, challenging and dynamic pieces of theater.
Anneke W.
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It's like improv detox. I let go of some bad habits and fell back in love with improv. Fun, exhilarating class!
Sarah D.
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The best improv instructor I've ever had. So insightful. Fun, powerful class.
Sharon L.
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*We encourage all students of any level of experience to first complete a Sound Improv Foundations class before taking our second and third layer classes to establish a shared vocabulary and understanding of our style, philosophy and approach.
Sound Improv is taught in layers rather than levels. The foundations of Sound Improv are paramount and need continued practice and focus. We encourage students to take the Foundations class as they're introduction to the rest of our curriculum, but we also encourage experienced students to revisit this class as regularly as possible. It is also important that students with a wealth of experience in other styles and approaches to improv take our foundations class in order to learn our vocabulary and approach. Students dive deeper as individuals rather than as groups. Foundations instructors are prepared to modify lessons to create individual growth with each student. No matter what your experience level is when you enter a foundations class, you will complete that class with quantifiable growth on and off stage.
Past & Future Class Offerings
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Returning to our schedule in Fall.
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We also offer a variety of special skill workshops:
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In between class sessions we offer a FREE workshop, giving you a chance to dip your toes into the Deep End and see how you like it.
We also have an exceptional Young Actors Program with two specialized classes:
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