Bet Stewart

Bet Stewart (Theatre, Mime, Movement, Improvisation, Clowning, Story Telling, Mask, Commedia dell’ Arte) has been a professional performing and teaching artist for over 25 years. She has studied with master professionals worldwide and has performed original plays in 20 states and internationally. She has also written hundreds of plays and short pieces with students and directed works that the groups were proud to perform. Many projects come from school curriculum, but others come from the experience, interests, and imagination of a class or special group.

Bet’s exercises, expert guidance and positive listening ear gathers up the hidden talent of the group into something they can present and remember as a cathartic turn-around. Teaching to the curiosity and excitement of the class, she adds her experience and intuitive direction to season the original concept with new creativity and innovation. She has directed and taught at all educational levels as well as in prisons, theatres, senior centers, and to special populations including people with disabilities. Her specialty is providing skills and then guiding people into “Building Original Theatre”.

“I delight in helping students and audiences discover that virtually anything from the human mind or experience can be portrayed on stage using only the body, the voice and the imagination”. 
— Bet Stewart, Artistic Director, Intuition Theatre

All residencies begin with a plan created by the artist AND teachers, often with student input. As they develop they may change course a bit, and are often sprinkled with music, song-writing, and original text from students.
 
The residency may end in short skits or a longer play followed by a reflection process. All residencies rely on students learning a 2-step method for giving and receiving positive feedback. Often they culminate with a performance of short skits or a longer play.

Integrated Curriculum (k-12) (Example: Underground Railroad) - In this residency we bring curriculum alive using theatre techniques such as frozen pictures (“tableau”), movement, narration and dialogue to illuminate history, civil rights, science concepts, or any other curriculum topic.

Personal History (3-12) (Example: “My Appalachian Roots”) Students explore cultural roots and identity by seeking anecdotes and information. We discover the richness of family traditions: stories, food, beliefs, migrations, musical traditions and customs. In creating performances pieces, we discover similarities and differences, celebrating the diversity of the community.

Poetry in Action – (4-12) (Example: Earth, Wind, Fire, Water): Youth are naturally active. Students are guided to write poems and stories, which are transformed into beautiful narrated movement pieces. Through guided movement (choreographed and improvisational) and use of simple props, magic happens!
 
Books on Stage (K-4) - The power of high quality children’s literature comes to life as we create short plays from students’ favorite books. Everyone gets to be a star!

Commedia in the Movies (6-12) - The improvisational stylized form of theatre from Europe in 300 years ago left a legacy. Many of those characters can still be identified in popular movies today. We will explore the commedia styles and identify how it has survived into today’s culture.