Michael Brown - Columbia College Chicago

Michael Brown

Associate Professor

micbrown@colum.edu

Instructional Areas

Physical Theatre; Devised Theatre; Collaborative Creation; Clown and Comic Theatre; Movement; Mask Performance; Lecoq-based approaches to Actor Training

Creative Practice and Research Interests

As an actor, director, and theatre maker, I am particularly interested in the creation of new theatre works through collaborative and innovative processes, with a special focus on physical and devised approaches. My continued exploration of the collaborative creation of new work has led me to dual and complementary research concentrations, on both process and form. My interest in best practices for collaborative creation has led me to an ongoing examination of the nature of group dynamics, including cooperation, “team” roles, communication, and methods and approaches to collective decision making. At the same time, my long-standing interest in physical approaches to performance and creation has led to work that focuses on styles and forms that privilege the creative and expressive possibilities of the body. This work has expanded in recent years to include a focus on the poetic, experimental, social, and political possibilities of the arts of puppetry and mask. I have found myself exploring these disciplines through both my teaching and theatre making.

Degrees

B.A., Government University of Texas-Austin 1989
M.F.A., Performing Arts-Theatre University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee 1998