HAN VAN SCIVER
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BADA!

8/13/2013

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As of last night - I have returned from my UK adventure! I'm jet-lagged as all hell, but full and happy and grateful for the best training experience of my life. So. There's that.

I'll start at the beginning. I spent my summer living here: (see to the right.) Essentially, I lived in a castle. More specifically, I lived at Magdalen College (pronounced "Maudlin"). I had classes 9 hours a day with the freaking greatest professors I've ever met.

The run-down:
I studied Shakespeare with Zoe Waites. She is a magical nymph-goddess, who has acted many seasons with the RSC in Stratford. She played Juliet at age 22. Casual. We worked on all sorts of technical/texty stuff. Lots of work with regard to how to get inside the verse, how to respect it/not be constrained by it, how to be focused, open and professional in a rehearsal room, how to craft a character. We worked specifically on The Tempest and The Winter's Tale. I was cast as Hermione, and worked on scene 2.1. Got to march around with a 9-month pregnancy bump (i.e. a sack of salt in my gym shorts.) Loved. It. 

I studied Modern with the inimitable Paola Dionisotti - another RSC veteran, and all around phenomenal woman and actress. Learned so much from her. Favorite quotables: "So much of acting is coated with a custard of emotion..." "Distill reality by playing an objective." "Shall we have the Spice Girls?" We did lots of vocal work, and she pressed us to be simple and unselfish in our approach to scene studies. We focused on scenes from David Grieg's Miniskirts in Kabul and Michael Gordon's Grace. I was cast as Ruth in Grace - the perpetually unhappy (but admirably fierce) lawyer and semi-fiance to Tom, the priest-to-be son of Grace, the ascerbic college professor/professional atheist. There were lots of tears, and there was lots of fun. Fun fact - I played a pregnant wife/girlfriend in both classes. Opposite the same boy. #coincidence?

I studied movement with Jackie Snow. Fun fact - she was head of "movement" direction for Sophia Coppola's Marie Antoinette. As a bit of a klutz, I found this class EXTREMELY useful. Lots of work in getting centered and present in your body, in building an ensemble, in understanding and enlarging your own range of movement, and all that jazz. Not to mention - she got me into way better shape.

I studied voice with the lovely Adrew Wade and Robert Price. (Not pictures, alas.) Both were superb in their own right. I had little to no voice training up until this program....Feeling WAY better about all that now. Worked on resonance, enunciation, the relationship between body and voice, between emotion and voice, accents, Shakespearean text-work, and all that good stuff. Oh, and there was some tai chi thrown in there too.

Last (but not least), I had the opportunity to study audition technique with John Gorie. (also not pictured.) Worked through a contemporary monologue from Everything Will Be Different, a Lady Macbeth piece, and learned a new piece from William Congreve's Way of the World. Really grateful to have had the chance to hone in on a few specific monologues/the technical choices that lead to a good audition.

There were 88 students in the program on the whole - we were sorted into six different companies. My group (the O'Neill group) was comprised of 14 different students. I lucked out big-time. I couldn't have asked for a kinder, more well-rounded group of individuals with whom to study theatre. I learned something different from everyone. Hoping to cross paths with all of 'em again in the future!

In addition to the 9 hours of class a day, we had the benefit of a number of masterclasses/workshops. I was picked (randomly) to work with John Barton (!!!) in three masterclass sessions observed by the rest of the program. What a lucky break. Also got to participate (along with erryone else) in sessions led by Julian Glover, Brian Cox, Fiona Shaw, Henry Goodman, Deborah Warner and David Harewood. Just to name a few. Woah.

In my spare time, I wandered around Oxford, ate a lot of brunch, and saw some shows! I visited Stratford and paid homage at Shakespeare's  grave. Also saw the RSC's Titus Andronicus and All's Well That Ends Well. Wowzers. Loved both. The Titus makes the cut of top ten things I've ever seen ever. Also adventured to London to see The Drowned Man - a new piece by the same folks who do Sleep No More in NYC. This one was based on Woyzeck. Way cool. We wandered around a mansion in relative silence for three hours, wearing masks, choosing who to follow/what strains of the story in which to invest.

Other than that...I wrote some pomes (check out How to Write About Oxford and Pinocchio) and learned a whole lot of Shakespeare. Also geared up for directing Midsummer and In Many Ways in the coming months. And read some of J.D. Salinger short stories. Also did some prep work for the thesis I'll be writing this fall. And took some pics. Check under Photography/recent captures. Meep!

Can't overstate how grateful I am for the truly wonderful experience in Oxford. Left the program a more informed, confident, driven, passionate and (hopefully!) skilled actor. Looking forward to auditioning soon as I'm back in the illadelph. 

I return to Philly tomorrow! Wow. Wow.

In slightly other news -- my extremely talented older sister just released an EP! Check it out. Preview videos and Pre-order Page. I totally wrote the lyrics for one of the songs. She's fabulous, and the cd is ridiculous. Lyrical, lovely, pop-rock fusiony goodness. 

That's all for now!
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Woah. I'm in Londontown?

7/8/2013

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PicturePatrick Lamborn, Michael Jorizzo, Angela Carter, Amanda Schoonover
Oh my, it's been a minute. What a busy (and lovely) summer. Last I wrote, I had just started an internship at the Arden, and I was getting psyched for Is This the End? and Seek and Hide. LOTS has happened since then.

1. Seek and Hide was a blast. My day of glory playing a triking (a viking riding around a playhouse on a tricycle) was....well, glorious. It was great to have a project to work on/to meet some other really terrific artists. 
2. Is This the End?  went quite well! Thanks to the friends who came out for it. I made all sorts of changes to In Many Ways over the course of rehearsals. HUGE thanks to Sam, and to the terrific cast. I learned a lot - it will come in handy when it's remounted with iNtuitons for ATF this fall. Wahoo! Blurry pic from the reading to the left. (Also congrats to the other writers, and a big thanks to Primary Stages.)
3. All done at the Arden for the moment. Had a great summer there. /Got to check out A Little Night Music and Pinocchio before I left, too. As a non-romantic-opera-lover, I still found Night Music totally enjoyable. And as a non-six-year-old, I was completely enchanted by Pinocchio.
4. I got to be a reader (okay, just stage directions, but shhh) for a reading of a new work at InterAct this past month. The piece, called Two Front Teeth, was written by Katharine Clark Gray - one of the core playwrights there. Really neat, moving, complex piece of theatre - focused on the struggles of a lower-class couple, after the husband accidentally knocks out his wife's teeth in a plumbing accident.
5. I was in a student film project before the year ended, and a final cut was just posted online. Wahoo! I sort of co-wrote the script. (I.e. I wrote it, but then they sort of chopped it down by a factor of ten and rewrote it. Cuz apparently a 30 minute mind-trip-cross-cut-chick-flick "wasn't feasible?") Anyway, Missy Gouverne led the direction, and did a lot of the editing. Still a "student film" project, etc (i.e. not a lot of time/artistic freedom). But I think it turned out rather well! Featuring the super talented Jeremy Berman. Check it below.
6. ......I'm in London now! See pics below. Here for a stint, settling/checking out some awesome theatre. It's beautiful, to boot - so I've been taking some pics. I start at Oxford (BADA) on the 11th. Working a monologue, seeing as we have to re-audition when we get there. Getting lots of good ole' inspiration from all the wonderful stuff I've been seeing here. Oh, and BADA just announced three guest artists for the midsummer program. John Barton, Brian Cox and Fiona Shaw. Apparently there will be more. SO I'm feeling pretty damn lucky right now.
7. Oh! New poem.

Okay, thaz all for now. Cheerio, and stuff!

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Midsummer, Photoshoots, And a New Pome.

5/2/2013

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The school year is winding down, the weather is getting warmer, and the summer is teeming with ALL of the projects. 

1.) Just found out I've been selected to direct A Midsummer Night's Dream for iNtuitons Experimental Theatre this upcoming fall! Couldn't be more excited. Check out the announcement on our fb page. And check out this nifty Pinterest page where designers are already brainstorming. I'm going to spend a lot of the summer preparing for September, when we will cast/begin rehearsing the show. It will likely go up in November.

2.) It seems like everyone wants a photoshoot this month. Which is great, cuz I love taking pikchas. Just did a shoot with the lovely Kendra Birdsall (pic below, also more in "Recent Captures" under photography). I have at least two more shoots booked in the coming week for some lovely actresses I work with at Penn. So stay tuned for more shots.

3.) New pome! Check it. Just the audio, plus the text posted below. Feedback always encouraged and appreciated.

4.) Thanks to my friend Zach, I've finally found a crash spot for Gretchen. My drum set. I'm going to start teaching him to play pretty soon. Hopefully this means I can start giving lessons to others as well! I'm all for spreading the percussion. or, whatever.

That's all for now!
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BADA, Children's Hour, Post-Split, Etc

3/22/2013

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Woo! It's been a crazy few weeks. Lots of things, lots to report.

1.) As of about 10 minutes ago, I've been accepted to the BADA Midsummer in Oxford Program! So very excited. Still waiting on two other places I applied, but. This is great. and lovely. Yay acting and making theatre and learning things.

2.) Split No Lightning happened! (Spoken Word show with The Excelano Project.) Video will be up in the next few weeks. The show turned out splendidly. I learned a lot. It's always wonderful to share something personal, and get feedback. Check out this article on the show. (They misquoted my poem, but. At least I made it into the article!)

3.) The Children's Hour! We opened last night, and we run through Saturday. Fb event. Plus, we got some great coverage in GPhilly. Check it! The show came together beautifully. Very heavy, very intense. Not one for the kids.

4.) My incredibly talented friend Missy, who is applying to film internships right now (to edit professionally), posted a bunch of gorgeous lil movies online. (Some of which I'm in.) But watch mostly for the editing. Because she's uber talented. One's a video poem, the other is about MilkMilkLemonade, a show in which I acted this fall. (see below)

5.) My sister Sarah made a lil movie for her Video I class. I am a fool. Enjoy (below). Pay attention to the music. SHE WROTE IT.

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Split No Lightning.

3/11/2013

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Hell week for The Excelano Project spring 2013 show - Split No Lightning - starts tonight! So very stoked. Show is this Friday and Saturday, 8 pm, in Dunlop Auditorium (3450 Hamilton Walk). Get hype! But mostly, get there.

Fb event for the show is 
right here.







In other older news: all of the poems from our  fall 2012 show (Mother Tongue) are now uploaded on youtube! Check out the full playlist here. I performed a solo, two collabs, a senior tribute and a short poem. yeet. video footage for the solo, the two collabs and the tribute is below.

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All of the Busy. (Spring Break)

3/5/2013

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Oh boy. All of the things are happening! I think I'll go ahead and just make a list.

1. Poems! (The Excelano Project Show is in a week in a half. "Split No Lightning.")
2. Lines lines lines! (Children's Hour opens in 2.5 weeks. Cloud 9 opens in 4.5. BADA audition in 1.5)
3. Summer Apps! (Finishing up my very last application for summer acting intensive programs.)
4. Thesis! (Working on a proposal for an honors English thesis for UPenn.)
5. Playwriting! (Something I'm totally new at. Submitted a short piece to a Penn contest, for funsies) 

In my spare time, I'm writing little short poems, and taking too many pictures. Check out the view from where I'm staying.

Other things: I just watched a documentary called "The Artist is Present," about a performance art piece at the MOMA by Marina Abromovic. Check it out. One of those changes-the-way-I-think-about-humanity type things. I also just watched Amanda Palmer's TED talk. (Fun fact: I was at the gig when she first "practiced" the talk. If you track down the video, I'm sitting in the front row in an awkward green tank top.) Anyway, it was super inspiring. It's about the music industry, but also how art functions as an honest/personal exchange between artist and audience.

In other news, here's a video I acted in for a friend last year. (See below.) It was one of those "final project" type videos for a Video I class. I.e. all of us working on it agreed it was totally abysmal. But....The music! Is spectacular! And written by my extremely talented older sister, who wants to score films professionally. Check out that film score. And check out her website.
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ART Moola! (And PMA Adventures.)

2/20/2013

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It's official! EP raised $1,100 for WE CAN at our Cape Cod gig a few weeks ago. Super proud of The Excelano Project. Making money while making art to raise money to help other people make a change? Kind of the best thing ever.

In other news - went to the Philadelphia Museum of Art Today. And spent 45 minutes sitting in the Cy Twombly Trojan War Room. Anyone who's into contemporary (or really any) art - check that shiz out. It's breathtakingly beautiful. (See below photograph of one Lauren Yates, in said room. And one VanJawn, looking like a 12-year-old outside the museum.)

In other news - rehearsals for Children's Hour and Cloud 9 are progressing swimmingly. So very excited.

In other news - I recently lined up an audition for the BADA Summer in Oxford program, and an interview with the Stella Adler Studio in NYC for their Summer Conservatory program. *fingers crossed* I can study theatre somewhere this summer.

In other news, there is no other news.
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Warm Weather (for a fleeting moment)

2/19/2013

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A few days ago, it was warm outside! So I wrote a happy lil' pome about it. (The warm front passed - it's been bitter cold ever since. Alas.) Anyway, check out the new poem! "Today." Featuring music by The Album Leaf.

In other news - the reading for 8 The Play  went swimmingly. Some people told me, "We hated you!" on the way out. I took it as a  good sign. I was playing Maggie Gallagher, after all.
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"Quirky Performances," Street Slams, and Other Updates.

2/11/2013

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Love Talk and Slow Jams, Pt. 5, was this Saturday - a night of a capella, courtesy of The Inspiration, and spoken word poetry, courtesy of The Excelano Project. I spat Cheshire Cat, wore a dress, and according to the DP, disrupted the vibe. +10 points por moi. "Despite the sensuous atmosphere, there were some quirky performances from students such as College junior Hannah Van Sciver, who recited a poem describing love as “the dirtiest four letter word I know.”" Read all about it!

In other news, The Pigeon (a fabulous venue for Poetry Slams in Philly) just posted the latest episode of their street slam series. It features EP member Richard Thomson + muhself, facing off against EP alumna Lauren Yates. It's fun. Check it (below). ALSO, that same Lauren Yates just published a chapbook. Which is fabulous. Yall should stop by her tumblr and buy it. Seriously. Go buy it.

Some other tid-bits....There's a staged reading of 8 The Play this Friday, at the Platt performing arts house in Philly. I'll be playing Maggie Gallagher. And I'm on the wait-list for the Philly Live Arts Jumpstart 2013 program. *fingers crossed.* (..I've been writing plays lately? The piece I submitted is a 10-minute something I'm developing with a friend. But more on that later...)

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This Past Weekend, And Other Exciting Things

2/6/2013

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The gig with The Excelano Project on Cape Cod this past weekend was a smashing success. We had a wonderful time at Cape Cod Academy teaching/performing, and absolutely loved putting on a show at the Cotuit Center for the Arts. To the left is a picture of us with the lovely director of WE CAN (the beneficiary of the show), They gave us t-shirts! Check out some other pics from the weekend.

Other exciting news....
I'm applying to play in Spring Fling this year, with a band tentatively titled "Wonder Bread." Very exciting. (FYI Spring Fling is a weekend during the spring semester at UPenn, featuring lots-o-bands, shows, parties, etc, and the like). Will post updates once I know if we're in!

And also....I will be performing this Saturday at the Late Night with some other Excelano Project poets! Will probably be spitting "Cheshire Cat," or another oldie. Check it out. A great lil night of poetry, music, and all around sexiness. 

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