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"If you're a performer who's also writing a play, here's a valuable lesson: create a good part for yourself. That's what the delightfully daffy Sari Caine has done in The Chess Lesson"

- TheaterMania

ABOUT: I began creating work for myself out of a love of both writing and acting and a shortage for time, as well as a reaction to being typecast in certain roles repeatedly! This led me to start wanting to see certain kinds of work exist in the world and a desire to help support that so I started a theater company called Slightly Altered States. After getting involved with producing, I realized I was not spending enough time writing so I went to Hunter for my MFA in playwriting where I studied with Tina Howe, Arthur Kopit, and Samuel Hunter. In addition to being a published playwright and non-fiction writer, I have moved into memoir, podcasts and audio work recently. As a story-teller, producer, and Artistic Director, I am equally inspired by purposeful combining of genres and medias or returning to performance roots with basic storytelling. I incorporate my 22 years of teaching (including teaching acting, chess and working with special needs individuals) with my work as an Artistic Director into my writing workshops. One of my greatest joys as an Artistic Director was bringing together artists of different mediums under one roof and having them inspire one another, I apply this same principal to teaching writing.

PROCESS: With the belief that all artists are going through similar processes, and that process is human and (like all humans) informs each other, I welcome writing of all genres and at all stages. Writing is often stressful before we even sit down to do it. I like to find ways to amuse our minds into wanting to create instead of fretting about it. Once there, editing and structure can happen. But the important part is practicing a writing practice that is a place you want to spend time in regularly. Growing up in the business (I have been acting professionally in NYC since I was 3) and performing in new work from a young age, I have developed a special skill intuitively understanding where your story is trying to go, and take a hands-off approach in helping you to follow its clues. With work nearing completion, I can consult with you to make sure you are telling the story you wish to be telling (and that your story wishes to be) and not getting lost in details or extraneous plot. There is often an unconscious effort made to assert our will as the author over the story, and it is helpful to have an objective eye.

BIO: I have consulted with and produced over two dozen productions, bringing them from inception to the page and the page to production in NYC. I have also worked with 1-person shows, works of memoirs and fiction. My background as a producer enables me to see the different future possibilities for your project. I am the co-founder / co-artistic director of award-winning off-off broadway theater company, Slightly Altered States, and spent 2 1/2 years as the Artistic Director of new 20,000sf, 24/7 performance venue, The Arc, in Long Island City, Queens. At The Arc, I developed many different artists work, including filmmakers, musicians, site specific artists, comedians, visual artists, projection artists, & playwrights and incorporated them into The Arc's 24/7 night-life environment where I also oversaw music video shoots and multi-media concerts. I helped produce our house band's album (with grammy-award winning producer, Adam Abehouse, at Guildford Sound) as well as the accompanying footage, and developed relationships with the community and local businesses and grant-donors as well as forged connections with pre-existing theaters, festivals, and producers. For more information on my bio, please inquire.

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