Testimonials
“I have sat in a classroom and watched you guide a fearful student to a risk-generated breakthrough in a matter of minutes. I have witnessed the rediscovered joy you bring to tortured actors in training. And I've been lucky enough to be in an audience when your heart was so far out in front of you that we all feared for your safety —but never so much that we weren't able to laugh our own hearts out.”
—Shelley Delaney, Head of Performance, Ohio University
“Drew’s workshops opened up my creative world as an actor. The way everyday objects and situations were explored with humor and humanity, helped give new depth and joy to my performances. I am the performer I am today because of it.”
—Rachel Weekley, Actor, NYC
“Drew Richardson is a consummate professional, a wonderful clown and an unparalleled resource. I would not have traded the opportunity to have worked with Drew for anything.”
-Jonathan Silver, Actor, Toronto, Ontario
“As an instructor, he was so affirming of each of our individual art. He provided to all of us the knowledge that the essence of PLAY is the invaluable heart of stage-work. Drew expanded my understanding of what is possible for my craft, and as I continue forward, the work I developed under his guidance is at the heart of all I pursue on stage.”
—Jessica Kraemer, Actor, Richmond, VA
About Drew
Drew provides physical training that helps actors to find comedy truthfully and play drama expressively.
Along with 30 years of developing his own approach, Drew draws from the embodied imagination of Michael Chekhov, the mask and movement explorations of Jacques Lecoq, the Eccentric Performing Principles of Avner Eisenberg and Julie Goell, and the Somatic Awareness exercises of Thomas Hanna.
As a teacher, Drew encourages playful theatrical experiences through carefully designed games and improvs. His exercises teach dynamic principles of both performance and writing. These principles are then immediately applied to devised and text-based material.
Drew's best known as the first person in the twenty-first century to bring new silent movies to major motion picture theaters. He studied with Jacques Lecoq in Paris, and has an MFA in Theatre Movement Pedagogy from Virginia Commonwealth University. As a performer, he has toured his solo physical theatre shows from Austin to Austria to China. As a visiting artist, he directs devised pieces and coaches movement and clown for universities and theatre companies including 500 Clown, Strawdog Theatre, Quest Wings Company, The (Very) Physical Comedy Institute, Ko Festival, Ohio University, University of Michigan, Muhlenberg College, and Point Park Conservatory.
