Every Sunday, those with a passion for the stage meet to participate in the East West Theatre Group's workshops. The collaboration aims to bridge Western theater with the Shanghai arts and culture community. We caught up with workshopper Michael Jones to find out more about the group and what compels him to take to the stage.

How long have you been acting?
I’ve been performing and working in music since I was a teenager, which got me started on stage rehearsing and led to getting “bitten by the bug.” Then, a couple years after I had moved from the US to Europe and settled in, I had the courage to audition and took a lead role in a touring musical, which helped me venture into more regular work. So, that was about eight years ago and it’s been a full-time thing ever since.

And how did you get into East West?
I started speaking with them via email a few months before I moved to Shanghai. I was just searching for acting work here, which lead to auditioning for the theater’s next production, The Caucasian Chalk Circle, which opens Nov. 12, as well as proposing our Sunday workshops.

Who can join the workshops?
You need a working level of English, a sense of adventure and creativity and to be older than 16. The workshops are about developing the senses and feelings and breaking down some of the basics in acting through exercises. Workshopping is a way of working on your tools as an actor, sharpening some, adding others. Some things we do in the workshops I find more difficult than others, but I remind myself that doing something that is challenging is definitely getting work done.

What’s the best part?
Workshops are always filled with moments of raw creativity and improvisation, so it’s not uncommon for the room to be pregnant with emotion at times or to burst into applause at what some actors are achieving. The best is when I feel moved or inspired, and I’m happy to say it’s something that happens for different reasons every week.

Want to get involved in the theater group? Head to the East West website for more information.

DETAILS

What: East West Theatre Group

Where: Rm. 311, Bldg. 1, Lane 43, 767 Wanhangdu Lu

When: Sundays | 7-9pm

Web: www.eastwesttheater.com/china