The National Theater Institute
Waterford, Connecticut
Joan Milburn was a proud member of the National Theater Institute's 2018 Theatermaker's Summer Intensive. While there, Joan took classes in acting, mime, clown, butoh, dance, biomechanics, devising, ensemble building, playwriting, composing, conscientious theatre training, and many more. She also had observerships with the National Playwriting Conference and the National Music Theatre Conference. Along with classes and observerships, Joan also appeared in 4 original plays, a radio play, an original musical, and she worked with 5 other students to create an original devised piece. Joan found NTI to be incredibly valuable and left feeling like a more well-rounded actor, a better collaborator, and a more determined artist. She also felt incredibly privileged to have been able to witness the amazing new work development at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center first hand.
The American Theatre Wing's SpringBoardNYC
New York City, NY
At the beginning of summer 2018, Joan flew to New York to be a part of the 2018 class of SpringBoardNYC, and incredible program through the American Theatre Wing that prepares young actors for life in the professional theatre. She experienced masterclasses, audition workshops, acting classes, and attended information sessions all taught by industry professionals, and also got to see several Broadway productions. She learned about how to live sustainably as an actor in New York and made so many new friends from across the country. Along with this, Joan was also able to be a seat filler at the 2018 Tony Awards! She is incredibly grateful to have had this experience, especially before entering her senior year of college!
A.C.T's Summer Training Congress
San Franciso, California
In the summer of 2017, Joan traveled to San Franciso to join the American Conservatory Theater's 2017 Summer Training Congress for their Shakespeare Intensive. There, she was able to spend 2 weeks completely immersed in the classical canon, taking classes in soliloquy, classical text, physical theatre, and classical acting. She performed scenes from As You Like It, The Tempest, and Macbeth, and she also performed excerpts from The Two Noble Kinsmen and Henry VI. While at A.C.T, Joan's love for Shakespeare was re-invigorated. She hopes to continue with classical text in the future and looks forward to getting involved with more classical productions post-graduation.
The Gaiety School of Acting
Dublin, Ireland
In the Spring of 2017, Joan traveled across the world to Dublin, Ireland, where she studied at The Gaiety School of Acting (The National Theatre School of Ireland) for her entire spring semester. Joan and a few other American students were chosen to train with the Gaiety's full-time actor training program. While there, they were immersed in intense, conservatory-style training. They took classes such as manifesto, clown, mime, acting, stagecraft, combat, movement, voice, improv, and many more. They also got to attend numerous performances at The Abbey Theatre, as well as other well-renowned theatres in Dublin. Joan fell in love with Ireland and the culture after her time at the Gaiety, so much so that she returned to Dublin in the summer of 2018 following her time at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
