Jason Hale (actor)

Jason is a 1993 graduate of the New Actors Workshop in New York City where he studied acting with George Morrison, Mike Nichols, and Paul Sills. After graduating, Hale continued to work and study privately with Mr. Sills to learn more about he and his mother's, Viola Spolin, improvisational work. While a student at New Actors Workshop, Hale became an intern and then a member of The Blue Circle Theater Company in Door County Wisconsin. The company was led by Diane Paulus, under the artistic guidance of Paul Sills and Beatrice Lees, sister of Viola Spolin.[6][7]

In 1998, under the auspice of Mr. Sills, Hale became a member of the Spolin-based improvisational company, The Resident Company. The troupe, led by Gerrit Graham, featured early Sills players, Garry Goodrow, Cordis Heard, and Penny White. The company performed at the Albert Grossman Bearsville Studios in upstate New York.[8] Hale then founded and directed the Off Off Broadway Theatre Project Ensemble in New York City from 1999 - 2004 when Mr. Sills served as the ensemble's artistic advisor.[9] The group dedicated itself to passing along the improvisational work of Sills and Spolin through improvisational workshops and Story Theater model performances. [10]

In 2006, Sills recommended and endorsed Jason as "uniquely equipped to impart the improvisational work of Viola Spolin" as a teacher and director. He became a Fulbright Specialist Roster Candidate to teach Viola Spolin Improvisation in 2012.[11] He has taught Viola Spolin improvisation and sense memory for seven years as a senior faculty member at the New Actors Workshop[12] He has taught acting at numerous universities and schools including; Stella Adler Studio of Acting/New York University-Tisch School of the Arts, HB Studios, School of Visual Arts, Film and Video-Continuing Education, New York Film Academy, and Antioch University-McGregor, and through private workshops and guest residencies.

Internationally, he has taught several workshops at universities and festivals in Turkey, China, Ukraine, Mexico and Poland. In 2010 he introduced the work of Viola Spolin at ACTUANDO SIN ACTUAR, the first annual international acting method festival in Aguascalientes, Mexico.[13][14][15][16] Jason is currently Assistant Professor and Chair of the Theatre Department at the Faculty of Music and Performing Arts at Bilkent University in Ankara, Turkey.

On August 6, 2018, Part-time Theatre Department instructors Cem Emüler, Özlem Ersönmez, İlham Yazar, and Meltem Keskin announced their resignation from Bilkent University. According to Emüler, after the departmental committee finalized the list of admitted students for the 2018-19 academic year, Hale updated the list without consulting them and added two students who had been previously rejected.[21] Emüler presented this practice, which contradicts the established policies of the Department, as the reason for the admissions committee quitting their jobs.[22][23][24] A number of students and graduates from the department have expressed solidarity with the instructors who resigned.[25]

The Dean's office denied the claims and made the following statement: "The list of 8 people approved by Jury has not been changed in any way. This bet has been included in the information of the jury where the two candidates were not added to the list, and the quota is 10 people. The members of the jury were informed that the quota was 10 persons in the examination process. The members of the jury who gave lectures on the part-time basis in our department started a scandal campaign against our institution, not respecting the quota decision we made at the beginning of the examination period as faculty administration." [26]

Hale studied refinements of Method Acting with John Uecker. In 1995 he became a member of Mr. Uecker's Running Sun Theater Company and befriended the company's lead writer, James Purdy. He became a longtime friend and one of Mr. Purdy's frequent assistants.

• Jason Hale at IMDb