SEPTEMBER 21–26, 2026

SIMPLE MACHINES presents workshops in:

EPIC physical STORYTELLING

Long Form Improv

Intro to Unarmed Stage Combat

Traveling Light… Festival Tour expectations

PAYMENT & LOGISTICS

Teaching Staff

  • Mark Benzel

    (he/him) is a theatre maker based in Minneapolis, MN. Has devised and directed shows that have toured internationally to acclaim such as: “The perfect fringe play”--National Post and numerous festival awards. Edgar Allan with the Cold Harts had an off broadway run at the SoHo Playhouse. He has created and performed numerous original shows with companies such as Sandbox Theatre, Transatlantic Love Affair, Four Humors, and Live Action Set, including the National Touring Seven Shot Symphony which was awarded a Twin City Theatre Ivey Award for Overall Excellence. He has worked with communities across MN and WI with The Remember Project for over five years to build more dementia friendly communities through theatre and facilitation. In addition to script-based work he also is co-founder of The Improv Movement project a wordless improv group for all physicalities. He has studied clown with Pierre Byland, Phillipe Gaulier, and many others. He has also studied physical theatre and devising with Spy Monkey, Theatre de la Jeune Lune, Pig Iron Theatre and others. He has most recently taught workshops and courses on Immersive Theatre, Clown, and Treteaux at the University of Northern Georgia, St. John’s, St. Benedicts, and Winona State.

  • Amber Bjork

    (she/her) has spent several years acting, directing, writing, and producing as a Fringe artist before joining the staff as Office Manager and Artist Liaison in 2014. In her time outside of the office, she is a freelance director and actor and serves as the founding member of The Winding Sheet Outfit. Amber’s work has been recognized by MN Theater Awards as an Honoree in Exceptional Performative Direction and she was named one of the 2019 Artists of the Year by CityPages for her work with The Winding Sheet Outfit. Amber has gone on to create a number of local award-winning projects and direct for Ivey award-wining companies. She is a graduate of University of Minnesota-Duluth with a degree in English Lit and Dramatic Theory.

  • Matt "Sass" Spring

    (he/him) is a Founding Member of Four Humors Theater, a Twin Cities based theater company that produces original work with a comedic sensibility and has just celebrated its 21st anniversary. With Four Humors, he has helped create over 30 shows, the majority of which were devised, explored, and refined with the help of his improv background. That improv training comes by way of Huge Improv Theater, The Brave New Workshop, and The University of Minnesota, where he and classmates started their own late night improv club.

    Sass is also a Founder of the Twin Cities Horror Festival (TCHF) which will be raising the curtain on its 15th season this October. TCHF is a non-profit, fifteen day festival of horror themed live performances that applied and were selected by a juried committee.

    He is exceptionally proud of his most recent collaboration, working with Simple Machines on "Say When..." which he co-wrote and gets to play Chi-Chi the chow chow.

  • Elora Riley

    (she/her) is a stage/screen actor as well as a stage combatant certified through the Society of American Fight Directors (SAFD). Her recent acting credits include A King For All Time (Hopkins Community Theatre), Perfect Arrangement (Walking Shadow Theatre Company), and debuting Say When (Simple Machines) earlier in 2026. When she's not performing, she's either reading, playing video games with her partner, or sharing a cup of coffee with him and hanging out with their perfect tuxedo cat, Frida, who is perfect.


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