FUNDAMENTALS OF ACTING | ACT II SCENE STUDY (In-Person)
Take the next step in the study and performance of scenes and monologues, with tools for creating precise, focused, relaxed and playful relationships on stage. First, students revisit key basics: objectives, text analysis, listening, relaxed awareness and focus. Next, through monologue and scene work with partners, they apply these tools, with the primary focus on cultivating the ability to openly and honestly listen and respond. Students will present one monologue and at least one scene. Using in-class exercises, they will also hone such skills as concentration, body awareness, emotional freedom and specificity, actions, play, heightening emotional connection, self-awareness, self-confidence, commitment, comfort, confusion, fear, character physicalization, memorization and storytelling. If this sounds like a lot, it is! In this class, we work, we laugh and we learn a great deal. Prerequisite: at least one semester of actor training.
Prerequisite: at least one semester of actor training.
TUESDAYS 6:30-9:30 p.m., Sept. 28 - Nov. 16, 2021
H. Adam Harris is an actor, director, educator, cultural equity consultant, and the
Artistic/Audience Engagement Associate at South Coast Repertory. He often works
at the intersection of theatre, education, social justice, and community engagement. Recent
theatrical credits include directing Redwood by Brittney K. Allen at the Jungle Theater He’s a
frequent performer with the Children’s Theatre Company: Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax, The Snowy
Day, The Jungle Book, and How the Grinch Stole Christmas. He has worked with The Old Globe
Theater, Guthrie Theater, Seattle Children’s Theater, the Minnesota Orchestra, and the St. Paul
Chamber Orchestra. He is a proud Penumbra Theatre Company member, credits with Penumbra
include The Owl Answers, The Dutchman, The Ballad of Emmett Till, and The Amen Corner. As
a teaching artist, H. Adam has taught 40+ classes and workshops at The Guthrie Theater
highlights include adult acting classes focusing on text analysis and scene study, youth classes
through the Hennepin County Libraries, and various corporate development workshops by
request. He spent many years as Teaching Artist with the Children’s Theatre Company,
Penumbra Theater, and the St. Paul Conservatory for Performing Artist. H. Adam has led
numerous masterclasses, workshops, and residencies for Theatre & Dance departments at various
colleges and universities including University of Minnesota, University of Texas-Austin,
Augsburg University, Macalester College, Cornish College of the Arts, Louisiana State
University, and the University of Cincinnati..
SCREEN ACTING TECHNIQUE (In-Person)
Learn the practical screen acting skills required for today's fast-moving film and television industry. And do this in a fun, supportive learning environment. Actors prepare and perform on-camera in class using real scripts, video playback and discussion. They'll explore by using working television and film scenes in the context of auditioning, self-taping, and working live on set. Scene work will include a broad range of actual scripts, and include current filming techniques. We will cover all genres and discuss how to approach script analysis based on differing acting styles on screen, as well as how to market and brand yourself for the business. Enrollment is limited.
Prerequisite: At least one year of actor training and ability to memorize.
MONDAYS 6-9 p.m., Sept. 27 - Nov. 15, 2021
CLASS FULL
Instructor: Jay Scully
Scully spent three months in 2018 coaching the main cast of the feature film SuperFly for Sony Pictures, Joel Silver and Director X in Atlanta. He has cast over 50 feature films and television shows, and worked extensively on set as an acting teacher and coach. Recent coaching work includes Paradise Pictures, a pilot for USA Network, The Fosters (Freeform), as well as features for directors J.J. Abrams (Super 8), Judd Apatow (This Is 40), and James Wan (Furious 7). He has coached a number of Hollywood's top actors privately, including Frieda Pinto, Moran Atias, and the late Paul Walker, as well as NBC Sports Color Commentators. As a writer/director he most recently co-created and directed the pilot presentation Big & $ave. His feature script The Overview Effect is in development at Bad Robot. Jay received his MFA in Acting from Brandeis University and was a founding cast member of Expanded Arts, a theatre company in New York.
FUNDAMENTALS OF ACTING | ACT III ADVANCED SCENE STUDY AND CHARACTERIZATION (In-Person)
This course will focus on scenes for two characters selected from the contemporary theatre. The work will focus on developing the student’s ability to achieve a relaxed, free, focused, and truthful use of the self in creating characters; identifying and applying strong, playable objectives and actions; accessing truthful emotional availability; responding honestly, spontaneously, and creatively to internal and external stimuli and employing moment-to-moment reactions; assessing and imagining the appropriate environment and environmental condition for the scene and demonstrating the effect that that same have on a character’s behavior; researching the assigned dramatic texts and applying this work to the performance; applying off-stage preparation and “prior moments”; applying courage, creativity, originality and imagination in one’s approach to the work.
Prerequisite: completion of two semesters of actor training.
MONDAYS 6-9 p.m., Sept. 27 - Nov 15, 2021
Matthew Arkin is an actor, author, and educator. Among his extensive television credits are Get Shorty, Hawaii Five-0, Bull, Criminal Minds, NCIS, Aquarius, and Law and Order. Film credits include indies Margot at the Wedding, Second Best, Raising Flagg, The Curse, and Bittersweet Place, as well as Death to Smoochy, Liar, Liar, North, and An Unmarried Woman. His Broadway credits include Neil Simon’s The Sunshine Boys, with Jack Klugman and Tony Randall, Mr. Simon's Laughter on the 23rd Floor, and Manhattan Theater Club’s Losing Louie. Other New York credits include originating the role of Gabe in Donald Margulies’ Pulitzer Prize-winning Dinner with Friends (Drama Desk nomination), Moonlight and Magnolias at MTC, Rounding Third and War in Paramus. Among his regional theater credits are The Sisters Rosenswieg, The Siegel, All the Way, The Whale, The Prince of Atlantis, and Our Mother’s Brief Affair, all at South Coast Rep, Surf Report at La Jolla Playhouse, and The Scene at Hartford Stage Company. He teaches acting in Los Angeles, and is Director of the Acting Intensive Program at South Coast Repertory and an adjunct professor at Dodge College of Film and Media Arts at Chapman University. He is also the author of the suspense novel In the Country of the Blind.
IMPROVISATION | IMPROVISATION WORKSHOP (In-Person)
This is a class for students who have moved beyond the basics of improvisation and want a more intense experience. Instructor Greg Atkins' no-nonsense, high-energy approach to improvisation will help students break through fear of the unknown and prepare for any acting (or life) challenge, whether on stage or off. Using the beginning improv class as a springboard, this class will show students how to:
- liberate spontaneity
- think quickly on their feet
- enhance creativity
- make exciting dramatic choices
As Atkins says in his best-selling book
IMPROV!, "There are only four areas in which improvisation will help you: auditions, performances, business and life."
Prerequisite: Advanced Improv and/or permission from the instructor.
WEDNESDAYS 6:30-9:30 p.m., Sept. 15 - Oct. 20, 2021: Price: $280
Please note that this is a 6-week class. An early enrollment discount of $20 is available through Aug. 20. No discounts available after that date.
Instructor: Greg Atkins
Atkins is an award-winning writer/director of theater and special events. He has worked with for The Walt Disney Company, the Olympics, Blizzard Entertainment, Elton John AIDS Foundation, SenovvA and other major entertainment companies. As an executive coach, he prepares Fortune 500 executives to speak before live audiences and on video. As the president of InterActors, he travels with an international team of improv actors to exotic locals such as Prague, Singapore, Rome, New Delhi and Irvine. The author of the book,
IMPROV! A Handbook for the Actor, he was a creative consultant on the hit ABC primetime show, "Whose Line is it Anyway?," and has published multiple plays. His most current play is
9/10th, an evening of 10-minute plays. Atkins began his theatrical career at South Coast Repertory as an actor/writer/director. He is proud to be an SCR Theatre Conservatory teaching artist.
ACTING SHAKESPEARE
Students will perform and analyze monologues in order to explore Shakespeare’s use of language and create text-based characterization. This is the class serious acting students have been waiting for. But even those who attend the program’s evening classes in order to overcome shyness and gain spontaneity, can now add a little Shakespeare to their developing skills.
Prerequisite: completed Act I and II at SCR, two semesters of acting training elsewhere or permission from the instructor.
Look for this class to be offered in a future session
Instructor: Hisa Takakuwa
Takakuwa is a classically trained actor, director and educator. She has worked at many theatrical institutions around the country including the Sundance Children’s Theatre, The Music Center on Tour and the Indiana Repertory Theatre. At SCR, she appeared in
The Man Who Came to Dinner and in 14 seasons of
A Christmas Carol and Education Touring Productions. As SCR’s Theatre Conservatory Director, she has directed numerous Players productions including
Metamorphoses, Hard Times, Cinderella, Mansfield Park, Into the Woods, Snow Angel, Seussical, Annie, Peter Pan, Mary Poppins and
Bliss. While a longtime resident artist at the classical repertory company A Noise Within, she appeared in many productions including
The Triumph of Love, The Comedy of Errors, The Misanthrope, Another Part of the Forest, The Seagull and
Our Town. She directed
Henry V, Twelfth Night and
Shooting Stars at the Actors Co-op theatre in Hollywood. She holds a BA from Smith College and an MFA from the California Institute of the Arts.