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THE TWO YEAR PROGRAM
Two Year Costs & General Information
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“Art bids us touch and taste and hear and see the
world, and shrinks from what Blake calls mathematic form,
from every abstract thing, from all that is not a fountain
jetting from the entire hopes, memories, and sensations
of the body.” – W.B. Yeats |
APPLICATION TO THE CLASS ENTERING 2009 IS NOW CLOSED.
A DYNAMIC BALANCE OF TECHNIQUES: We are the only theater school to offer extensive work with Viola Spolin’s improvisational theater training (including regular public performances) in tandem with a thorough grounding in Stanislavski-based “Method” technique. Acting school students at New Actors Workshop learn to shift easily from one set of craft requirements to an entirely different one. From performing a well-formed, entertaining, improvised scene on the spot in front of an audience, and doing it with relish and authority, to performing carefully rehearsed, researched, and repeatable character work in, say, a Chekhov role, and doing it with emotional reality and conviction. Working alternately in these two disciplines gradually prepares an actor to function effectively in any situation from cabaret to classical drama, from experimental theater to television and film. Our acting school is dynamically balanced, developing flexibility and precision in the expressive channels while generating and releasing a personal imaginative process.
SCENE STUDY: Building analytical skills: how to set the acting tasks, seeing the point of the scene. Developing the ability to create the framework of given circumstances and relationships, and living imaginatively within them. Handling dialogue. The first year will focus on American playwrights. This course culminates in a public performance. (8 hours) |
ACTING TECHNIQUE: Developing a “conscious road to the subconscious” (Stanislavski), developing a warm-up, managing a mix of imagination and memory, translating written into spoken language, integrating character elements with personal experience, learning to give non-judgmental feedback. To increase flexibility and power through use of monologues, exploring and isolating expression of face, voice and body. Includes video-taped feedback. (1.5 hours) |
IMPROVISATION: Focusing on Spolin theater games. Exploring playfulness, expressiveness and focus. (4.5 hours) |
MASTER CLASS: Second year acting school students perform for guest directors and work with industry professionals while first year students audit. (3 hours.) |
MOVEMENT IMPROVISATION: Freeing the body through the use of music and imagination using the technique developed by Beatrice Lees (Viola Spolin’s sister). (2 hours)
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FELDENKRAIS: Building responsiveness and flexibility by freeing the body of the limitations of the habitual. (2 hours) |
VOICE: Producing a voice free of unnecessary tension, spontaneously responsive to both internal and external stimuli. (2.5 hours) |
SPEECH: Correcting regionalisms and faulty enunciation. (1 hour) |
SENSE MEMORY: Exploring the senses, using the major exercises of Lee Strasberg, essential to the technique known as The Method. The exercises are designed not to imitate experience but to recreate it. (1.5 hours) |
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SCENE STUDY: Continued from year one with added work with European playwrights, especially Chekhov. (8 hours) |
IMPROVISATION: Continued development of performance skills and exploration of long form improvisation, including weekly public performances. (3 hours) |
MASTER CLASS: This special class gives students a practical orientation in the field by working for guest directors and industry professionals. Script analysis is emphasized. Creating “the event” through powerful acting choices. Second year students and graduates present scenes, first year acting school students audit. There is no charge for graduates who continue to attend and work in this class. Past directors have included: Mike Nichols, Andre Gregory, Meryl Streep, Stanley Tucci, Kevin Kline. (3 hours) |
ACTING TECHNIQUE: Continued from year one. (2 hours) |
VOICE: Continued from first year with text work on Shakespeare. (2.5 hours) |
MOVEMENT IMPROVISATION: Continued from year one. (2 hours) |
FELDENKRAIS: Continued from year one with individual work
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ALEXANDER/KINETIC AWARENESS: Work on freeing the body. (2 hours) |
SPEECH: Continued from year one. Learning good speech for classical plays. Dialects. (2 hours) |
SENSE MEMORY: Continued from Year One. (1.5) |
VOICE Continued from the first year with text work on Shakespeare. (2.5 hours) |
SENSE MEMORY Continued from year one. (1.5 hours) |
STORY THEATER The second year theater school students rehearse intensively for three to five weeks in March/April for a Story Theater production or similar production experience. Guest directors will be chosen by Mr. Morrison. Story Theater, created by Mr. Sills, adapts classic stories such as Greek myths, Old and New Testaments, Grimm Brothers’ tales, or history. It utilizes in rehearsal the games learned in improvisation classes to enhance player-to-player relationship, spontaneity, playfulness, theatricality and focus. The production is presented to the public. (15-20 hours/week) |
FRIDAY NIGHT IMPROVISATION: Second year acting school students perform throughout the year and are joined by first year students mid-year. (optional) |
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