Principles of Acting
Creating a process for understanding character psychology is dependent on understanding actor psychology. Students begin this process through identifying habitual patterns of behavior and learning to intensely observe, re-create observation, efficiently execute actions, and clarify dramatic intention. Listening exercises that examine human dialogue are used as a foundation for discovering and performing the thought behind the word. Special focus is placed on the technical and creative needs of performing classical text: dramatic forms, rhetorical forms, figures of speech, verse, vocabulary, use of the O.E.D., First Folio, syntax, punctuation, operative words, scansion, historical research, scholarship and literary criticism.
Voice and Speech
Clear voice work is the springboard of the actor’s imagination, without which his story goes untold. A command of physical and vocal integration is the sign of a thorough and capable actor. Our classwork is body-based, increasing the students’ perception of their own balance of resonance and articulation. Skill building includes the International Phonetic Alphabet, breath control, phrasing and interpretive techniques of voice required to clarify the complex thoughts and images in the verse and prose of our greatest writers. Character work is explored through Laban-based Movement Analysis of each student’s performance style.
Theatre History
A rigorous and extensive study of theatre history and dramatic literature is approached from a practitioner’s point of view. The two-year reading list ranges from classical to contemporary literature and includes Shakespeare’s complete canon in the context of other Renaissance drama. Seminar discussions, oral reports, reading journals and occasional analytical essays develop the actor’s ability to consider, create and express a specific world when approaching characters, auditions, rehearsals, and performances.
Movement
Through the recognition of personal habits, the development of personal range, and the broadening of physical, vocal and emotional vocabularies, students examine theatrical choices of presence, impulse, action, behavior and relationship for the purpose of transforming the artist and embodying the text. The journey of bringing one’s self to a role can be challenging. To facilitate this journey, physical vocabularies of neutral and character mask, textual masks of action, period styles, historical/theatrical dance and stage combat (Society of American Fight Directors Skills Proficiency Test) are taught. The work is based on the principles of Alexander and Feldenkrais, rooted in the practices of embodiment based on sensory awareness.
In addition to actor movement training, an ongoing physical discipline is encouraged by such classes as Tai Chi, pilates and yoga.