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Theater Arts: Acting

This course builds the foundation for the actor’s approach and process. It is designed to welcome students into a safe environment to test and develop a reliable process. Students participate in ensemble-forming exercises that develop concentration, explore the meaning of truth, and encourage spontaneity, simplicity, integrity, and generosity with the goal of helping the actor become more sensitive, imaginative, responsive, and alive on the stage. The process involved in this course allows students to discover themselves as artists and broaden their personal perspectives of social and human behaviors. Continued work aims to fully develop emotional and intellectual resources and bring more freedom to the work of the actor. In addition, students learn and establish a working vocabulary of terms used in the professional acting field. Participants are given the opportunity to stage Green Room productions.

The course comprises 3 consecutive mods:

Acting Techniques
The first mod draws on the work of acting teachers Sanford Meisner, Uta Hagen, Lee Strasberg, and Patsy Rodenburg. This mod introduces the student to a base of artistic knowledge and common vocabulary.  It also provides students with basic tools and practice techniques that awaken their creativity, sensory perception and broaden their awareness, imagination, and emotional expression.

Introduction to Improvisation
The second mod develops the student’s ability to make bold choices “in the moment,”, under continually changing “imaginary circumstances.”.  The student is facilitated in relinquishing intellectual control of their performances and guided to react in the moment to the actions of others. Students learn to approach improvisation as a rehearsal technique that assists them in exploring how an actor uses their voice and body in the development of a character.

Working with a Text
In the final mod of the sequence, students are taught to appreciate the actor’s role in storytelling.  Through close-reading, text is interpreted and made accessible.  The actor can then overlay their understanding of the text with the emotional and physical attributes needed to portray a given character.  Great emphasis is placed on clarifying dramatic action, identifying given circumstances, finding clear compelling objectives, playing those objectives truthfully, and learning to live under the “imaginary circumstances” required by the chosen text.

After completing the mods in sequential order, students may repeat any or all mods in any order, or they may move into Theater Arts: Advanced Acting & Directing.