If you are an actor with prior theater training or experience, and want to continue exploring your relationship with the camera, this workshop is for you. How can we translate what we know about performing into this medium? It starts with you. Just you, being. Process focused, this workshop gives students the opportunity to spend time in front of the lens working on both monologues and scenes. Participants explore how it feels to BE, rather than perform; how it feels to make friends with the camera – or at least call a truce! To come to understand the camera as a partner who is infinitely interested in our truth. Being On Camera 1 is designed for theater actors with some on camera experience to investigate the mechanics of screen acting with no pressure and without the focus on "getting the job." The Being on Camera workshop series is presented by two acclaimed actors each with 20 plus years experience on stage and on both sides of the camera.

• Learn more about the instructors: Amelia Campbell & Anthony Arkin
• Prerequisite: Open to theater actors with some on camera experience

For professional performers who desire to return to, or maintain an ongoing relationship with a dynamic and fertile state of learning. The goal: to use the specifics of language, action, subtext, circumstance, and relationships in order to connect with the work at the deepest most personal level. You are encouraged to push boundaries with the aim of building ever more complex characters and situations, allowing and exploring what is powerfully, unexpectedly revealed. Expected rehearsal time outside of class: 6+ hours / week

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• Prerequisite: Open to Acting Level Studio Practice (Level 4). New to HB? Submit online for level placement.

As immigrant actors, we are not only from somewhere else. We also come to this industry with different cultural sensibilities, languages, accents, physical behavior, human experiences, blindspots, and expectations. We also often find ourselves having to deal with way more than the craft. There are artistic, legal, and financial pressures that are particular to immigrants. What do we need to build our careers in theater, film, and TV? And how can we ‘own’ who we are at every step of the way? This class is designed for aspiring and early career actors in the U.S. It covers the 1) artistic aspect of acting and audition technique for theater, film, and TV, 2) 2) the business aspect and how the acting industry works, and 3) the legal aspect of employment authorization that is a kind of difficulty exclusive to international actors. The class is deeply rooted in practice across a wide range of material from film, TV, and theater.

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• Prerequisite: Open to all

Broadway actor and renowned Shakespearean actor and teacher Peter Francis James leads this special masterclass for actors, taking a contemporary look at performing and interpreting the works of Shakespeare. In this workshop for professional performers, scenes and monologues from the works of Shakespeare are explored through table work, text analysis and discussion, and then rehearsed for presentation in class for critique and development. With the text as the fundamental teacher, we employ the specifics of language, action, subtext, circumstance, and relationships, to connect with the writing at the deepest most personal level, and, while referencing history, finding the common humanity revealed in the plays, and the continuity with contemporary life.

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• Prerequisite: Application required. Apply Online. (Prior participants of this class may register without applying.)

This class is for actors who have begun to establish reliable technique and amass a serious résumé. We will continue to hone technique through exercises and we will concern ourselves with the power of rhythm, of silence, of synchronicity, and the random wellsprings that open when the actor is 100% present in the moment. You will receive a link to register for this class upon acceptance of your application. 

• Learn more about the instructor.
• Registration Prerequisite: Application required. Apply online.

This 5-session workshop focuses on some of the most commonly used dialects in the actor’s toolbox, British Received Pronunciation (“Standard British”) and Cockney. In this workshop, you will explore the signature sounds and intonation patterns of these two accents. Topics explored include research and rehearsal techniques, finding freedom and flexibility, and the challenge of accessing emotional life while speaking in an unfamiliar way. All actors will work on a monologue of their choosing, as well as very short scenes. Texts will be drawn from the works of playwrights including Oscar Wilde, Joe Orton, Nick Payne and Kwame Kwei-Armah. Essential for every actor, skills underlying British accents can be applied to characters and plays from around the world, reaching far beyond the UK. Due to the expanse of the colonial British empire, Standard British exerted large influence on African, Middle Eastern and Southeast Asian accents. Therefore, even today, non-native speakers of English are exposed to and learn English not with an American accent, but with a Standard British accent — meaning, a solid foundation in Standard British will equip you with skills for performing dialects from many cultures and nationalities across the globe.

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• Registration Prerequisite: Open to all.

The Fundamentals of an HB acting technique: Here, you develop the ability to respond truthfully, dynamically, and vividly with fellow actors and the ability to access sensory elements. You tap into the power of imagination and the reservoir of memory. You gain a working understanding of the terms: previous circumstances, destination, inner and outer objects, intentions, obstacles, and conflicts. You develop an awareness of the power, function, and dynamics of “place”, and learn to be in a state of discovery, which leads to actions. You develop tools of research and observation and you get comfortable improvising. You begin to measure yourself against professional standards and develop habits of discipline and a strong work ethic. Do understand that these practices take time to master. It takes about a year (20-30 weeks) at this level to really own the skills addressed. Further scene study or performance work will then take root in this fertile ground. 

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• Required reading: A Challenge for the Actor by Uta Hagen.
• Recommended viewing: Uta Hagen's Acting Class documentary. 
• Prerequisite: Open to all.

Whether you are new to acting or have some experience, this workshop is designed for those who are interested in exploring acting as a means of expression. Specifically designed exercises, improvisations, and micro scenes and monologues ease newcomers into the craft of acting, help discover one’s true self, and foster a strong connection with others. Comfortability on stage is a priority as well as a clear understanding of acting technique: choosing a specific action as the means to work through obstacles and achieve objectives.

• Learn more about the instructor.
• Prerequisite: Open to all.