The Playwright and the Actor: Anton Chekhov and his Nephew Michael Chekhov. This class explores transformation through the creation of Chekhovian characters using Michael Chekhov’s psycho-physical approach from To the Actor. Students will work with monologues from Anton Chekhov’s plays and short stories, expanding their repertoire with classical material. Training includes movement-based warm-ups and techniques such as Loyd Williamson’s Physical Process of Acting, Eight RASA Emotions, and the Six Viewpoints, helping actors develop physical freedom, expressive range, and deeper connection to inner life and ensemble work. We will also explore Chekhov’s tools for character and atmosphere—personal atmospheres, centers, imaginary body, and archetypes—leading to psychological gesture and transformation. Period style will be incorporated through movement, manners, costume, and character conditions to ground the work in its historical context.

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• Registration Prerequisite: Open to all.

This scene study class is designed for a group of intermediate and advanced students who come together from diverse and/or international backgrounds. As the world changes, the stories we tell as artists change with it, and the training of new actors must reflect this new landscape. In this class, students only work on scenes pulled from new plays (already written or currently being developed) by some working writers today. Students are also encouraged to work on scenes of their choice from plays that they feel reflect who they are in today’s world. This class is meant to complement traditional training in classical and contemporary plays by inviting the actors to experience their full cultural self in plays they see themselves in. How can we as diverse actors develop our craft and face the challenges of working on new plays all while cementing our belief in our place in the industry?

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• Prerequisite: Open to Acting Level 2 and up. New to HB? Submit online for level placement.

Singing Voice 2 is for you if you have some foundation in singing technique, having developed a connection of the voice to the breath, a practiced and heightened listening ability, a sense of phrasing and an ability to practice on your own. Class work will continue to develop singing technique and musicianship, with exercises to support the development of vocal control, flexibility and range. You will be asked to treat the song lyric as text not unlike that of a script, toward the goal of memorized presentation and interpretation of the song. (Accompanist provided.)

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• Registration Prerequisite: Open to Singing Level 2 and up. New to HB? Audition or submit online for level placement.

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. 

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• Registration Prerequisite: Application required. Apply online.

The extremely practical acting exercises found in Uta Hagen’s world-famous books, Respect for Acting and A Challenge for the Actor, probe the depths and heights of human behavior. They offer the actor a structure for lifelong practice exploring the dynamic interaction between sensory/emotional experience and the creative imagination. Uta Hagen’s approach to acting works. She challenges the actor to develop skills continually. She offers avenues of creativity that, with an open imagination and expanding sense of self, are unlimited. Her ongoing process of self-observation and self-discovery fortifies your ability to respond truthfully, dynamically, and vividly with fellow actors, releasing unpremeditated truthful behavior in performance. Over time, you find yourself creatively alive and present in the process. Held at HB Studio, the birthplace of the Hagen exercises.

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• Required reading: A Challenge for the Actor by Uta Hagen.
• Prerequisite: Open to all. 

Whether for an audition or a role that you have already landed, the ability to deliver a captivating Shakespearean monologue is essential to performing the Bard's work. In this five week workshop, through monologues and soliloquies from Shakespeare’s plays, you'll learn how to liberate the poetry and feeling in yourself by using the essentials of classic drama -- rhythm, structure, passion, and ideas. We will mine the text for the specific sensorial and emotionally charged details that can stimulate lively, immediate, and grounded acting choices. As you rehearse your monologues in front of others, we will focus on the crucial process of building and revealing character. Combining the artificed rigor of verse with an unparalleled naturalism, Shakespeare urges us and teaches us how to become the complete actor.

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• For the first day: Come prepared with a Shakespeare monologue of your choosing.
• Prerequisite: Open to all.

Step into your full presence—onstage and off. Embody the Moment is a transformative 5-week actor movement workshop designed to help you release fear, quiet inner tension, and unlock authentic expression through the body. Combining Feldenkrais Awareness Through Movement, guided visualization, breath work, energy balancing, and reflective journaling, each session invites you to slow down, tune in, and rediscover the power of embodied awareness. This process-oriented journey will support you in releasing fear and anxiety stored in the body; unwinding habitual patterns of tension; rebalancing your energetic and emotional state; cultivating grounded presence and emotional availability; and accessing a more intuitive connection to character and impulse. Whether you’re preparing for the stage, screen, or simply seeking to move through the world with more ease and confidence, this workshop offers tools for sustainable growth, energetic alignment, and creative expansion. No prior Feldenkrais or energy work experience required—just a willingness to explore, breathe, and be.

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• Wardrobe: Comfortable movement clothing; layers (bring a sweater or long-sleeve top to stay warm); non-slip socks or bare feet. Optional: A light scarf or eye covering
• Materials: Yoga mat or padded mat; journal or notebook; pen or pencil; reusable water bottle; small blanket or shawl
• Optional but Recommended: A small pillow or bolster; essential oil or calming scent
• Prerequisite: Open to All

Weapons training for actors. Learn how to sword fight for stage and screen. Practice safety protocols for working with prop guns on set. Expand your special skills as an actor training with the Sordelet, Inc. team, who bring decades of experience and expertise in the field of safely creating extraordinary fight scenes with weapons.

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• Registration Prerequisite: Some stage combat experience recommended but not required.