When the actor believes, we believe. The child’s natural instinct for play is the foundation of the actor’s process. Using the game of make believe to get into the “shoes” of the character, we begin to play with the possibilities that game invites in us. In order to believe I am the character, I must begin to learn all I can about who “I” am in the role: what surrounds and affects me, what I know, where I have been and where I am going; what I want, and what I do to get it or to make it happen. We use improvisation to awaken and explore creative impulses. Theatre games and exercises expand imagination, awareness, concentration, expressivity, and help build skills of communication, cooperation, and collaboration. Through text work designed for the young performer, we make strong, specific, meaningful connection to the language and circumstances of the play, bringing the author’s words to life. Through acting, young people gain compassionate insight about themselves and about the world around them; gain poise and confidence; develop problem-solving skills; and engage with peers and mentors in a joyful, collaborative process.

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• Prerequiste: Open to All (ages 9-13)

This beginner-friendly course introduces actors to the craft and realities of acting for film and television while helping adapt theater techniques for the camera. Through scene study, improvisation, script analysis, movement work, and on-camera exercises, you will develop tools for creating authentic, grounded performances under the technical demands of production. You will explore: on-camera presence and stillness; eyeline and framing; behavioral truth and listening; subtext and objective; continuity and blocking; taking direction and adjusting quickly; and working truthfully within technical constraints. The course also introduces you to the rhythm and workflow of a professional set environment while incorporating techniques inspired by Uta Hagen, Michael Chekhov, Lucid Body, and Feldenkrais awareness work. Acting is doing — not playing emotion. Throughout the session, you will work on scenes that culminate in the final 2–3 weeks of the term, during which you will have the opportunity to shoot at least two scenes in a simulated on-set environment while applying the techniques explored throughout the course. You will receive video files of your on-camera footage at no extra charge, included within the cost of the class.

Held online via Zoom: This class is oriented to helping the trained actor develop a set of tools for building a character. Acting is doing. The major question is: “What do I DO to get what I want?” The structure of this class is based on Uta Hagen’s brilliant Physical Destination Exercise. The actor will discover the profound depth of the Destination Exercise and will learn how it can provide the actor with the necessary foundation for living truthfully under the given circumstances on stage or in front of a camera. You will learn through the application and exploration of the Destination Exercise, and possibly the other exercises, how to use these methods towards finding the emotional core of the character and most importantly how to play moment to moment. We will start by working individually on Uta Hagen’s Destination exercise to establish the fundamental understanding of this base exercise. (Actors that have studied the Hagen exercises before can combine exercises.) In the following sessions, we will work on the Destination Exercise set in the context of an assigned character of a scene. You will be asked to re-work this exercise taking in consideration all the text analysis that will take place in class. The destination exercise will become our tool to embody not only our character but also all the text analysis that will happen during class. Finally, we will move into scene work and possibly applying Double Destinations (guided paired improvisations using Hagen’s exercises) in the context of the assigned scenes. Our final purpose is to build a bridge between the acquired technique and the scene work. Students will be assigned specific scenes and characters as well as the Destination exercise.  Students must meet for rehearsal via zoom outside of class at least once before bringing work to class (preferably a minimum of two rehearsals).

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• Required Reading: A Challenege for the Actor by Uta Hagen, and the play from which the scene is assigned
• Prerequisite: For actors who are actively pursuing work or have some prior acting training or experience.

Speech 1 is designed to develop your awareness of the physiological components and physical actions of speech. You will learn speech anatomy, with exploration and play through the vocal tract. The class will make a careful study of all the possible consonant actions and experiment with oral postures. You will begin to explore an international range of possible speech sounds, developing the ability to perceive and experience shades of difference. These fundamental practices will be useful to both native and non-native American speakers. This class draws upon Knight Thompson Speechwork.

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• Registration Prerequisite: Open to all.

In Scene Study 2, you will apply the lessons of Acting 1 and 2 to the preparation, rehearsal, and presentation of scenes, focusing on contemporary realist plays (mid-20th century to present). Scenes are presented in class for critique, then reworked to explore and apply feedback. Technique exercises may be introduced diagnostically to address problems as they arise.

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

Training in voice work begins with the cultivation of deep physical awareness. Specific attention will be given to how the body—bones, muscles, breath, and nervous system – relates to healthy vocal production and vocal freedom. Examine how it feels to stand on your feet. Learn about how you live in your body, how you relate to your head and neck and shoulders. Discover how this affects your use of voice and influences healthy vocal spontaneity and expressiveness. Develop curiosity about these sensations and the circumstances and habits that affect them. Work through specific exercises to develop a Level 1 vocal and creative warm up sequence that will become your ongoing practice. Through your warm up become used to the process of checking in: recognizing and allowing the physical/emotional moment you are in and the circumstances that attend it, experiencing the moment, and working from it. Develop a relationship with the habitual patterns that influence how you engage with yourself–your skeletal and muscular structures, autonomic nervous system, your breath and your voice. Develop spontaneity, learning what it feels like to give in to a physical experience. With curiosity, explore and experience rigidity in the body through the release of tension, breathing, and spontaneous truthful sound. Learn the basic anatomy that supports breathing, sound making, and articulation in speech. Throughout Level 1 you are asked to discover your own process and be with others in theirs, so together the group develops a sense of what it means to be heard, seen and understood. This class employs the destructuring and restructuring processes of Fitzmaurice Voicework® devised by Catherine Fitzmaurice. Be advised that this Level requires time to master, and most actors will need a two- or three- term investment at Level 1 to develop awareness and become confident in these practices. All else in voice and speech work will build on this foundation.

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• Registration Prerequisite: Open to all.

In Scene Study 2, you will apply the lessons of Acting 1 and 2 to the preparation, rehearsal, and presentation of scenes, focusing on contemporary realist plays (mid-20th century to present). Scenes are presented in class for critique, then reworked to explore and apply feedback. Technique exercises may be introduced diagnostically to address problems as they arise.

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

In Acting 2, you continue developing the techniques from Acting 1, now applied toward scene work and the demands of crafting and scoring a role. You’ll use Uta Hagen’s object exercises to build habits of attention and unlock your rehearsal process. You’ll apply improvisation to the exploration of character and circumstances, and develop an approach to preparation. Among the skills you’ll practice: discerning beats, intentions, obstacles, and conflict; choosing actions; sensing the turning points in the text; substitution/personalization; endowment of sensory conditions; working with expectations and previous circumstances; finding immediacy in the give and take.

• Learn more about the instructor.
• Prerequisite: Open to Acting Level 2 and up. New to HB? Submit online for level placement.