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 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.

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

Many of the greatest works in the theater and film take place in the American South, from the Carolinas to Georgia to Louisiana. While each area has a distinct culture and dialect, it is an important skill for most actors to be able to confidently inhabit at least one particular accent, and be able to modify from there according to the needs of the story being told. This workshop will approach accents of the American South by focusing in detail on one specific accent, and then exploring varieties found in the neighboring regions.

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• Registration Prerequisite: Open to all.

This Level 1 acting class provides an introduction to the technique of living truthfully in front of the camera. You explore the fundamental elements of a grounded acting technique as they relate to the level of intimacy the camera demands. As you practice in front of the camera, you learn to stay open and work freely without hiding or acting for the lens. You develop the ability to listen and connect truthfully with a partner, letting that interaction guide your impulses. You discover the relevance of Uta Hagen’s exercises for on camera work – building the 4th wall, creating place, connecting with sensory aspects of the environment – and begin to understand the level of preparation, specificity, and simplicity the camera demands. You will receive video files of your on-camera footage at no extra charge, included within the cost of the class.

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• 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: Respect for Acting  by Uta Hagen; Feldenkrais Illustrated: The Art of Learning; and Actions: The Actors’ Thesaurus by Marina Caldarone & Maggie Lloyd-Williams.
• Recommended viewing: Uta Hagen's Acting Class documentary. 
• Prerequisite: Open to all.