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

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

This class for teenagers, ages 14-17, builds on the basics of the “Game of Make Believe” introduced in Acting for Young People, starting from improvisations and moving into work on scenes. You will discover how to use yourself, your experiences and imagination to create a character in a play or story. Your belief and whole-hearted commitment to the circumstances of the play make it real for the audience. In an atmosphere of creative play and self-discovery, you will come to understand and experience the level of preparation and discipline you will need to try for a place in the professional theater. We will learn how to prepare for auditions, do monologues, improvisations. We will prepare scenes and present them to our guests in the last class! Please bring a monologue to your first class.

• Learn more about the instructor
• Prerequisite: Open to All (ages 14-17)

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. 

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

You apply advanced lessons in technique and text analysis to the preparation, rehearsal, and presentation of scenes from a range of contemporary and classic plays. The work may incorporate Modern (19th/early 20th century) and Classical texts, as well as heightened, non-linear, experimental and Contemporary material. Scenes are presented in class for critique, then reworked to explore and apply feedback. Extensive research, preparation, and rehearsal are expected outside of class. Skills: understanding and realizing the event of the scene; layering conscious and unconscious behavior; applying technique as a tool to solve challenges outside your comfort zone; transformation of self. Through extensive examination, research, and experiment, you discover and rediscover the level of action and commitment needed to fulfill the form and idea of the play. Expected rehearsal time outside of class: 6+ hours / week

• Learn more about the instructor.
• Prerequisite: Open to Acting Level 3 and up. New to HB? Submit online for level placement.

Singing and the ability to use the voice as an expressive instrument are an essential part of your skill set as an actor. Most actors will be called upon to sing at some point, regardless of whether your interests and talents run to musical theater. The study and practice of singing enhances your sense of musical form, pitch, rhythm, and language, and brings greater freedom, range and timbre to the speaking voice. Level 1 Singing is open to all — from total beginners to those who want to reinforce basic technique or strengthen your vocal instrument. The focus is on freeing, developing and strengthening the voice. Exercises emphasize relaxation and the most effective use of breath, an even use of the voice throughout the range, and awareness of how the entire body contributes to the production of sound. Level 1 will incorporate group and individual exercises, and work on songs of different genres. (Accompanist provided.)

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

This ten-week, 3-hour-per-week directing class, led by Obie and Drama-Desk Award winning Ralph Peña (founding Artistic Director of Ma-Yi Theater Company), teaches you how to bring scripts to life on stage with practical, real-world skills. Each week, you’ll work on scenes from contemporary American plays, learning how to break down scripts, stage scenes, and create a clear and compelling story. The course will introduce ways to analyze texts, plan visuals, and craft powerful moments. You’ll also learn strategies for continued learning, helping you develop your skills over the long term. By the end, you’ll have practical tools to keep growing as a director.

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

How does one start writing a play? From inspiration to scene work and perhaps a completed short play. This course utilizes sensory and visualization exercises to inspire, and Aristotelian structure to guide the beginning playwright toward crafting a unique story for the stage.

• Learn more about the instructor
• 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.

• Learn more about the instructor.
• Required reading: A Challenge for the Actor by Uta Hagen.
• Prerequisite: Open to Acting Level 2 and up. New to HB? Submit online for level placement.