Exploring Improv Structures, Building Acting & Performance Skills
In this ongoing class learners build acting, performance, communication and public speaking skills while enjoying a variety of theatre games and Improvisation structures, both comic and dramatic.
Meredith J. Berlin
Average rating:
5.0
Number of reviews:(433)
What's included
1 live meeting
40 mins in-class hours per weekClass Experience
My first rule of Improv: "You are making this up, so you can't be wrong." Having said that, there are some skills we can practice as actors and improvisers that will help us feel more confident in our performances and make things more enjoyable and interesting for our scene partners and for the audience. In this class we build confidence and skills through theatre games and exercises. Each week we explore a new technique or improvisational structure, as you will see on list of weekly themes below. Whether you are new to acting and improv or a veteran performer, you will find opportunities to challenge and surprise yourself, laugh and learn in this friendly and mutually supportive group of collaborative artists. I am an actor and director who has performed on stages throughout the US for several decades. I love to improvise. I HAVE to improvise, it's too delightful to stay away from for long. I look forward to working with you and to meeting the characters you create. Here is the list of weekly themes for this ongoing class: (Please note: I am always happy to receive student requests and suggestions for activities, and will incorporate them as time allows when they fit into our weekly themes and/or would be helpful to build skills we are working on.) Sept. 5: Structures that enable us to create characters who surprise us Sept 12: Balancing the need for conflict in an Improv scene with the spirit of "Yes...and..." Sept 19: Exploring Character Point of View Sept 26: Given Circumstances & Playing with Time Examples of themes from winter 2023: Taking our characters for a ride on the "Emotional Rollercoaster" First Line/ Last Line Entrances and Exits
Other Details
External Resources
Learners will not need to use any apps or websites beyond the standard Outschool tools.
Joined April, 2020
5.0
433reviews
Teacher expertise and credentials
I am a professional actor as well as a director and playwright, trained at Yale College as well as with several acting studios and theatre companies across the US. My acting career started in Washington, DC with a theatre company called "Living Stage," the community outreach branch of Arena Stage. While there I learned improvisational structures and a method of acting that was open to all and celebrated the power of the imagination, and learned to combine scripted scenes with improvised endings based on audience suggestions. I consider myself very lucky to have spent so many decades since then using those skills and gaining new skills with fellow artists (and I consider my students to be among my fellow artists) on stages of all sorts and sizes. I look forward to collaborating with your learner in this class.Reviews
Live Group Class
$10
weekly1x per week
40 min
Completed by 4 learners
Live video meetings
Ages: 12-15
2-9 learners per class
