Theatre Beginning Acting

I've been teaching theatre since 1996 and have produced countless shows with cast after cast. There are a few basic lessons that every new actor must learn before they are ready to audition for a play and receive a script. This class will cover those basic lessons. 

In this class students will learn the basics of creating a character for stage. They will experiment with finding character voices, body movements and consider stories and emotions behind character motivations. It is a first step to performing on a stage.

Class #1: Variety in Voice
This class is all about using the voice to find a character. Experimenting with high/low, fast/slow and accent is a good way to start. All exercises are with teacher modeling and mimic so students will feel comfortable (basically, I'm so silly that no one worries about looking silly themselves!)

Class #2: Body Consciousness
Mostly this class will be learning to use one's body to convey a character. How does this person walk? What do they do with their hands? How would they stand/sit/move, etc? We will learn "Basic Effort Actions" from Helen Landalf's book "Moving is Relating" to experiment with different movements that may match the character they are creating.  By this class most students are ready to create a character. We'll talk about how we FEEL when we're a particular character and we will add a story to explain who the character is. Students will get a chance to introduce a new character that they made up from their very own imaginations!

Class #3: Now Let's play!
In this class we will use the knowledge we've obtained in the other two classes to play a game Ms. Jackson made up called "Introduce Me!" where they create characters from silly names and hobbies. If time allows, I will also will talk some about body consciousness on stage and basic stage manners like cheating out, not upstaging and how to always be seen to get children ready for when they get an opportunity to be on a stage!