Master Acting Classes for Teens and Young People

Master Acting Classes for Young People and Teens
(Ages 9 – 17)

Master Acting Classes for Young People and Teens are a great way to gain theatre experience in a fun, supportive environment. Make new friends and gain invaluable acting skills while expanding your knowledge of theatre.

All Young People and Teens classes run a total of 8 sessions.
Tuition for all Young People and Teens classes is $325.

Register for classes online now!

Blood and the Bard: Shakespeare’s Living World (ages 13 – 17)
Instructor: Casey Kaleba
Spring session: Saturdays, March 28 – May 16 from 10 a.m. – 12 p.m.
Shakespeare's audience expected their theatre to be immediate, bloody and exciting. This course will explore Elizabethan performance from the audience's point of view: what did they expect to see on stage? Through a study of Shakespeare's acting style, special blood effects, stock stage combat and audience interaction, students will learn about Elizabethan entertainment from the audience's perspective and discover how plays such as King Lear, Titus Andronicus and Macbeth actually worked on the Shakespearean stage.

Improvisational Theatre (ages 9 - 12)
Instructor: Dat Ngo
Winter session: Saturdays, January 10 – March 7 from 10 a.m. – 12 p.m. (no class February 14)
This workshop helps young actors be better prepared for spontaneous invention in auditions, rehearsals and performances. Beginning with trust and team-building activities, the training focuses on cultivating concentration and imagination, while utilizing fundamental techniques to create motivated characters and dynamic scenes using what is available on the spot.

Introduction to Shakespeare
Instructor: Lorraine Ressegger
Fall session: (ages 13 – 17) Saturdays, September 6 – November 1 from 10 a.m. – 12 p.m. (no class October 11)

Winter session: (ages 9 – 12) Saturdays, January 10 – March 7 from 10 a.m. – 12 p.m. (no class February 14)
Shakespeare provides young actors with amazing opportunities to learn and grow while playing some of the greatest comedies and dramas ever written. This course will crack open the mysteries of playing Shakespeare, giving students the basic tools to understand and play this great work in an active, immediate way.

Introduction to Theatre (ages 9 – 12)
Instructor: Dat Ngo
Fall session: Saturdays, September 6 – November 15 from 1 p.m. – 3 p.m. (no class October 11)
For students who have always wanted to study and practice theatre but never had the time or opportunity, this class provides a foundation from which students can pursue further development and exploration. Participants will explore the basics of improvisation, text analysis, playwriting and performance, culminating in a showcase performance of both selected texts and original work.

Shakespeare’s Bad Boys and Vixens (ages 9 – 12)
Instructor: Lorraine Ressegger
Spring session: Saturdays, March 28 – May 16 from 10 a.m. – 12 p.m.
From Mercutio to Lady MacBeth to Iago, Shakespeare has given us some of the most fun, diabolical and sometimes just plain rotten characters to play. In this class, appropriate for beginning and returning students, we will play with the villains and manipulators in Shakespeare through both scenes and monologues. Students will develop skills in basic acting, character creation and Shakespearean text. Prior wickedness not required.

Shakespeare Scene Study (ages 13 – 17)
Instructor: Audra Polk
Winter session: Saturdays, January 10 – March 7 from 1 p.m. – 3 p.m. (no class February 14)
This course will build on the basic skills gained in Introduction to Shakespeare. Students will further explore how to bring Shakespeare to life in performance, deepening their understanding of the text and how Shakespeare’s language inspires an actor’s creativity through specificity and direction. Through scene work and performance, students will learn to play Shakespeare “moment to moment” and to create subtle, full-bodied and fully realized human beings through Shakespeare’s text.

Stage Combat: Quarterstaff (ages 13 – 17)
Instructor: Casey Kaleba
Fall session: Saturdays, September 6 – November 1 from 10 a.m. – 12 p.m. (no class October 11)

Used by characters as diverse as Robin Hood and the Monkey King, pole arms are versatile and common weapons. Through games, exercises and historical investigation, this class will explore the uses of the staff on stage and the many possibilities of the "clubs, bills and partisans" Shakespeare frequently placed on his stage.

Stage Combat: Swashbuckling (ages 13 – 17)
Instructor: Casey Kaleba
Winter session: January 10 – March 7 from 10 a.m. – 12 p.m. (no class February 14)
Very popular in Shakespeare's time, the rapier was not only a weapon but also an essential part of a gentleman's attire. In this class we will explore the history of the rapier and its application on the stage. We will begin with the basics of swordplay, emphasizing safety and technique, and end with a choreographed duel.

 

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