Classes

TUE 7–10pm · 7/16, 7/23, 7/30, 8/9, 8/13 · $285

This course explores the art of acting in a playful, encouraging, collaborative atmosphere, and offers a dynamic and engaging introduction to the craft of acting. Develop a basic understanding of acting fundamentals through Stanislavski-based practice. Using exercises and scene work, this class introduces students to the elements of dramatic action, text analysis, and character development, as well as the tools for releasing inhibitions and expanding vocal and physical range. May be repeated.

Instructor: William Thomas Hodgson’s regional credits include Romeo (Oregon Shakespeare Festival), It Can’t Happen Here (Berkeley Rep), Calligraphy (TheatreWorks), Disney’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame (La Jolla Playhouse), An Octoroon (Mixed Blood Theatre), Trufaldino Says No (Shotgun Players), Seussical the Musical (Berkeley Playhouse), and I Am My Own Wife (Oakland Theater Project). He received his MFA from UC San Diego, and he is co-artistic director of the Oakland Theater Project. He has taught for Berkeley Rep School of Theatre, Berkeley Playhouse, ACT, UCSD, OSF, Park Day Middle School, Chatauqua Center, Roads Scholars, and more. 

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THU 7–9:30pm · 7/18, 7/25, 8/1, 8/8, 8/15, 8/22 · $285

Este curso explora el arte de la interpretación en un ambiente lúdico, estimulante y colaborativo, y ofrece una introducción dinámica a la actuación. Desarrolla una comprensión básica de los fundamentos de la actuación a través de la práctica basada en Stanislavski. Mediante ejercicios y trabajo en escena, esta clase introduce a los estudiantes en los elementos de la acción dramática, el análisis de textos y el desarrollo de personajes, así como en las herramientas para liberarse de inhibiciones y ampliar el rango vocal y físico.

This course explores the art of acting in a playful, encouraging, collaborative atmosphere, and offers a dynamic and engaging introduction to the craft of acting. Develop a basic understanding of acting fundamentals through Stanislavski-based practice. Using exercises and scene work, this class introduces students to the elements of dramatic action, text analysis, and character development, as well as the tools for releasing inhibitions and expanding vocal and physical range.

Instructor: Teresa Salas (ella) es una profesional de las artes escénicas. Ha trabajado en teatro físico, danza y espectáculos basados en el movimiento. Su formación vocal y actoral se desarrolló dentro de la tradición Grotowski, habiendo trabajado en el Workcenter de Grotowski en Italia durante 5 años. Es miembro de la compañía de danza CIEC de Chile y ha participado en numerosas producciones experimentales durante los últimos 10 años. También ha trabajado como profesora de movimiento para estudiantes de teatro en varias escuelas profesionales y programas de pregrado de teatro en Chile. Su trabajo aborda el estudio del movimiento, la voz y el canto tanto para producciones escénicas como para la performance como investigación. Su interés radica en la búsqueda de herramientas colaborativas para la creación y el estudio de la kinésica como medio para deconstruir nuestra experiencia social, desde una mirada antirracista, postcolonial y feminista, su trabajo pretende observar otras formas de mirar los procedimientos creativos. Tiene un máster en Arte Dramático por la Universidad de California, Davis, y es licenciada en Universidad de París Vincennes-Saint-Denis.

Teresa Salas (she/her) is a performance practitioner, teacher and mother. She has worked in physical theater, dance and movement-based performances. Her voice and acting training took place within the Grotowski tradition, having worked at Grotowski’s Workcenter in Italy for 5 years. She is a member of the dance company Danza CIEC in Chile, and has participated in numerous experimental productions during the past 10 years. She has also worked as a movement lecturer for theater students in various professional schools, and undergraduate Theater programs in Chile. Her work grapples with the study of movement, voice and singing both for stage productions and performance as research. Her interest lies in finding collaborative tools for creation and the study of kinesthetics as a mean to deconstruct our social experience, from an anti-racist, postcolonial and feminist lens her work intends to observe other ways to look at creative procedures. She holds an MFA from University of California, Davis – Dramatic Arts and B.A Performing art —Theatre from Paris University Vincennes-Saint-Denis.

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SAT 10am–12:30pm · 7/13, 7/20, 7/27, 8/3, 8/10, 8/17 · $285

In this class, students will focus on creating character by thoroughly understanding the relationship between the text, situation, and the technical aspects of camera work. When these fundamental tools are genuinely understood and used correctly, only then can actors be free to work to the best of their ability in front of a camera. Areas of study will include script analysis, scene study, and character development, as well as camera technique, set discipline, and set etiquette. All scenes will be rehearsed with direction from the instructor. A variety of other subjects will be also discussed relating to the business side of show business, including audition technique, agents, union membership, photographs, and websites. 

Instructor: Marvin Greene is a professional actor and has performed with major regional theatres such as ACT, Aurora Theatre Company, Marin Theatre Company, Westport Country Playhouse, Long Wharf Theatre, and San Jose Rep. Marvin served as an instructor at ACT for over a decade and also teaches at the Academy of Art College and Voice One in San Francisco. Marvin has taught at the Berkeley Rep School of Theatre since 2003.

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SAT 1–4pm & SUN 10am–1pm · 7/13 & 7/14 · $150

Throughout this unique workshop we will explore a deeply personal approach to acting within the context of TV and film. Acting is acting, but there are certain challenges and possibilities that present themselves when working within this framework. Activating an internalized method, we will engage in scene study, cold readings, improv, and monologues, to help develop a better understanding of our authentic selves and learn how to express this on camera. We invite you to be fearless and strive to bring your authentic creativity to this next level training.

Instructor: Elijah Alexander is currently filming Season 5 of The Chosen where he plays Atticus Aemilius. He recently wrapped a rep run at The Utah Shakespeare Festival as Timon in Timon of Athens and Tullus Aufidius in Coriolanus. He continues to tour with his work The Mitzvah Project, a social-justice themed educational program/one man performance piece. TV/Film - Mr & Mrs Smith, Amazing Love, Awake, Touch, Summerland, JAG, Emily’s Reasons Why Not, So Notorious. Broadway - Mary Zimmerman’s Tony Award Winning Metamorphoses. Royal Shakespeare Company - John Barton’s Tantalus directed by Sir Peter Hall. Regionally - Camp David’ Public/Alley Theatre, Guthrie, Berkeley Rep, NYTW, Yale Rep, ATC, Mark Taper, 5 seasons at The Oregon Shakespeare Festival, 5 Seasons at the Utah Shakespeare Festival and 3 Seasons at the California Shakespeare Theater, ACT Theatre in Seattle (Gregory Award for Best Male Performance of the Year in Ayad Ahktar’s The Invisible Hand). He’s a Fox Fellowship Award Winner and a graduate of The Yale School of Drama.

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SAT 1–4pm · 7/20 · $75

The Meisner technique (one of the most widespread and renowned acting techniques of the past century) was designed to create work that is raw, spontaneous, truthful, and alive. This workshop will give participants a taste of the technique's foundational principles to help hone students' listening skills, which are essential to every great performance. With practice of this technique, students will develop more self-awareness about their inner experiences, respond organically and intuitively to an acting partner's emotional life, and break through habitual patterns to spark more freedom in their work.   

This class is equally suited for seasoned actors looking to deepen truthfulness and spontaneity in their performances, as well as any human interested in cultivating their voice and taking risks in a safe space. Participants will be encouraged to show up as the most authentic versions of themselves, with a willingness to look at the social habits that may be getting in the way of honest human connection.   

Instructor: Carolyn McCandlish has taught the Meisner acting technique at NYU Tisch’s Experimental Theatre Wing, the Terry Knickerbocker Studio, Acting Studio Chicago, the Actors' Center D.C., and the Greenbrier Valley Theatre. Carolyn trained with Terry Knickerbocker in two subsequent 2-year Meisner conservatory programs, first as an actor at the William Esper Studio, then again as a teaching apprentice while assisting the opening of his own Terry Knickerbocker Studio. Other creative mentors over the years include Maggie Flanigan, Fay Simpson, Richard Armstrong, Elena McGhee, Alisa Endsley, Ted Morin, and Jeff Wirth. Some of Carolyn's favorite theatre credits are The Spoon River Project (Green-Wood Cemetery), Crimes of the Heart (Fable Farm Theatre), Stomp and Shout (Babel Theatre Project), and Donnie Darko (American Repertory Theater).

She was a founding member of art.party.theater.company, which specialized in designing creative performance installations and reinvigorating classical texts through site-specific, physical theater, and she co-founded the interactive, dramatic improv ensemble Playing With Reality, with which she performed and taught in Amsterdam and across New York City. Carolyn co-wrote, co-produced, assistant directed and acted in Whispers in the Dark, an interactive 24-hour film project for the New York Film Festival at Lincoln Center. She received a B.A. from Harvard and a Master's in Social Work from NYU with an additional focus on therapeutic drama techniques. She is a firm believer in the healing and transformative powers of acting.

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SAT 1–4pm · 8/3 · $75

Good acting requires bold, truthful action to achieve your character's objectives. Using a variety of exercises, games, and neutral scenes, actors will explore actions (otherwise known as tactics) that are strong, embodied, and effective, in order to develop performances that are specific, dynamic,  and alive.  

Instructor: Carolyn McCandlish has taught the Meisner acting technique at NYU Tisch’s Experimental Theatre Wing, the Terry Knickerbocker Studio, Acting Studio Chicago, the Actors' Center D.C., and the Greenbrier Valley Theatre. Carolyn trained with Terry Knickerbocker in two subsequent 2-year Meisner conservatory programs, first as an actor at the William Esper Studio, then again as a teaching apprentice while assisting the opening of his own Terry Knickerbocker Studio. Other creative mentors over the years include Maggie Flanigan, Fay Simpson, Richard Armstrong, Elena McGhee, Alisa Endsley, Ted Morin, and Jeff Wirth. Some of Carolyn's favorite theatre credits are The Spoon River Project (Green-Wood Cemetery), Crimes of the Heart (Fable Farm Theatre), Stomp and Shout (Babel Theatre Project), and Donnie Darko (American Repertory Theater).

She was a founding member of art.party.theater.company, which specialized in designing creative performance installations and reinvigorating classical texts through site-specific, physical theater, and she co-founded the interactive, dramatic improv ensemble Playing With Reality, with which she performed and taught in Amsterdam and across New York City. Carolyn co-wrote, co-produced, assistant directed and acted in Whispers in the Dark, an interactive 24-hour film project for the New York Film Festival at Lincoln Center. She received a B.A. from Harvard and a Master's in Social Work from NYU with an additional focus on therapeutic drama techniques. She is a firm believer in the healing and transformative powers of acting.

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SAT 10:30am–1pm · 7/13, 7/20, 7/27, 8/3, 8/10, 8/17 · $285

Dive into the possibilities of improvised theatre! Through scene work, students will deepen comfort and spontaneity in a variety of genres before working on establishing character, building and exploring the world of the scene, and co-creating a story together.

Instructor: Diana Brown is an award winning performing and teaching artist, a producer, director and playwright. She was named Most Valuable Mentor and Teacher at the San Francisco Improv Festival. She’s taught with Laguna Playhouse, Grupology, and as a guest teaching artist at City College San Francisco. She is Director of Community and Senior Producer with Leela Improv Theatre Companyin San Francisco. She serves as director for the improv ensemble The Professionals. Diana is also a communication facilitator, working with physicians and business leaders, helping them to interact with patients and clients in ways that promote empathy and cultural equity. She is half of the nationally touring improv comedy duo Bingewatch. Bingewatch was awarded Best Improv at the Fringe Festival of Pittsburgh. She’s performed and presented workshops at festivals around the country including San Francisco Sketch Fest, New York Improv Festival, Twin Cities Improv Festival, New Orleans Improv Fest, Vintage Improv Fest, Denver Improv Festival, 2nd Best Comedy Fest, San Francisco Improv Fest, Tucson Comedy Arts Fest. She’s appeared in theater productions in New York, San Francisco and Washington D.C. Diana has studied with master improv teachers from Second City, IO, Annoyance Theatre, UCB, The Pack Theatre. She studied performing arts with the Arizona Theatre Company Conservatory. Diana co-authored and performed the solo play When You Are Called with award winning playwright Susan Jackson. 

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SAT 1:30–4pm · 7/13, 7/20, 7/27, 8/3, 8/10 · $245

Would you like to learn the basics of improv and have some fun? Are you a fan of the TV show Law and Order? This class is for you! Courtroom Drama Improvised is open to improvisers at any level, including fans of courtroom drama, anyone interested in the law, and experienced lawyers. The class will introduce foundational principles of improv while sharing unique insights into the role improv plays in our trial system. We’ll learn how to be present and spontaneous, all while exploring the world of improvised legal drama!  

At the end of the class, we will perform an improvised mock trial in which students will portray the various roles of judge, counsel, witnesses, then switch roles on cue.  

Instructor: George Higgins was a public defender in Alameda County for 28 years. Before that, he was a Navy Judge Advocate and prosecutor at Naval Base, Treasure Island for almost four years. He currently teaches an improv class entitled Listening and Communicating: Stagecraft for Lawyers at Berkeley Law. In 2021, he was appointed the Distinguished Practitioner in Residence at Cornell Law School. At Cornell he created a class in improv, storytelling and trial advocacy. He has taught that class at Cornell the past three years. He was a guest lecturer in the Trial Skills Program at Stanford Law School from 1997 to 2020. He has been an active improviser since 2007 and has performed with the Berkeley Rep Performance Lab, Stone Soup Improv and the (i)ncidentalists. He has also been a student performer at BATS Improv in the summer intensive program. He is a graduate of the University of Michigan Law School.

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SAT 10am–1pm · 7/13, 7/20, 7/27, 8/3 · $275 

Redirect physical responses to stress in high stakes scenarios and learn how to fuel your zealousness while developing soft skills with your team. We will work with improvisation exercises based on the leading principle of "yes and" and work to explore each student’s unique goals. Students will receive practical tools, take aways, and detailed handouts which address how to control your breathing and redirect anxiety, as well as best ways to open yourself to spontaneity.

Instructor: Deborah Eubanks been teaching and directing voice and speech to actors and non-actors for over 3 decades in UK and US. She is currently in her 7th year with Strictly Speaking Group, coaching under EDI, and in her 12th year at Academy of Art University, where she has built classes and is  teaching Acting and Voice. Deb has been with BRT for over 15 years. She received her Theater Arts degree in UK at Harold Pinter Studios, UEA, and has written and performed in Covent Garden Arts Center, Cambridge. Deb has also toured the UK with a series of one woman shows. Deborah has taught Voice, Acting Techniques and Dialects at American Conservatory Theatre,  University of San Francisco and S.F. Shakespeare. Deborah was the 2021, inspirational speaker at Google Women’s summit, and has created workshops specifically for LGBTQ vocal transitioning. She is a trained Registered Nursing Instructor and has an extensive understanding of anatomy of voice and speech. She was in residence with Stephen Hawking’s company and has an acting resume which includes many classic and contemporary roles. She is an SF Divafest Playwright, and in October 2021, she was guest to Ralph Fiennes’s dialect coach for The Dig, on BBC radio. 

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WED 7–10pm · 7/17, 7/24, 7/31, 8/7, 8/14 · $245

Theatre of the Oppressed, conceived by Augusto Boal, is a collection of games, techniques, and exercises for using theatre as a vehicle for personal and social transformation. It uses the dynamized human body and the charged theatrical space as laboratories for exploring power, transforming oppression, and finding solutions to the fundamental problems of conflict, inequality, injustice, and human suffering. This workshop will introduce basic techniques (demechanization, dynamization, image theatre, forum theatre) from the Theatre of the Oppressed, with an end to understanding their application as practical and essential tools for artistic development, creative expression, social engagement, and personal transformation. This class is open to both experienced and beginning performers, as well as anyone interested in exploring art as a method for social and personal change, while developing spontaneity, fluidity, presence, creativity, and critical intelligence. 

Instructor: Jiwon Chung is a professional actor, director, and a key theorist of Theatre of the Oppressed. He is the Artistic Director of Kairos Theater Ensemble, adjunct professor of Theater and Social Justice at Starr King School at the Graduate Theological Union, and past President of the national organization for Theatre of the Oppressed. Author of numerous books, articles, and performances, he is considered a pioneer in the integration of somatics, Theatre of the Oppressed, and socially engaged art. The focus of his work is in the application of theatre as a tool for social and political change, using Theatre of the Oppressed to challenge, resist, and transform systemic oppression and structural violence and to redress large-scale historical atrocity and injustice. His approach to performance and social change is informed by his background as a veteran, a martial artist, and three decades of vipassana meditation.

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SAT 1–4pm · 7/13 · $75 

“Within this fathom-long body, lies the world of suffering, its cause, and its liberation.” - Gautama Buddha 

All oppression involves the body — the body holds and reflects the experience of its oppression. Fear, anxiety, and oppression bleed their way into the habits of our human expression, trapping, binding, and shutting down our natural spontaneity and aliveness, making us mechanized, divided, and imbalanced in our bodies and our minds and isolated, aggressive, or confused in our relationships and interactions. The original form of mindfulness — the mind’s capacity to observe itself, reflect, and transform — is theatre. This workshop will explore the rich, deep, powerful practices of mindfulness, dishabituation, and embodiment within the corpus of Augusto Boal’s Theatre of the Oppressed, focusing on practical techniques for transforming and finding liberation through somatic and energetic awareness in the personal, interpersonal, and political dimensions. We will use demechanization, dynamization, image theatre, forum theatre, and rainbow of desire while developing presence, focus, and a strong capacity for meditative awareness. Open to anyone with a desire to use theatre, art, and meditation to explore a powerful approach to transforming self and society.

Please dress comfortably to move.  

Instructor: Jiwon Chung is a professional actor, director, and a key theorist of Theatre of the Oppressed. He is the Artistic Director of Kairos Theater Ensemble, adjunct professor of Theater and Social Justice at Starr King School at the Graduate Theological Union, and past President of the national organization for Theatre of the Oppressed. Author of numerous books, articles, and performances, he is considered a pioneer in the integration of somatics, Theatre of the Oppressed, and socially engaged art. The focus of his work is in the application of theatre as a tool for social and political change, using Theatre of the Oppressed to challenge, resist, and transform systemic oppression and structural violence and to redress large-scale historical atrocity and injustice. His approach to performance and social change is informed by his background as a veteran, a martial artist, and three decades of vipassana meditation.

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