The Work
“We are learning to work continually in the mode of discovery. Learn by doing. Learn more by doing more.”
— Corita Kent
MEMORIZED WORK
Scene study is the heart of the class. Work as often as you are ready. The purpose of scene and monologue work is to become at ease in your acting. Ease takes rigorous work. Be seated the piece. Know it by heart. Don’t cheat yourself in the rehearsal process: not in your own work or rehearsal with a partner.
When in deep water, become a diver:
Chose work that will both challenge and exhilarate you. Call if you need help in. your search.
In your prep, uUse the class docs: Basic Script Prep, Reformatting Your Sides and What Works.
If it’s scene work, use the rehearsal doc exercises with your partner.
Make it personal. Find the specifics. Dig in your own experience
Discover your character WANTS and how badly they want it.
Know your lines by HEART - in your mind, body and spirit.
Checklist for lift-off: INTENTION, ATTENTION & EASE (breathe)
Make sure you're having fun (breathe - especially EXHALE)
TO GET ON THE SCHEDULE
Send an email with the date you want to perform, the name & genre of the piece and the author(s). If it’s a scene, CC your scene partner so we are all on the same page.
scene WORK
For the most part, you will choose your scenes and partners - though I advise and consent. Pick material you are passionate about. Let me know your choice BEFORE you start work so we’re on the same page re what you want to achieve.
Scenes should be 3 - 5 minutes. Actual real world minutes - less is more. If your scene more than five minutes, there won't be time for a re-work/reprise.
Your piece should be from the full text of a play or a film/ TV script so you're working with a story arc. Read the full text. Don't cheat your subconscious. Choose a complete part of the text without cutting and pasting a scene together. Don't chop up the writing. Serve the author's original intent.
Be a warrior: have at least two scenes in the works at all times. Always be ready to work.
The first time you work on a piece, pick a scene that occurs early in the text. We actors love the fireworks, the juiciest scenes. But first find your character (you) in their given circumstances as a foundation work for the high conflict.
"Face time" with your partner is essential. Consult the Rehearsal Exercises class doc for some suggested ways to use your rehearsal time; some exercises. Don't direct each other. Discover with each other.
Discussions about how to arrange your set should happen in rehearsal or before class - certainly not in class
The goal in scene study is exploration, not a finished performance. Don't let your considerations about "perfection" stop you. In aiming for a final product, you may cheat yourself. Seek a true experience.
monologues
Find pieces that will make you shine in the marketplace - unless you're “stretching”.
Two minutes or less (which is often more).
Nothing self-authored (unless it's the 150 word exercise).
Your first time up in class, I ask that you do a monologue. Also, you should have a couple of monologues “in your back pocket'“ ready to perform if the opportunity arises in an ‘industry’ situations.
AUDITION TECH
You will either receive sides via email or be sent a link to a google folder with scenes . You’ll have at least 48 hours before the actual Audition tech class. I’ll give you a bit more time if you’re choosing your scene from the list in the folder.
Respond ASAP and I will put you on the schedule. Share your sides with someone who you like to be your reader.
Come dressed for the “audition”
Bring a stapled copy of the original pdf for your reader & your SD card for home review.
Don't "wing" it; do the work as if you were reading for a possible employer. Audition sides require dedicated analysis without the benefit of scene partner rehearsal. As the inspired writer/producer Del Shores says :
"Be prepared or be prepared to leave."
Reformat your sides to avoid lines readings Do speed runs with another studio member over zoom. Great discipline allows great freedom.
Reformat your sides per the Reformatting Your Sides doc and rehearse with those reformatted pages. Get the eye to the page rhythm in your body so you can avoid falling into line readings.
Know the material well enough to keep your eyes up when listening, really deliver lines you want to land & nail the first and last moments.
Make strong choices with a urgent intention (choose a verb). Keep the stakes high. Be brave.
Don't worry about what "they" want - serve the material with your insight and impulse.
What just happened? What's the relationship? What do you want from the other person? Are you getting it?
Attention, intention, ease.
If I send you sides to prepare as a "casting director", just familiarize yourself with the material well enough to read at a good pace with some eye contact.
THE ICE-COLD EXERCISE
The purpose of totally cold reads is to celebrate your instincts - to get comfortable with being out of your head and a little out of control, a little dangerous. You and a partner will be given sides you've never seen before to read and to fall into moment to moment.
Ice colds are given out, time allowing, after scheduled memorized work.
I try to hold an evening of filmed ice colds on a regular basis.
AUDITION PREP
Be smart: bring your auditions sides to class, industry auditions are a priority on the schedule.
You'll be first up. Fully prepare before class. We'll work it so you're ready to do your bes.
Email me the sides so I can do my homework. Send them to a class member who you’d like to be you off camera reader.
breathe
It’s the entry to discovery.
FAQs
TO GET ON THE SCHEDULE
Send me an email with the date you want to perform, the name of the piece and the author(s). If it’s a scene, CC your scene partner so we are all on the same page.
Bringing back material:
There is enormous benefit in reprise. Over time, great writing sinks into you, into your psyche, into your body. Acting is experiential. Some dramatic literature is worth the work of years. I encourage you to find material that you want to revisit as, over time, you grow and expand as an artist.
If it's a scene, include your first experience of doing it in class with additional face time with your partner. Forge all that into a trampoline for the repeat performance.
Costumes:
Take your best stab. Choose items of clothing that informs how you carry your body, especially if it's a period piece. Choose costumes for how the clothes work on your own physicality, as much as for your audience.
Props:
Work with what puts you in the scene. Best your partner, your best can be your props. When rehearsing physical scenes, be safe (only prop weapons).
Your "casting":
When you hear suggestions for material to work on, make sure someone is writing it down for you. Email the list to me. Keep a running list to revisit and over time, choose what excites you.