Fall 2022
Introduction to Acting
Remo Airaldi AB, Lecturer on Theater, Dance, and Media, Harvard University
Through individual and group exercises, monologues, improvisations, and scene studies, this workshop eclectic in method helps students develop their acting potential and sharpen their performing skills. Students are expected to write two performance journals after attending professional theatrical performances. Previous theater study is not required.
January 2023
Introduction to Acting
Remo Airaldi AB, Lecturer on Theater, Dance, and Media, Harvard University
Through individual and group exercises, monologues, improvisations, and scene studies, this intensive January session workshop eclectic in method helps students develop their acting potential and sharpen their performing skills. Previous theater study is not required.
Spring 2023
Introduction to Acting
Karen MacDonald BFA, Lecturer on Theater, Dance, and Media, Harvard University
Through individual and group exercises, monologues, improvisations, and scene studies, this course is eclectic in method. It helps students to develop their acting potential and performing skills. Students are asked to attend three live performances and write reflection papers on what they saw. No previous theater study is required.
Spring 2023
Acting Shakespeare
Remo Airaldi AB, Lecturer on Theater, Dance, and Media, Harvard University
This course is an intensive study of Shakespeare's dramatic works from the point of view of the actor. It is important to remember that Shakespeare's verse dramas were written to be performed and that only when they are approached this way as playable, theatrical texts do they have their maximum impact. Through text analysis, scene study, vocal work, and acting exercises we attempt to find, not only the meaning, but the music and theatrical power of Shakespeare's words. We spend a great deal of class time discussing blank verse and the different techniques for speaking it out loud and work to develop the end-of-line breath support needed to perform this language. We also study such topics as scansion, phrasing, word emphasis, antithesis, and imagery.
Spring 2023
Advanced Acting
Marcus Stern MFA, Head of Directing and Lecturer on Theater, Dance and Media, Harvard University
This is an acting course designed both for people who have no previous acting, performance, or arts experience, as well as for students who have had a fair amount of acting experience and are interested in honing their work in pursuit of a career in acting. The focus is on scene and monologue work and audition techniques. The texts for the scenes and monologues come from contemporary theater, television, and film scripts. Core components of the course include the idea of simply working from yourself, action-based acting (how one person is trying to change/affect another person in a scene), how to read a scene or monologue to figure out what your character might want from that situation, and how to choose material that best suits the individual actor for auditions and scene work. The course is designed around very tangible and concrete ideas and techniques so that those who might be intimidated by the idea of an acting course, or an arts course in general, feel comfortable. It is important to note that while the course is intentionally designed to be as un-intimidating and accessible as possible, it does require a good deal of work outside of class time.
Prerequisites: Audition. Registered students must bring a contemporary two-minute monologue to the first class. The instructor will determine who is in the class after the first day of audition monologues.
Spring 2023
The Songs of Stephen Sondheim
Pamela J. Murray MusM, Part Time Faculty, Music Department, Boston College
Few musical theater composers have been as prolific as Stephen Sondheim. Many people are familiar with the popular Into the Woods or the lavish Sunday in the Park with George, but Sondheim's work includes a wider range of styles than many people realize and spans five decades. In this performance workshop each student studies and prepares a song from the repertoire of Sondheim, working on both vocal and dramatic aspects. Songs are chosen to represent the different eras and styles of his works, as well as tailored to the individual student's skill level. Throughout the semester, we discuss Sondheim's unique lyric writing and dig deep into the dramatic intention and character study beneath the text. We also compare his various musical styles.
Prerequisites: Some music experience helpful but not required.