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We offer 50% refunds for course cancellations, or full credit to be applied to a future course.
Taught by Matthew Gasda
Jan 18, Jan 25, Feb 1, Feb 8 (Sundays)
4:00 pm to 6:00 pm
Brooklyn Center for Theatre Research*
For actors, but also useful to directors, this four week class will work on scenes from Matt's oeuvre, focusing on, but not limited to Dimes Square, Zoomers, Morning Journal, Quartet, Minotaur, and Ardor.
As we explore these plays, we will also discuss the broader themes and ideas that they explore, including identity, relationships, sexuality and power dynamics, and mortality. We will engage in in-depth discussions about the text, exploring how conceptual understandings of the texts can find objective correlates in performance. Actors will also explore acting in a "chamber" environment, honing in on the kinds of acting techniques that really sing in smaller, intimate spaces.
*The first two classes will be at 251 Huron St. in Brooklyn, and the last two classes will be at our new location at 13 West 17th Street in Manhattan
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Matthew Gasda a theatre director and the author of numerous plays, novels, poems and essays. He is a co-founder of the BCTR.
Taught by Marcel Simoneau
Feb 3, Feb 10, Feb 17, Feb 24 (Tuesdays)
1:00 pm - 5:00 pm
Manhattan Center for Theater Research*
A weekly, in-person acting class combining Method, Meisner, and other techniques with exercises, script analysis, and hands-on scene study and monologue work. Designed for growth and risk-taking, the class offers a safe, consistent environment to put theory into practice each week.
*Please note that we are at a new location: 13 West 17th Street, New York, NY 10011
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Marcel Simoneau is a New York City–based actor, teacher, director, and voice actor with credits spanning film, television, and national commercials. His work includes appearances on Law & Order, Gotham, The Blacklist,Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, and The Daily Show, as well as films such as Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist and Kinsey. He also has done extensive Voice-Over work in commercials and ADR, more recently on Matchbox, NCIS: Tony & Ziva, Emily in Paris, The Munsters, Stillwater, Halston, Mythic Quest & Little Women among others. An acting teacher for over 20 years at NYU, Strasberg, The Neighborhood Playhouse, T. Schreiber Studios & Studio 22.
Taught by Yosef Brody
Feb 14, Feb 21, Feb 28, Mar 7 (Saturdays)
4:00 pm - 6:00 pm
Manhattan Center for Theater Research*
For actors looking to deepen their work with psychological characterization, conscious and unconscious motivation in relationships, and the link between personality and behavior on stage. This 4-week class taught by a psychologist will use scenes from Ingmar Bergman films as a tool to analyze and practice performance. Students can expect to work on scenes from both popular and rare Bergman texts and films.
*Please note that we are at a new location: 13 West 17th Street, New York, NY 10011
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Yosef Brody PhD is a clinical psychologist with decades of experience teaching and practicing in the US and Europe. He writes about film and is based in Brooklyn.
Taught by Meg MacCary (website)
Feb 14, Feb 21, Feb 28, Mar 7 (Saturdays)
11:00 am to 2:00 pm
Manhattan Center for Theater Research*
It’s all about the words. How do you make the most heightened language feel accessible? What makes naturalistic dialogue pop? In this scene study class we will play with theatrical texts across the spectrum, connecting to them emotionally, while also employing “tricks of the trade.” Our goal: to communicate with authenticity and impact.
*Please note that we are at a new location: 13 West 17th Street, New York, NY 10011
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Meg MacCary is an OBIE award winning actor, producer, and writer. She’s performed on Broadway, off-Broadway, downtown, and regionally. She co-founded the critically acclaimed theater company Clubbed Thumb, and served as co-artistic director for 13 years. At BCTR, she’s acted in Little Murders by Jules Feiffer and Minotaur, Dover, One Winged Dove, and Denmark by Matthew Gasda. She directed There Are No Diving Pools in Hell by Aliza Jane Cosgrove and Girlpox’ Fyre Fest Was So Fun!!! by Catherine Weingarten.
Taught by Matthew Gasda
Mar 12, Mar 19, Mar 26, April 2 (Thursdays)
1:00 pm to 3:00 pm
Manhattan Center for Theatre Research*
For actors, but also useful to directors, this four week class will work on scenes from Matt's oeuvre, focusing on, but not limited to Dimes Square, Zoomers, Morning Journal, Quartet, Minotaur, and Ardor.
As we explore these plays, we will also discuss the broader themes and ideas that they explore, including identity, relationships, sexuality and power dynamics, and mortality. We will engage in in-depth discussions about the text, exploring how conceptual understandings of the texts can find objective correlates in performance. Actors will also explore acting in a "chamber" environment, honing in on the kinds of acting techniques that really sing in smaller, intimate spaces.
*Please note that we are at a new location: 13 West 17th Street, New York, NY 10011
——————
Matthew Gasda a theatre director and the author of numerous plays, novels, poems and essays. He is a co-founder of the BCTR.
Taught by Ephraim Birney
Mar 14, Mar 21, Feb 28, April 4 (Saturdays)
1:00 pm - 3:00 pm
Manhattan Center for Theater Research*
Ephraim Birney dropped out of his acting conservatory after he failed movement class while pretending to be a tree. Since then he’s been nominated for an Outer Critic’s Circle Award for Best Leading Actor, worked with directors like Lear deBessonet, Knud Adams, Stephen Brackett and Stephen Spielberg, taken plays to Edinburgh and films to Sundance. Ephraim understands more than most that for many performers, acting school can really only make you a professional acting student. So he’s designed a class for actors like him. A class that helps you identify exactly what you bring to a character by allowing you to explore roles you would typically never play. Whether you’re right out of acting school and feel confused by the industry or if you’ve been in every program in the city and are disillusioned by the craft as a whole, this is the class for you. The old idiom is that “an actor prepares,” and while this is true for some, we’re most excited by the actor with the approach that seems strange, surprising, unconventional and unprepared.
*Please note that we are at a new location: 13 West 17th Street, New York, NY 10011