Education

If there’s one overarching theory of my teaching philosophy, it’s this: all acting, and all scene work are organized around the concept of RTN: Relationships Transforming Now. It is my belief that when one invests in playing action, not emotion, the process of relationships transforming becomes intensely interesting to watch, intensely interesting to experience -viscerally as well as emotionally-and intensely interesting to play. This process of transformation, with a clear beginning, middle and end, defines, shapes, and guides the work to come. As a performance teacher I use skills and techniques derived from Stanislavski, but also sampled from subsequent leaders in pedagogical approaches to the craft of acting, such as Michael Chekov, Sanford Meisner, Uta Hagen, Sabin Epstein and John Barton to name a few. I introduce methods of character investigation both external to internal (folio technique/energy centers/PVTF) as well as internal to external (repetition/sense memory/substitution), and how each approach must oscillate with the other to create a fully realized and embodied character.

 

In the classroom, I establish and maintain a strong sense of supportive collaboration to ensure a safe, risk-taking environment, where inquiry, inspiration, fearlessness, and humor enable practical discovery and personal revelation. It is my goal to challenge students to reach beyond their known limits to achieve an instinctually authentic character rooted in given circumstances and objective-driven actions. A term I regularly use in class (and life for that matter) is the acronym PO (which I adopted from my mentor Sabin Epstein.) PO simply means to posit the opposite and to stay open to possibilities. Actors can be incredibly hard on themselves and have judgement over their work. PO allows one to stay curious without the constant judgement. I will use this term when discussing their work to keep students minds open to the other possibilities available to them. In addition, after a student has done scene work in class, I ask them “how did that feel.” This gets them in dialogue about their work in a visceral way. After, I will ask the rest of class “what drew you in and what you drew you out?” This is not meant to judge each other or say, “I would have made this choice,” this is about getting an open dialogue about what they see and hear. Students can learn just as much from observing each other as they can from workshopping. By providing students with ownership of their learning process I can guide their natural inspirations and challenge them to achieve individual potential.