PLAYWRITING
Central to my mission as a teacher is offering professional preparation to artists who aim for a career in the industry. But I've found equal satisfaction working with artists in search of something besides or beyond the commercial tools of the trade.  The practice of writing both affirms and challenges the values of artists and the culture at large; in addition, it can form the foundation of societal and personal sustenance.  That's the power of a good play: To nourish us, hold us accountable, and help us to grow.
Want to take a writing class with me?  
Let me know what you want to work on and I'll find a way to accommodate you, no matter where you are in your process.
“It exceeded my expectations.  The prompts were inspiring and challenging and I produced more material than I thought possible.  It deepens my understanding of process and who I am as an artist.”

ONE:  Begin
This class is all about starting something new!  
​For writers of all levels and experience.  Build and develop characters, sketch out scenes, and discover what you have to say.
TWO:  Continue
Keep going!  Structural signposts to keep you on track.  Solidify your plot.  Complete your draft.
THREE:  Revise
​Take your draft to the next level.  Revise. Then listen to your work read aloud by actors and sit in on a table-work process.  Revise again.
FOUR: Experiment
Deepen your work.  Make bolder choices.  See your work performed as a public staged reading.
Supplemental:
One-on-one:    Private coaching on a one-off or ongoing basis.    Contact me for rates.
Solo Performance Piece:    Create and develop a three-dimensional story with only one actor: you.  

Want to take an acting class with me? 
​Please visit the contact page and send me a message about what you want to work on!
“I enjoyed matching physicality with voice and acting work. I felt like it opened me up to a new freedom in exploration of text in tandem with exploration of my body - something that I am used to working with and making improvements with separately, but something that usually thrives separately in my work - when I feel on voice and connected to throwing action, I often times lose my connection to my body. This was a pleasant change.”

​ACTING
Whether teaching playwriting, acting, voice, or movement, the lion’s share of my job is to facilitate release: the efficient and compassionate relaxation of unnecessary tension in the artist’s voice, body, intellect, and emotions and its re-channeling into powerful and - above all - personal communication. This work enhances the artist’s ability to take risks, ask new questions, and vividly express unique critical connections.  

ONE:  Connection, honesty, and impulse
Physical and vocal work as well as playful exploration to increase artistic awareness on every level.  
Improvisation, monologues and short scenes.
TWO:  Strong actions and tactical variety
Continued physical and vocal work.  An irreverent, nuts-and-bolts approach to acting technique. Development of improvisation and partnering skills through monologue and scenework.
THREE:  Personalization and adaptation
Continued physical and vocal work and intensive scene study through the thorough investigation of a single scene or act of a play. 
FOUR:  Boldness and intensity
Techniques for approaching heightened styles of drama: Greek, Roman, Medieval, Restoration, and Shakespearean, among others.  
​Supplemental:​
One-on-one:     Private coaching on a one-off or ongoing basis.  Contact me for rates.
Solo Performance Piece:    Create and develop a three-dimensional story with only one actor: you.  
​Professional Prep:   Audition skills.  Develop an audition repertoire (or work up new material) to meet the demands of most professional theatrical auditions.  

Want to take a voice or movement class with me?  
​Please visit the contact page and send me a message about what you want to work on!
“I am walking away from this week with a fresh look at voice work. I have a much more physical means of getting into voice work and I enjoyed that immensely.”

VOICE   & MOVEMENT
The connecting thread of my work with actors is the construction of a mindful awareness of the breath and of the deep, structural support of the skeleton and abdominal core.  The process of freeing the musculature of the vocal mechanism and the body alike can lead to the dropping-away of patterns of self-editing and an expansion of the range of impulses and thoughts to which an actor has access.

ONE: Voice & Speech Intensive    
Exploring vocal release through the Fitzmaurice series of Destructuring position and Restructuring on vowels and text.  Anatomy of the articulators, articulatory skills, phonetics of American speech, clear and persuasive articulation on text using Dudley Knight's Detail Model, a helpful set of physical actions that get articulators  in shape so that actors can adapt their speech to a wide range of dramatic demands while retaining what makes their speech patterns personal.
TWO: Movement Intensive
Develop awareness of your body in space and increase your understanding of your body in relationship to others.  Foundations of physical conditioning (stretch, strength, and alignment) using exercises derived from yoga, modern dance, and martial art.  Exploration of space and personal movement potential through improvisation in pairs and full contact improvisation, a dance form based on weight and energy exchange between two people.  
Supplemental:​
Voice and Movement Workout:  Keep limber and improve your expressive capacity dramatically through regular practice.  Continues and deepens the voice and movement work in acting, voice, and movement classes.
One-on-one:  Private coaching on a one-off or ongoing basis.  Contact me for rates.