Teen Ensemble Class

An Acting Class for Ages 13-17

Winter Session

Saturdays, 3pm-5pm

January 25 - March 15

Class Description

This class forms an ensemble for teen actors with weekly classes designed to enhance skills for performance and collaboration.

Each 8-week module offers a unique experience as students explore audition techniques, contemporary scene study, and specialty classes with subjects including Shakespeare, clowning, stage combat, set design, acting for the camera, and musical theatre performance. There is a combination of group work and individual instruction as teachers work generously with each student. Actors are assigned material and spend time preparing outside of class.

Additionally, students are invited to participate in special events, including group trips to see professional theater productions. There is an invited showcase for friends and family at the of each session giving students the opportunity to share their work.

Our Teen Ensemble is instructed by Artistic Director Matthew Bretschneider. Guest artists will join as additional instructors throughout the session to provide students with multiple perspectives as they deepen their knowledge. Students of all abilities and levels of experience are encouraged to join.

Curriculum Includes

• Voice, movement, & physical acting

• Working with a scene partner

• Musical theatre performance

• Introduction to specialty training, including stage combat, clowning, devised theater, and film & television

• Opportunities to participate in events, including groups trips to museums and professional theater productions

• Skills for audition techniques and monologue performance

Instruction

Our Teen Ensemble is instructed by Artistic Director Matthew Bretschneider with support from guest artists and theater industry professionals throughout the session.

Matthew Bretschneider (he/him) is Artistic Director of Studio Playground and an Adjunct Professor at Boston University. He has performed with the Huntington Theatre Company, The Flea Theater, Theatre Row, The New Ohio, Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Kitchen Theatre Company, and Boston Playwrights’ Theatre. Television Credits include Law & Order: SVU and The Path. Matthew received his MSW from Rhode Island College School of Social Work and received a BFA from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. Matthew has taught physical theater for Commonwealth Shakespeare Company, Trinity Repertory Company, Walnut Hill School for the Arts, Rhode Island College, University of Rhode Island, and Suffolk University.

COVID-19 Safety Guidlines - Youth Programs

Please note this policy is subject to change. Here is our protocol as of 11/08/24:

Wearing a mask is optional for staff and students. Class size is limited. Staff keep daily attendance records for contact tracing, provide hand sanitizer, and encourage hand hygiene.

Any student who has a fever or who is experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 is advised not attend class.