07/22/2020
Next week I start a class that is hard for me to focus on solely in my Meisner classes, but I will be able to in this remote zoom class - script analysis. There are fundamental tools that I learned from some of the greatest minds of our time and have incorporated into my work as a director to help guide actors to the results you see at productions at 4th Wall Theatre. There are so many directives about script analysis out there that actually move you away from what the playwright has written and push you more toward performances that are filled with indicating and effort - not working within the given circumstances and lining up the information to strengthen objectives through relationships. I have spent my entire career always returning to opening myself up to more and more training and constantly expanding my toolbox so that I can pass it on to my fellow artists. I would love to have you join me so we can learn together.
There is also the directing class which is so important for all directors and aspiring directors. Allowing me to share what I know and work on that language and refresh my skills during this time away from the stage/screen is a gift to me as well! Being an "actors director" is the ultimate achievement a director can hope to aspire to.
Acting Classes At Kim Tobin Acting Studio
SCRIPT ANALYSIS: Analyzing the Text to Act and Audition (Online class via ZOOM) **NEW**
with Kim Tobin-Lehl
Five Mondays
July 27 - August 24, 2020
6:30 - 9:30 PM (CDT)
ABOUT THE SCRIPT ANALYSIS CLASS:
As an actor, your job is to take the playwright’s words and bring to life the most full and specific vision of their character that you can, based on the information you have from their text. Breaking down and extracting the information that enables you to make choices and respond truthfully to the other characters in the story is a skill set that is based on being able to look at the text like a roadmap taking you from one place to another. It is designed to help you create a clear and concise through-line or trajectory for your character that when you hone in on how your character behaves and what their point of view is about the given circumstances the analytical understanding of how, why, and what you do to achieve any goal starts to become instinctual and specific. This class looks at what a character does, how they do it, and why. It helps the actor plot a course, sort out objectives and tactics and have the clear understanding of how a character behaves and views the world – based on the information supplied in the text – giving the actor flexibility and agility so that they can adjust to the direction and work within the context of what is true to the character. Everything you need to know to play any role is in the text.
ABOUT KIM TOBIN:
Kim's directing career spans more than 25 years. She brings years of training by some of the greatest directing minds in the history of theatre. Her first mentor was the late great Gene Frankel. Kim was lucky enough to study with Mike Nichols and Stella Adler among others. She also spent years of training under the wonderful Seth Barrish at The Barrow Group. She has directed more than 50 plays over the years in NYC, LA and Houston, in addition to her busy acting, teaching and producing career. Kim is an actor's director, in that her approach to the work is based in a fundamental deep understanding of how story telling works, by focusing attention on relationships first and adhering to the playwrights intended story structure. This comes from 25 years of teaching acting and understanding how to work with actors from all kinds of different training backgrounds and focusing on creating a common language among them, all in order to create a unified ensemble. The goal of the class is to use Kim's work and experience as a road map to freeing and developing your own unique voice and gifts as directors.
DIRECTING: How to Talk to Actors (Online class via ZOOM)
**NEW**
with Kim Tobin-Lehl
Five Tuesdays
July 28 - August 25, 2020
6:30 - 9:30 PM (CDT)
ABOUT THE DIRECTING CLASS:
The biggest complaint I get from actors about directors is: “they don’t know how to talk to actors.” What does that mean? Well, it means they don’t know how to give direction that an actor can actually do or deliver. I had an actress say to me recently it is the scariest thing for her when a director does not have the vernacular to speak to her – it is like a language barrier and she is suddenly vulnerable for a whole other reason than the vulnerability she’s bringing to the work. Being able to ask specifically for what you want in a clear and active language to the actors; something they can DO because what you ask are specific behaviors and/or tactics is a skill set that will set you apart. It gets extremely better performance out of a less experienced, more amateur actor and sets free your stellar actor to give you something often magnificent. Most importantly it creates trust. The dynamics behind developing this approach to working with your artists is intricate and takes practice. If you have not used this kind of vernacular with actors it will take work to switch your perspective to asking for what you think something should “look like” to asking for adjustments that affect what is actually happening in the scenes or story. People often say if you hire the right cast you don’t have to do anything as a director… that is not true. My experience is with great actors if you understand how to use an active vernacular you watch the work from the perspective of tactics and scene structure so you immediately see where changes will clarify and heighten any scene because your actors work truthfully from the beginning and you don’t have to w**d out “effort” and you have the specific language at your disposal to give them that behavioral change that will clarify specific changes. In my experience people who say: “you don’t have to do anything with great actors” don’t have that vernacular or language skills to meet them at their expert level of work. This class is aimed at helping you develop the actor/director communication relationship by being an ally to your artist as opposed to an obstacle because you do not speak their language.
ABOUT KIM TOBIN:
Kim's directing career spans more than 25 years. She brings years of training by some of the greatest directing minds in the history of theatre. Her first mentor was the late great Gene Frankel. Kim was lucky enough to study with Mike Nichols and Stella Adler among others. She also spent years of training under the wonderful Seth Barrish at The Barrow Group. She has directed more than 50 plays over the years in NYC, LA and Houston, in addition to her busy acting, teaching and producing career. Kim is an actor's director, in that her approach to the work is based in a fundamental deep understanding of how story telling works, by focusing attention on relationships first and adhering to the playwrights intended story structure. This comes from 25 years of teaching acting and understanding how to work with actors from all kinds of different training backgrounds and focusing on creating a common language among them, all in order to create a unified ensemble. The goal of the class is to use Kim's work and experience as a road map to freeing and developing your own unique voice and gifts as directors.
