Five Approaches to Acting
with Jennie Moreau

"You wouldn't use a hammer to saw wood, you wouldn't pack for the rain forest the way you would for the arctic, you wouldn't paint in watercolor the way you would in oil. Different plays require different approaches." David Kaplan

For more info on the Five Approaches and to get the book click here

Five Approaches to Acting is a textbook by David Kaplan, an accomplished director who has worked all over the world. It encompasses 5 distinct ways of working: Task/action, Episodic, Imagery, World of the Play, and Narrative Analysis. The book is filled with theatre history, recommended viewing and reading lists, practical tips for working, and excellent examples of how to build an actor's notebook.

Approach 1: Task/Action: Why is Stanislavsky important? Terms to work with: task and actions. The key question:"What do I need to do?" Sample scenes/authors: Ibesn, Chekov, Strindberg, Hedda Gabler, Lady from the Sea, The Lesson, The Wild Duck, Month in the Country, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

Approach 2: Episodic: The trouble with Stanislavski. the basics of an episode.The key question: "What do I do? What is my role?" Sample
scenes/authors: Brecht, Mamet, Williams, Ionesco, The Baltimore Waltz, The Chairs, The Skin of Our Teeth.

Approach 3: Imagery: Personal images, fantasy images, the origins of the "Method". Masks, the use of dreams and emotional recall. The key question: "What is this like? What does this remind me of?" Sample scenes/authors: Lorca, Williams, Genet, Dona Rosita, The Maids, Three Sisters, Private Lives, Streetcar named Desire, Doll's House

Approach 4: World of the Play: Comparison of worlds. Includes the 10 questions asked of every play i.e." How do I survive? How do I improve? How do I win or lose?" The key question: "Where am I? What are the rules?" Sample scenes/authors: Moliere, Wilde, O' Neill, Miller, Rabe, Time of your Life, Death of a Salesman, Tartuffe, Importance of being Earnest, Sticks and Bones, Blood Wedding, In the Boom Boom room...

Approach 5: Narrative (storytelling): How you talk about something reveals who you are. Story-telling as illusion. As reality. key
quesion: "What am I describing? What is my point of view?" Sample
scenes/authors: Williams, Chekov, Shakespeare, Troilus and Cressida, Three Sisters, Streetcar named Desire, Eccentricities of a Nightingale, Time of Your Life.

Ideally the classes are taken in order but it's not necessary.
Students can begin at the start of any new session and eventually cycle back through to cover everything.

Jennie Moreau studied with David in New York for over 10 years and they have collaborated since then in several projects for the Tennessee Williams Festival in Provincetown, MA.

PREREQUISITE: This is a strong intermediate class. Headshot/Resume and/or permission of the Instructor.
You must have the book for class.

8 Weeks

$350