Workshops

Presented by Carol Rosenfeld –

Held in-person:

Advanced workshops on Uta Hagen’s liberating process for actors, taught by Carol Rosenfeld, founding Director of the Uta Hagen Institute at HB Studio, who trained with Hagen herself.

“The knowledge that every day there is something more to learn, something higher to reach for, something new to make for others, makes each day infinitely precious”
“We must learn how to use our discoveries so that we can reveal all the fascinating human beings in dramatic literature within our reach.”
— Uta Hagen

“The principles, humanity and respect found in Hagen’s teachings are needed today more than ever… Hagen’s work empowers the actor in the best sense of the word – it is inclusive, practical, necessary, immediately relevant, today and ongoing.”
— Carol Rosenfeld

Uta Hagen’s approach to acting works. She challenges the actor to continually develop skill. She offers avenues of creativity that, with an open imagination and expanding sense of self, are unlimited. Her ongoing process of self-observation and self-discovery fortifies your ability to respond truthfully, dynamically, and vividly with fellow actors, releasing unpremeditated truthful behavior in performance. Over time, you find yourself creatively alive and present in process.

The Hagen approach, as found in her world-famous books, Respect for Acting and A Challenge for the Actor, returns you to an adventurous path of ongoing questioning. In Hagen’s practice, you live in continuous discovery, finding that everything in life is specific, detailed, and messy; that you never know what will happen next; that you are dependent on on others; and that being invested in others liberates you. These discoveries are as practical in our acting as they are profound in our lives.

Carol Rosenfeld developed this workshop using her personal experience of Hagen’s teachings to guide you to find yourself in any role and deepen your ongoing exploration of the play. Using Hagen’s exercises and the detailed processes found in Rosenfeld’s own workbook, Acting and Living in Discovery, you will find your own authentic identification with the character, and live fully through the circumstances of any play — not as a character, but as a living, breathing human being.

IN PERSON: The in-person workshop meets for 10 weeks (1 session/week)

ONLINE: The online workshop meets in two 5-week parts, Part A and Part B. Sign up for either Part A or Part B independently, or join both for the full term (recommended):

PART A: Focuses on acting exercises from Uta Hagen’s A Challenge for the Actor.

PART B: Focuses on Entering the World of the Play, using Uta Hagen’s acting processes and Carol Rosenfeld’s book, Acting and Living in Discovery, as guides. Play TBD.

Required Reading:
A CHALLENGE FOR THE ACTOR by Uta Hagen
ACTING AND LIVING IN DISCOVERY by Carol Rosenfeld

Instructors: Jessica Hecht and Igor Golyak –

Held in person: 

Ukranian director Igor Golyak and actress Jessica Hecht take you on a 3-day deep dive into text analysis and the exploration of classic and contemporary dramatic text, considering the similarities and differences in American and Russian acting techniques. We will look at Chekhov’s THE SEAGULL as well a monologue by Sarah Ruhl from EURYDICE. Lastly, we will look at any Chekov monologue you would like to bring in for the last class.

Igor Golyak is the founder and producing artistic director of Arlekin Players Theatre & Zero Gravity (zero-G) Virtual Theater Lab in Boston. A global leader in the virtual theater movement, he is currently directing THE ORCHARD OFF-BROADWAY, a hybrid production (both live and virtual), featuring Jessica Hecht and Mikhail Baryshnikov…read more about Igor Golyak