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  • Study Hall: Weekly Writing Space

    Study Hall, Winter 2024

    COMPANY COLABS Study Hall Friday Mornings Dates & Times Friday, January 12, 2024 - 9:00am-11:00am ET Friday, January 19, 2024 - 9:00am-11:00am ET Friday, January 26, 2024 - 9:00am-11:00am ET Friday, February 2, 2024 - 9:00am-11:00am ET Friday, February 9, 2024 - 9:00am-11:00am ET Friday, February 16, 2024 - 9:00am-11:00am ET Friday, February 23, 2024 - 9:00am-11:00am ET Friday, March 1, 2024 - 9:00am-11:00am ET Friday, March 8, 2024 - 9:00am-11:00am ET Friday, March 15, 2024 - 9:00am-11:00am ET On Zoom Hosted by Heidi Armbruster About the CoLab From Host Heidi Armbruster: Happy New Year! Do you want to jumpstart your writing goals for 2024? Have you been toying with a writing idea but haven't been able to set aside time to make it happen? Or are you like me—and you sit down with good intentions to do some writing—but then "squirrel!" to something shiny like cleaning toilets or baking emergency banana bread? Study Hall can help! I've found that writing ”alone together” can help to keep me accountable. Sometimes a community of people at work is what I need to start a project, make progress in my writing, or (fingers crossed!) finish something. Join me and the rest of the Study Hall crew for a 2024 edition. Open to all newcomers and returning Study Hall-ers About the Series Company CoLabs are a series at The Actors Center that offer a framework for collaborative explorations and community programming among company members. Company members host or facilitate projects—play reading groups, explorations of new material or approaches, writing labs, devising work, field trips, retreats—in short, anything inspiring to explore among peers. CoLabs offer creative outlets to explore work you might not otherwise have the opportunity for, while continuing to share resources and deepen connections among our Actors Center community. RSVP Now Comments/Queries

  • CoLab: The Artist’s Way

    CoLab: The Artist’s Way

    COMPANY COLABS The Artist's Way Once a Week on Zoom Dates & Times Tentative Date: Saturday Mornings – 11:00am ET / 8:00am PT Beginning February 3, 2024 The day and time is negotiable Hosted by Jason Butler Harner About the CoLab From Jason Butler Harner: Have you ever thought about doing The Artist’s Way? Or maybe you did it years ago, and could use some hopeful invigoration now? Anyone ever started, not completed, and/or had the books gathering dust on your shelf, in the closet, or under a bed side-eying you? Well I have and I’d like to complete it this time. Here’s a chance for community support towards completion and inspiration. Let’s go diving for pearls. The key task in the book is the dreaded Morning Pages with a few artist dates alone in the week, and occasional time for introspection. I’m starting a group, with the solid goal of completing the 13 week cycle. Here’s how it will work: We meet once a week on Zoom for 60-75 minutes. We read the short chapter aloud until the ‘Tasks and Check In’ section, followed by a brief discussion. We also pair or throuple up. These smaller groups will encourage each other throughout the week, however each decides best for that group. I could potentially record the discussion portion and make it accessible for anyone who can’t join that week, with the set intention of showing up for each other and ourselves. The day and time is negotiable. Weekend mornings seem optimal currently. If you're interested, please kindly RSVP by Friday, January 26th. ​Let’s leap so the net will appear - yet again. Hoping for a nice group. About the Series Company CoLabs are a series at The Actors Center that offer a framework for collaborative explorations and community programming among company members. Company members host or facilitate projects—play reading groups, explorations of new material or approaches, writing labs, devising work, field trips, retreats—in short, anything inspiring to explore among peers. CoLabs offer creative outlets to explore work you might not otherwise have the opportunity for, while continuing to share resources and deepen connections among our Actors Center community. RSVP to Attend This CoLab is now full. Comments/Queries

  • Fay Simpson: The Art of Layering (3/4-3/25)

    Fay Simpson: The Art of Layering (3/4-3/25)

    In-Person Workshop FAY SIMPSON: The Art of Layering, Embodying Text with Complexity Four Monday Mornings Dates & Times Monday, March 4, 2024 – 10:00am-1:00pm Monday, March 11, 2024 – 10:00am-1:00pm Monday, March 18, 2024 – 10:00am-1:00pm Monday, March 25, 2024 – 10:00am-1:00pm Lucid Body House, 230 Lexington Ave (at 34th Street) Unfortunately we are unable to accommodate observers for this workshop. About the Workshop Founder of The Lucid Body and NYU faculty member Fay Simpson returns to The Actors Center to lead a workshop over four Mondays in March. Fay will introduce her unique physical training method for the actor, the Lucid Body, offering tools for character diagnosis and to help participants create differing layers present in a character’s given circumstances. She'll then guide participants in the art of keeping those layers alive in the body. Every session will start with a robust articulating warm up. Sessions run Monday mornings, 10:00am-1:00pm. About Fay Simpson Fay Simpson is the Founder of the Lucid Body, a somatic process for actors which connects a psychophysical awareness of the body with the ancient Hindu wisdom of the chakra energy centers. She is an Associate Arts Professor at NYU’s Graduate Acting Program, and has been the Artistic Director and co-founder of Impact Theatre since its creation in 1990 (D-Train, Degas’ Little Dancer, Marital Bliss of Francis and Maxine, Kurt’s Wife: A Story of Lotte Lenya, Grey Gone, and most recently, SCOTTY). 
The Lucid Body House opened in March of 2013, in midtown Manhattan. Fay has taught at The Yale School of Drama, The Studio/NY, The New School, Michael Howard Studios, Marymount Manhattan College, and The Actors Center. Fay is a coach and movement director for stage, TV, and film. She also co-founded a Theatre for Social Change summer program in Tanzania for Yale Drama students, as well as the Veterans Project in New York. She has a two year teacher training program with Lucid Body teachers now working around the world. The 2nd edition of her book, The Lucid Body; A Guide for the Physical Actor was published in 2020 and hailed by Drama Book Shop as “one of the ten most essential books for the actor.” www.lucidbody.com Register Now Participants Enrollment is limited to 14 actors. Participants are expected to attend all sessions. Very limited conflicts can be accommodated. Comments/Queries

  • Weekly Community Space

    Weekly Community Space

    Company CoLabs Community Space Tuesday Mornings Dates & Times Every Tuesday – 11:00am-12:30pm ET Launch Zoom Link Meeting ID: 837 0411 7798 Passcode: 374737 Hosted by Jodie Lynne McClintock About the CoLab Started three years ago at the height of the Covid-19 lockdown as a way to connect, it has continued weekly as a family of actors navigating the changing landscape of our times. Here you will find a supportive, safe virtual space where artists in our company bring their stories, concerns, questions, recommendations, and inspirations in a free-wheeling but facilitated discussion. With no set agenda, we delve into whatever is of interest or concern in any given week. We explore what it means to be an actor and what place our art holds in the world.  People suggest balm for body and soul while walking hand-in-hand along the actor’s way. About the Series Company CoLabs are a series at The Actors Center that offer a framework for collaborative explorations and community programming among company members. Company members host or facilitate projects—play reading groups, explorations of new material or approaches, writing labs, devising work, field trips, retreats—in short, anything inspiring to explore among peers. CoLabs offer creative outlets to explore work you might not otherwise have the opportunity for, while continuing to share resources and deepen connections among our Actors Center community. Comments/Queries

  • Company Meeting: Mentorship Program (3/5)

    COMPANY EVENT Company Meeting: Mentorship & Emerging Artist Program Video of The Meeting 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:28 Alex Birnie gives context about where we're at as an organization 8:02 Alex outlines a pilot Mentorship & Emerging Artist program 19:10 Peter Jay Fernandez shares remarks about the proposed program 26:23 Vivienne Benesch shares remarks about the proposed program 30:52 Ron Van Lieu shares remarks about the proposed program 34:32 Company members share responses and ask questions Dates & Times Tuesday, March 5, 2024 – 5:00pm ET Launch Zoom Link Meeting ID: 862 2529 5470 Passcode: 141150 About the Event During the pandemic, we began a process of revisiting The Actors Center’s mission, vision, values, and goals. We held a series of Town Hall meetings to reimagine the future of our organization and I challenged us to think more broadly about the scope, inclusivity, and reach of our programming. Following a strategic review, and conversations with more than 140 company members, board members, teachers, donors, foundation leaders, and industry contacts, I proposed a series of new initiatives that could reposition our organization to be of greater service to our entire field, accessible to more artists, and operate more sustainably. I’d like to invite you to a Company Meeting on Zoom on Tuesday, March 5, 2024 at 5:00pm to discuss launching one such initiative: a new Mentorship and Emerging Artist Program. This unique 8-month program will assist a cohort of young artists in bridging the gap between their training and the profession, while paying forward the accumulated wisdom and opportunities that our Resident Company members have benefited from. Building upon the intergenerational dynamic of our existing company, this program takes what The Actors Center does exceptionally well and extends it to a new demographic. There are many effective places for young actors to train and take classes, but this program seeks to augment that with mentorship and guidance toward one’s overall growth as an artist. We can support these individuals in finding their artistic voice and holding on to what they uniquely have to offer our profession, amid all of the practical questions of entering the business. I’ll share more details about the proposed pilot program at the company meeting, as well as in a follow up email for those who cannot attend. I’d be grateful for your feedback, engagement, and support as we explore this vital next step as an organization. After 8 years of...

  • The Writer’s CoLab, Winter 2024

    The Writer’s CoLab, Winter 2024

    Pier 57 25 11th Avenue, NYC, NY, United States

    COMPANY COLABS The Writer's CoLab Wednesday Mornings Dates & Times Wednesday, January 24, 2024 – 10:00am-1:00pm Wednesday, January 31, 2024 – 10:00am-1:00pm Wednesday, February 7, 2024 – 10:00am-1:00pm Wednesday, February 14, 2024 – 10:00am-1:00pm Wednesday, February 21, 2024 – 10:00am-1:00pm Wednesday, February 28, 2024 – 10:00am-1:00pm Wednesday, March 6, 2024 – 10:00am-1:00pm Wednesday, March 13, 2024 – 10:00am-1:00pm Pier 57, 25 11th Avenue Hosted by Emily Kratter, Lena Kaminsky, Rebecca Harris, and Kathleen Turco-Lyon About the CoLab The Writer’s CoLab is a space where members can gather to write and share pages. Writing can often be isolating and working from home can be distracting. Our hope is to establish a designated space to work collectively each week, making the writing process more communal, offering accountability, and creating an opportunity to hear work aloud. The first two hours of the meeting will be devoted to independent work. You are welcome to use that time however you’d like. There will be three prompts offered at the beginning of each session to inspire if needed. The third hour will be devoted to sharing and reading. Each week, two people will have the opportunity to sign up for a 30-minute slot to use according to what is most helpful for their process. In most cases, the writer will assign roles for their pages, the pages will be read aloud, and if desired, the writer can ask for a round of feedback based upon their specific questions and needs. If you are not writing but would like to join for the reading portion of this gathering to participate or listen to the shared work, you are more than welcome. Sessions run Wednesday mornings from 10am-1pm from January 24th- February 28th. About the Series Company CoLabs are a series at The Actors Center that offer a framework for collaborative explorations and community programming among company members. Company members host or facilitate projects—play reading groups, explorations of new material or approaches, writing labs, devising work, field trips, retreats—in short, anything inspiring to explore among peers. CoLabs offer creative outlets to explore work you might not otherwise have the opportunity for, while continuing to share resources and deepen connections among our Actors Center community. RSVP Now Comments/Queries

  • CoLab: Singing Space (3/7)

    COMPANY COLABS Singing Space Thursday Afternoon Dates & Times Thursday, March 7, 2024 – 2:00pm-5:00pm Houghton Hall, 22 East 30th Street, 2nd Floor Ballroom Hosted by Alison Cimmet & Ka-Ling Cheung About the CoLab Company members Ka-Ling Cheung and Alison Cimmet are hosting another edition of Singing Space. Singers of all levels (as well as those who consider themselves non-singers) are welcome! Try out some repertoire, prepare an audition, work on your nerves, or just have fun! Participants will work individually on the song of their choice. An accompanist will be provided. Each participant will choose how to spend their allotted time and if/how they would like feedback from the group. There will be no teacher and facilitators Ka-Ling and Alison will ensure a supportive atmosphere. Observers are welcomed and encouraged! About the Series Company CoLabs are a series at The Actors Center that offer a framework for collaborative explorations and community programming among company members. Company members host or facilitate projects—play reading groups, explorations of new material or approaches, writing labs, devising work, field trips, retreats—in short, anything inspiring to explore among peers. CoLabs offer creative outlets to explore work you might not otherwise have the opportunity for, while continuing to share resources and deepen connections among our Actors Center community. RSVP Now Comments/Queries

  • Study Hall: Weekly Writing Space

    Study Hall, Winter 2024

    COMPANY COLABS Study Hall Friday Mornings Dates & Times Friday, January 12, 2024 - 9:00am-11:00am ET Friday, January 19, 2024 - 9:00am-11:00am ET Friday, January 26, 2024 - 9:00am-11:00am ET Friday, February 2, 2024 - 9:00am-11:00am ET Friday, February 9, 2024 - 9:00am-11:00am ET Friday, February 16, 2024 - 9:00am-11:00am ET Friday, February 23, 2024 - 9:00am-11:00am ET Friday, March 1, 2024 - 9:00am-11:00am ET Friday, March 8, 2024 - 9:00am-11:00am ET Friday, March 15, 2024 - 9:00am-11:00am ET On Zoom Hosted by Heidi Armbruster About the CoLab From Host Heidi Armbruster: Happy New Year! Do you want to jumpstart your writing goals for 2024? Have you been toying with a writing idea but haven't been able to set aside time to make it happen? Or are you like me—and you sit down with good intentions to do some writing—but then "squirrel!" to something shiny like cleaning toilets or baking emergency banana bread? Study Hall can help! I've found that writing ”alone together” can help to keep me accountable. Sometimes a community of people at work is what I need to start a project, make progress in my writing, or (fingers crossed!) finish something. Join me and the rest of the Study Hall crew for a 2024 edition. Open to all newcomers and returning Study Hall-ers About the Series Company CoLabs are a series at The Actors Center that offer a framework for collaborative explorations and community programming among company members. Company members host or facilitate projects—play reading groups, explorations of new material or approaches, writing labs, devising work, field trips, retreats—in short, anything inspiring to explore among peers. CoLabs offer creative outlets to explore work you might not otherwise have the opportunity for, while continuing to share resources and deepen connections among our Actors Center community. RSVP Now Comments/Queries

  • CoLab: The Artist’s Way

    CoLab: The Artist’s Way

    COMPANY COLABS The Artist's Way Once a Week on Zoom Dates & Times Tentative Date: Saturday Mornings – 11:00am ET / 8:00am PT Beginning February 3, 2024 The day and time is negotiable Hosted by Jason Butler Harner About the CoLab From Jason Butler Harner: Have you ever thought about doing The Artist’s Way? Or maybe you did it years ago, and could use some hopeful invigoration now? Anyone ever started, not completed, and/or had the books gathering dust on your shelf, in the closet, or under a bed side-eying you? Well I have and I’d like to complete it this time. Here’s a chance for community support towards completion and inspiration. Let’s go diving for pearls. The key task in the book is the dreaded Morning Pages with a few artist dates alone in the week, and occasional time for introspection. I’m starting a group, with the solid goal of completing the 13 week cycle. Here’s how it will work: We meet once a week on Zoom for 60-75 minutes. We read the short chapter aloud until the ‘Tasks and Check In’ section, followed by a brief discussion. We also pair or throuple up. These smaller groups will encourage each other throughout the week, however each decides best for that group. I could potentially record the discussion portion and make it accessible for anyone who can’t join that week, with the set intention of showing up for each other and ourselves. The day and time is negotiable. Weekend mornings seem optimal currently. If you're interested, please kindly RSVP by Friday, January 26th. ​Let’s leap so the net will appear - yet again. Hoping for a nice group. About the Series Company CoLabs are a series at The Actors Center that offer a framework for collaborative explorations and community programming among company members. Company members host or facilitate projects—play reading groups, explorations of new material or approaches, writing labs, devising work, field trips, retreats—in short, anything inspiring to explore among peers. CoLabs offer creative outlets to explore work you might not otherwise have the opportunity for, while continuing to share resources and deepen connections among our Actors Center community. RSVP to Attend This CoLab is now full. Comments/Queries

  • Fay Simpson: The Art of Layering (3/4-3/25)

    Fay Simpson: The Art of Layering (3/4-3/25)

    In-Person Workshop FAY SIMPSON: The Art of Layering, Embodying Text with Complexity Four Monday Mornings Dates & Times Monday, March 4, 2024 – 10:00am-1:00pm Monday, March 11, 2024 – 10:00am-1:00pm Monday, March 18, 2024 – 10:00am-1:00pm Monday, March 25, 2024 – 10:00am-1:00pm Lucid Body House, 230 Lexington Ave (at 34th Street) Unfortunately we are unable to accommodate observers for this workshop. About the Workshop Founder of The Lucid Body and NYU faculty member Fay Simpson returns to The Actors Center to lead a workshop over four Mondays in March. Fay will introduce her unique physical training method for the actor, the Lucid Body, offering tools for character diagnosis and to help participants create differing layers present in a character’s given circumstances. She'll then guide participants in the art of keeping those layers alive in the body. Every session will start with a robust articulating warm up. Sessions run Monday mornings, 10:00am-1:00pm. About Fay Simpson Fay Simpson is the Founder of the Lucid Body, a somatic process for actors which connects a psychophysical awareness of the body with the ancient Hindu wisdom of the chakra energy centers. She is an Associate Arts Professor at NYU’s Graduate Acting Program, and has been the Artistic Director and co-founder of Impact Theatre since its creation in 1990 (D-Train, Degas’ Little Dancer, Marital Bliss of Francis and Maxine, Kurt’s Wife: A Story of Lotte Lenya, Grey Gone, and most recently, SCOTTY). 
The Lucid Body House opened in March of 2013, in midtown Manhattan. Fay has taught at The Yale School of Drama, The Studio/NY, The New School, Michael Howard Studios, Marymount Manhattan College, and The Actors Center. Fay is a coach and movement director for stage, TV, and film. She also co-founded a Theatre for Social Change summer program in Tanzania for Yale Drama students, as well as the Veterans Project in New York. She has a two year teacher training program with Lucid Body teachers now working around the world. The 2nd edition of her book, The Lucid Body; A Guide for the Physical Actor was published in 2020 and hailed by Drama Book Shop as “one of the ten most essential books for the actor.” www.lucidbody.com Register Now Participants Enrollment is limited to 14 actors. Participants are expected to attend all sessions. Very limited conflicts can be accommodated. Comments/Queries

  • Weekly Community Space

    Weekly Community Space

    Company CoLabs Community Space Tuesday Mornings Dates & Times Every Tuesday – 11:00am-12:30pm ET Launch Zoom Link Meeting ID: 837 0411 7798 Passcode: 374737 Hosted by Jodie Lynne McClintock About the CoLab Started three years ago at the height of the Covid-19 lockdown as a way to connect, it has continued weekly as a family of actors navigating the changing landscape of our times. Here you will find a supportive, safe virtual space where artists in our company bring their stories, concerns, questions, recommendations, and inspirations in a free-wheeling but facilitated discussion. With no set agenda, we delve into whatever is of interest or concern in any given week. We explore what it means to be an actor and what place our art holds in the world.  People suggest balm for body and soul while walking hand-in-hand along the actor’s way. About the Series Company CoLabs are a series at The Actors Center that offer a framework for collaborative explorations and community programming among company members. Company members host or facilitate projects—play reading groups, explorations of new material or approaches, writing labs, devising work, field trips, retreats—in short, anything inspiring to explore among peers. CoLabs offer creative outlets to explore work you might not otherwise have the opportunity for, while continuing to share resources and deepen connections among our Actors Center community. Comments/Queries

  • The Writer’s CoLab, Winter 2024

    The Writer’s CoLab, Winter 2024

    Pier 57 25 11th Avenue, NYC, NY, United States

    COMPANY COLABS The Writer's CoLab Wednesday Mornings Dates & Times Wednesday, January 24, 2024 – 10:00am-1:00pm Wednesday, January 31, 2024 – 10:00am-1:00pm Wednesday, February 7, 2024 – 10:00am-1:00pm Wednesday, February 14, 2024 – 10:00am-1:00pm Wednesday, February 21, 2024 – 10:00am-1:00pm Wednesday, February 28, 2024 – 10:00am-1:00pm Wednesday, March 6, 2024 – 10:00am-1:00pm Wednesday, March 13, 2024 – 10:00am-1:00pm Pier 57, 25 11th Avenue Hosted by Emily Kratter, Lena Kaminsky, Rebecca Harris, and Kathleen Turco-Lyon About the CoLab The Writer’s CoLab is a space where members can gather to write and share pages. Writing can often be isolating and working from home can be distracting. Our hope is to establish a designated space to work collectively each week, making the writing process more communal, offering accountability, and creating an opportunity to hear work aloud. The first two hours of the meeting will be devoted to independent work. You are welcome to use that time however you’d like. There will be three prompts offered at the beginning of each session to inspire if needed. The third hour will be devoted to sharing and reading. Each week, two people will have the opportunity to sign up for a 30-minute slot to use according to what is most helpful for their process. In most cases, the writer will assign roles for their pages, the pages will be read aloud, and if desired, the writer can ask for a round of feedback based upon their specific questions and needs. If you are not writing but would like to join for the reading portion of this gathering to participate or listen to the shared work, you are more than welcome. Sessions run Wednesday mornings from 10am-1pm from January 24th- February 28th. About the Series Company CoLabs are a series at The Actors Center that offer a framework for collaborative explorations and community programming among company members. Company members host or facilitate projects—play reading groups, explorations of new material or approaches, writing labs, devising work, field trips, retreats—in short, anything inspiring to explore among peers. CoLabs offer creative outlets to explore work you might not otherwise have the opportunity for, while continuing to share resources and deepen connections among our Actors Center community. RSVP Now Comments/Queries

  • Haruna Lee: Breaking Open the Pilot

    Haruna Lee: Breaking Open the Pilot (3/14-4/25)

    In-Person Workshop HARUNA LEE: Breaking Open the Pilot Six Thursday Afternoons Dates & Times Thursday, March 14, 2024 – 3:00pm-5:30pm Thursday, March 21, 2024 – 3:00pm-5:30pm —No Class, Thursday, March 28, 2024— Thursday, April 4, 2024 – 3:00pm-5:30pm Thursday, April 11, 2024 – 3:00pm-5:30pm Thursday, April 18, 2024 – 3:00pm-5:30pm Thursday, April 25, 2024 – 3:00pm-5:30pm Theaterlab, 357 West 36th Street, 4th floor Atelier Unfortunately we are unable to accommodate observers for this workshop. About the Workshop Theater maker, screenwriter, and educator Haruna Lee comes to The Actors Center for the first time for a 6-week workshop focusing on “The Pilot”. Learn the fundamentals of TV writing by deconstructing the most important episode of a new series. We'll do a deep dive into the nuts and bolts—going over the structural and technical elements that make up any pilot, as well as reading, watching, and discussing scripts each week to sharpen our analysis. You'll also receive creative writing assignments outside of class to begin your own journey of writing your pilot episode. Sessions run Thursdays starting March 14 from 3:00pm-5:30pm. About Haruna Lee Haruna Lee is a Taiwanese/Japanese/American theater maker, screenwriter, educator and community steward whose work is rooted in a liberation-based healing practice. They wrote for AppleTV+'s Pachinko, HBO Max’s The Flight Attendant, and have been in TV development with Composition 8, Chatham Grove, Alloy Entertainment and WBTV, JuVee, Archer Gray, and other projects. Plays include War Lesbian (Dixon Place 2014), Memory Retrograde (Ars Nova 2017, UTR 2018), plural (love) (WP Pipeline Festival 2022, Soho Rep Writer/Director Lab 2019) and Suicide Forest (Ma-Yi Theater & Bushwick Starr 2019, remount 2020), for which they received an Obie Award for Playwriting and Conception and was on the 2020 Kilroys List. Lee has received the Steinberg Playwright Award, the Ollie New Play Award, FCA Grants to Artists Award, a MacDowell Fellowship including the Keith Haring Fellowship, the Map Fund Grant, the New Dramatists Van Lier Fellowship, and is a currently a member of New Dramatists (2023-2030) and a member of the 2019 artEquity cohort. Their writing has been published by 53rd State Press, Theater Magazine, Table Work. They’ve collaborated as a writer, performer, and in other myriad roles with artists such as Lynn Nottage, Vanessa German, Aya Ogawa, Ralph Lee, Mac Wellman, Cesar Alvarez, Kate Benson, Minor Theater, Normandy Sherwood, Taylor Mac, Andrea Geyer, David Lang, NAATCO and Anohni—among others. They've taught playwriting and devised theater at Brooklyn College, Stanford, NYU, Pace,...

  • Study Hall: Weekly Writing Space

    Study Hall, Winter 2024

    COMPANY COLABS Study Hall Friday Mornings Dates & Times Friday, January 12, 2024 - 9:00am-11:00am ET Friday, January 19, 2024 - 9:00am-11:00am ET Friday, January 26, 2024 - 9:00am-11:00am ET Friday, February 2, 2024 - 9:00am-11:00am ET Friday, February 9, 2024 - 9:00am-11:00am ET Friday, February 16, 2024 - 9:00am-11:00am ET Friday, February 23, 2024 - 9:00am-11:00am ET Friday, March 1, 2024 - 9:00am-11:00am ET Friday, March 8, 2024 - 9:00am-11:00am ET Friday, March 15, 2024 - 9:00am-11:00am ET On Zoom Hosted by Heidi Armbruster About the CoLab From Host Heidi Armbruster: Happy New Year! Do you want to jumpstart your writing goals for 2024? Have you been toying with a writing idea but haven't been able to set aside time to make it happen? Or are you like me—and you sit down with good intentions to do some writing—but then "squirrel!" to something shiny like cleaning toilets or baking emergency banana bread? Study Hall can help! I've found that writing ”alone together” can help to keep me accountable. Sometimes a community of people at work is what I need to start a project, make progress in my writing, or (fingers crossed!) finish something. Join me and the rest of the Study Hall crew for a 2024 edition. Open to all newcomers and returning Study Hall-ers About the Series Company CoLabs are a series at The Actors Center that offer a framework for collaborative explorations and community programming among company members. Company members host or facilitate projects—play reading groups, explorations of new material or approaches, writing labs, devising work, field trips, retreats—in short, anything inspiring to explore among peers. CoLabs offer creative outlets to explore work you might not otherwise have the opportunity for, while continuing to share resources and deepen connections among our Actors Center community. RSVP Now Comments/Queries

  • Kevin Isola: Clown (3/16-3/17)

    Kevin Isola: Clown (3/16-3/17)

    In-Person Workshop KEVIN ISOLA: Clown Weekend Workshop Dates & Times Saturday, March 16, 2024 – 10:00am-5:00pm Saturday, March 17, 2024 – 10:00am-5:00pm Gibney: Agnes Varis Performing Arts Center, Studio X 280 Broadway, Enter at 53A Chambers Street Unfortunately we are unable to accommodate observers for this workshop. About the Workshop Actor, teacher, and NYU Grad Acting faculty, Kevin Isola, returns to The Actors Center for a weekend workshop in March, diving into the world of the clown. Come tap into your sense of joy and invite the assumption of your own brilliance to be a guiding force in your work. We’ll demystify and befriend the concept of failure so that risk, surprise, fearlessness, and delight can become the backbone of your artistry. Sessions run Saturday and Sunday, 10:00am-5:00pm with a lunch break. About Kevin Isola Kevin Isola has been on the faculty of NYU’s Graduate Acting Program for the past 14 years where he teaches Shakespeare’s Clowns in the first year and Advanced Theatre Clowning Techniques in the third year. Additionally, he’s been invited to teach at The Actors Center, Fordham University, Wagner College, Muhlenberg College, Red Bull Theatre, Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey, and The 52nd Street Project. Kevin is a professional actor who for the past three decades has performed in most every facet of the entertainment industry. He is also a co-creator of the clown show The New Bozena with Rainn Wilson (The Office), David Costabile (Billions, Lincoln), and Michael Dahlen (Blue Man Group) which ran for five months Off-Broadway, continued regionally, and was sold to Twentieth Century Fox. Register Now Participants Enrollment is limited to 16 actors. Participants are expected to attend both sessions in full. Comments/Queries

  • CoLab: The Artist’s Way

    CoLab: The Artist’s Way

    COMPANY COLABS The Artist's Way Once a Week on Zoom Dates & Times Tentative Date: Saturday Mornings – 11:00am ET / 8:00am PT Beginning February 3, 2024 The day and time is negotiable Hosted by Jason Butler Harner About the CoLab From Jason Butler Harner: Have you ever thought about doing The Artist’s Way? Or maybe you did it years ago, and could use some hopeful invigoration now? Anyone ever started, not completed, and/or had the books gathering dust on your shelf, in the closet, or under a bed side-eying you? Well I have and I’d like to complete it this time. Here’s a chance for community support towards completion and inspiration. Let’s go diving for pearls. The key task in the book is the dreaded Morning Pages with a few artist dates alone in the week, and occasional time for introspection. I’m starting a group, with the solid goal of completing the 13 week cycle. Here’s how it will work: We meet once a week on Zoom for 60-75 minutes. We read the short chapter aloud until the ‘Tasks and Check In’ section, followed by a brief discussion. We also pair or throuple up. These smaller groups will encourage each other throughout the week, however each decides best for that group. I could potentially record the discussion portion and make it accessible for anyone who can’t join that week, with the set intention of showing up for each other and ourselves. The day and time is negotiable. Weekend mornings seem optimal currently. If you're interested, please kindly RSVP by Friday, January 26th. ​Let’s leap so the net will appear - yet again. Hoping for a nice group. About the Series Company CoLabs are a series at The Actors Center that offer a framework for collaborative explorations and community programming among company members. Company members host or facilitate projects—play reading groups, explorations of new material or approaches, writing labs, devising work, field trips, retreats—in short, anything inspiring to explore among peers. CoLabs offer creative outlets to explore work you might not otherwise have the opportunity for, while continuing to share resources and deepen connections among our Actors Center community. RSVP to Attend This CoLab is now full. Comments/Queries

  • Kevin Isola: Clown (3/16-3/17)

    Kevin Isola: Clown (3/16-3/17)

    In-Person Workshop KEVIN ISOLA: Clown Weekend Workshop Dates & Times Saturday, March 16, 2024 – 10:00am-5:00pm Saturday, March 17, 2024 – 10:00am-5:00pm Gibney: Agnes Varis Performing Arts Center, Studio X 280 Broadway, Enter at 53A Chambers Street Unfortunately we are unable to accommodate observers for this workshop. About the Workshop Actor, teacher, and NYU Grad Acting faculty, Kevin Isola, returns to The Actors Center for a weekend workshop in March, diving into the world of the clown. Come tap into your sense of joy and invite the assumption of your own brilliance to be a guiding force in your work. We’ll demystify and befriend the concept of failure so that risk, surprise, fearlessness, and delight can become the backbone of your artistry. Sessions run Saturday and Sunday, 10:00am-5:00pm with a lunch break. About Kevin Isola Kevin Isola has been on the faculty of NYU’s Graduate Acting Program for the past 14 years where he teaches Shakespeare’s Clowns in the first year and Advanced Theatre Clowning Techniques in the third year. Additionally, he’s been invited to teach at The Actors Center, Fordham University, Wagner College, Muhlenberg College, Red Bull Theatre, Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey, and The 52nd Street Project. Kevin is a professional actor who for the past three decades has performed in most every facet of the entertainment industry. He is also a co-creator of the clown show The New Bozena with Rainn Wilson (The Office), David Costabile (Billions, Lincoln), and Michael Dahlen (Blue Man Group) which ran for five months Off-Broadway, continued regionally, and was sold to Twentieth Century Fox. Register Now Participants Enrollment is limited to 16 actors. Participants are expected to attend both sessions in full. Comments/Queries

  • Fay Simpson: The Art of Layering (3/4-3/25)

    Fay Simpson: The Art of Layering (3/4-3/25)

    In-Person Workshop FAY SIMPSON: The Art of Layering, Embodying Text with Complexity Four Monday Mornings Dates & Times Monday, March 4, 2024 – 10:00am-1:00pm Monday, March 11, 2024 – 10:00am-1:00pm Monday, March 18, 2024 – 10:00am-1:00pm Monday, March 25, 2024 – 10:00am-1:00pm Lucid Body House, 230 Lexington Ave (at 34th Street) Unfortunately we are unable to accommodate observers for this workshop. About the Workshop Founder of The Lucid Body and NYU faculty member Fay Simpson returns to The Actors Center to lead a workshop over four Mondays in March. Fay will introduce her unique physical training method for the actor, the Lucid Body, offering tools for character diagnosis and to help participants create differing layers present in a character’s given circumstances. She'll then guide participants in the art of keeping those layers alive in the body. Every session will start with a robust articulating warm up. Sessions run Monday mornings, 10:00am-1:00pm. About Fay Simpson Fay Simpson is the Founder of the Lucid Body, a somatic process for actors which connects a psychophysical awareness of the body with the ancient Hindu wisdom of the chakra energy centers. She is an Associate Arts Professor at NYU’s Graduate Acting Program, and has been the Artistic Director and co-founder of Impact Theatre since its creation in 1990 (D-Train, Degas’ Little Dancer, Marital Bliss of Francis and Maxine, Kurt’s Wife: A Story of Lotte Lenya, Grey Gone, and most recently, SCOTTY). 
The Lucid Body House opened in March of 2013, in midtown Manhattan. Fay has taught at The Yale School of Drama, The Studio/NY, The New School, Michael Howard Studios, Marymount Manhattan College, and The Actors Center. Fay is a coach and movement director for stage, TV, and film. She also co-founded a Theatre for Social Change summer program in Tanzania for Yale Drama students, as well as the Veterans Project in New York. She has a two year teacher training program with Lucid Body teachers now working around the world. The 2nd edition of her book, The Lucid Body; A Guide for the Physical Actor was published in 2020 and hailed by Drama Book Shop as “one of the ten most essential books for the actor.” www.lucidbody.com Register Now Participants Enrollment is limited to 14 actors. Participants are expected to attend all sessions. Very limited conflicts can be accommodated. Comments/Queries

  • Weekly Community Space

    Weekly Community Space

    Company CoLabs Community Space Tuesday Mornings Dates & Times Every Tuesday – 11:00am-12:30pm ET Launch Zoom Link Meeting ID: 837 0411 7798 Passcode: 374737 Hosted by Jodie Lynne McClintock About the CoLab Started three years ago at the height of the Covid-19 lockdown as a way to connect, it has continued weekly as a family of actors navigating the changing landscape of our times. Here you will find a supportive, safe virtual space where artists in our company bring their stories, concerns, questions, recommendations, and inspirations in a free-wheeling but facilitated discussion. With no set agenda, we delve into whatever is of interest or concern in any given week. We explore what it means to be an actor and what place our art holds in the world.  People suggest balm for body and soul while walking hand-in-hand along the actor’s way. About the Series Company CoLabs are a series at The Actors Center that offer a framework for collaborative explorations and community programming among company members. Company members host or facilitate projects—play reading groups, explorations of new material or approaches, writing labs, devising work, field trips, retreats—in short, anything inspiring to explore among peers. CoLabs offer creative outlets to explore work you might not otherwise have the opportunity for, while continuing to share resources and deepen connections among our Actors Center community. Comments/Queries

  • Roundtable: Navigating Caregiving as a Working Artist

    Roundtable COMPANY ROUNDTABLE: Navigating Caregiving as a Working Artist Tuesday Midday Dates & Times Tuesday, March 19, 2024 – 12:30pm-1:30pm Facilitated by Adriana Gaviria, Parent Artist Advocacy League (PAAL) Executive Team and Company Member Please RSVP for the Zoom link About the Event Many actors in our company are parents to young children or are taking care of elderly family members. It can be incredibly challenging to navigate, while still holding onto one's identity as an artist. Come join us for a roundtable discussion. Share space, conversation, and connect with fellow company members who may be dealing with similar issues, or may have navigated them before and can share what worked for them. Learn more about PAAL and their work in the performing arts and media. We'll also discuss how The Actors Center can better support caregivers and our company serve as a resource. RSVP Comments/Queries

  • The Writer’s CoLab, Winter 2024

    The Writer’s CoLab, Spring 2024

    Pier 57 25 11th Avenue, NYC, NY, United States

    COMPANY COLABS The Writer's CoLab Wednesday Mornings Dates & Times Wednesday, March 20, 2024 – 10:00am-1:00pm Wednesday, March 27, 2024 – 10:00am-1:00pm Wednesday, April 3, 2024 – 10:00am-1:00pm Wednesday, April 10, 2024 – 10:00am-1:00pm Wednesday, April 17, 2024 – 10:00am-1:00pm Wednesday, April 24, 2024 – 10:00am-1:00pm Wednesday, May 1, 2024 – 10:00am-1:00pm Wednesday, May 8, 2024 – 10:00am-1:00pm Wednesday, May 15, 2024 – 10:00am-1:00pm Wednesday, May 22, 2024 – 10:00am-1:00pm Pier 57, 25 11th Avenue Hosted by Emily Kratter, Lena Kaminsky, Rebecca Harris, and Kathleen Turco-Lyon About the CoLab The Writer’s CoLab is a space where members can gather to write and share pages. Writing can often be isolating and working from home can be distracting. Our hope is to establish a designated space to work collectively each week, making the writing process more communal, offering accountability, and creating an opportunity to hear work aloud. The first two hours of the meeting will be devoted to independent work. You are welcome to use that time however you’d like. There will be three prompts offered at the beginning of each session to inspire if needed. The third hour will be devoted to sharing and reading. Each week, two people will have the opportunity to sign up for a 30-minute slot to use according to what is most helpful for their process. In most cases, the writer will assign roles for their pages, the pages will be read aloud, and if desired, the writer can ask for a round of feedback based upon their specific questions and needs. If you are not writing but would like to join for the reading portion of this gathering to participate or listen to the shared work, you are more than welcome. Sessions run Wednesday mornings from 10am-1pm. About the Series Company CoLabs are a series at The Actors Center that offer a framework for collaborative explorations and community programming among company members. Company members host or facilitate projects—play reading groups, explorations of new material or approaches, writing labs, devising work, field trips, retreats—in short, anything inspiring to explore among peers. CoLabs offer creative outlets to explore work you might not otherwise have the opportunity for, while continuing to share resources and deepen connections among our Actors Center community. RSVP Now Comments/Queries

  • Haruna Lee: Breaking Open the Pilot

    Haruna Lee: Breaking Open the Pilot (3/14-4/25)

    In-Person Workshop HARUNA LEE: Breaking Open the Pilot Six Thursday Afternoons Dates & Times Thursday, March 14, 2024 – 3:00pm-5:30pm Thursday, March 21, 2024 – 3:00pm-5:30pm —No Class, Thursday, March 28, 2024— Thursday, April 4, 2024 – 3:00pm-5:30pm Thursday, April 11, 2024 – 3:00pm-5:30pm Thursday, April 18, 2024 – 3:00pm-5:30pm Thursday, April 25, 2024 – 3:00pm-5:30pm Theaterlab, 357 West 36th Street, 4th floor Atelier Unfortunately we are unable to accommodate observers for this workshop. About the Workshop Theater maker, screenwriter, and educator Haruna Lee comes to The Actors Center for the first time for a 6-week workshop focusing on “The Pilot”. Learn the fundamentals of TV writing by deconstructing the most important episode of a new series. We'll do a deep dive into the nuts and bolts—going over the structural and technical elements that make up any pilot, as well as reading, watching, and discussing scripts each week to sharpen our analysis. You'll also receive creative writing assignments outside of class to begin your own journey of writing your pilot episode. Sessions run Thursdays starting March 14 from 3:00pm-5:30pm. About Haruna Lee Haruna Lee is a Taiwanese/Japanese/American theater maker, screenwriter, educator and community steward whose work is rooted in a liberation-based healing practice. They wrote for AppleTV+'s Pachinko, HBO Max’s The Flight Attendant, and have been in TV development with Composition 8, Chatham Grove, Alloy Entertainment and WBTV, JuVee, Archer Gray, and other projects. Plays include War Lesbian (Dixon Place 2014), Memory Retrograde (Ars Nova 2017, UTR 2018), plural (love) (WP Pipeline Festival 2022, Soho Rep Writer/Director Lab 2019) and Suicide Forest (Ma-Yi Theater & Bushwick Starr 2019, remount 2020), for which they received an Obie Award for Playwriting and Conception and was on the 2020 Kilroys List. Lee has received the Steinberg Playwright Award, the Ollie New Play Award, FCA Grants to Artists Award, a MacDowell Fellowship including the Keith Haring Fellowship, the Map Fund Grant, the New Dramatists Van Lier Fellowship, and is a currently a member of New Dramatists (2023-2030) and a member of the 2019 artEquity cohort. Their writing has been published by 53rd State Press, Theater Magazine, Table Work. They’ve collaborated as a writer, performer, and in other myriad roles with artists such as Lynn Nottage, Vanessa German, Aya Ogawa, Ralph Lee, Mac Wellman, Cesar Alvarez, Kate Benson, Minor Theater, Normandy Sherwood, Taylor Mac, Andrea Geyer, David Lang, NAATCO and Anohni—among others. They've taught playwriting and devised theater at Brooklyn College, Stanford, NYU, Pace,...

  • CoLab: The Artist’s Way

    CoLab: The Artist’s Way

    COMPANY COLABS The Artist's Way Once a Week on Zoom Dates & Times Tentative Date: Saturday Mornings – 11:00am ET / 8:00am PT Beginning February 3, 2024 The day and time is negotiable Hosted by Jason Butler Harner About the CoLab From Jason Butler Harner: Have you ever thought about doing The Artist’s Way? Or maybe you did it years ago, and could use some hopeful invigoration now? Anyone ever started, not completed, and/or had the books gathering dust on your shelf, in the closet, or under a bed side-eying you? Well I have and I’d like to complete it this time. Here’s a chance for community support towards completion and inspiration. Let’s go diving for pearls. The key task in the book is the dreaded Morning Pages with a few artist dates alone in the week, and occasional time for introspection. I’m starting a group, with the solid goal of completing the 13 week cycle. Here’s how it will work: We meet once a week on Zoom for 60-75 minutes. We read the short chapter aloud until the ‘Tasks and Check In’ section, followed by a brief discussion. We also pair or throuple up. These smaller groups will encourage each other throughout the week, however each decides best for that group. I could potentially record the discussion portion and make it accessible for anyone who can’t join that week, with the set intention of showing up for each other and ourselves. The day and time is negotiable. Weekend mornings seem optimal currently. If you're interested, please kindly RSVP by Friday, January 26th. ​Let’s leap so the net will appear - yet again. Hoping for a nice group. About the Series Company CoLabs are a series at The Actors Center that offer a framework for collaborative explorations and community programming among company members. Company members host or facilitate projects—play reading groups, explorations of new material or approaches, writing labs, devising work, field trips, retreats—in short, anything inspiring to explore among peers. CoLabs offer creative outlets to explore work you might not otherwise have the opportunity for, while continuing to share resources and deepen connections among our Actors Center community. RSVP to Attend This CoLab is now full. Comments/Queries

  • Fay Simpson: The Art of Layering (3/4-3/25)

    Fay Simpson: The Art of Layering (3/4-3/25)

    In-Person Workshop FAY SIMPSON: The Art of Layering, Embodying Text with Complexity Four Monday Mornings Dates & Times Monday, March 4, 2024 – 10:00am-1:00pm Monday, March 11, 2024 – 10:00am-1:00pm Monday, March 18, 2024 – 10:00am-1:00pm Monday, March 25, 2024 – 10:00am-1:00pm Lucid Body House, 230 Lexington Ave (at 34th Street) Unfortunately we are unable to accommodate observers for this workshop. About the Workshop Founder of The Lucid Body and NYU faculty member Fay Simpson returns to The Actors Center to lead a workshop over four Mondays in March. Fay will introduce her unique physical training method for the actor, the Lucid Body, offering tools for character diagnosis and to help participants create differing layers present in a character’s given circumstances. She'll then guide participants in the art of keeping those layers alive in the body. Every session will start with a robust articulating warm up. Sessions run Monday mornings, 10:00am-1:00pm. About Fay Simpson Fay Simpson is the Founder of the Lucid Body, a somatic process for actors which connects a psychophysical awareness of the body with the ancient Hindu wisdom of the chakra energy centers. She is an Associate Arts Professor at NYU’s Graduate Acting Program, and has been the Artistic Director and co-founder of Impact Theatre since its creation in 1990 (D-Train, Degas’ Little Dancer, Marital Bliss of Francis and Maxine, Kurt’s Wife: A Story of Lotte Lenya, Grey Gone, and most recently, SCOTTY). 
The Lucid Body House opened in March of 2013, in midtown Manhattan. Fay has taught at The Yale School of Drama, The Studio/NY, The New School, Michael Howard Studios, Marymount Manhattan College, and The Actors Center. Fay is a coach and movement director for stage, TV, and film. She also co-founded a Theatre for Social Change summer program in Tanzania for Yale Drama students, as well as the Veterans Project in New York. She has a two year teacher training program with Lucid Body teachers now working around the world. The 2nd edition of her book, The Lucid Body; A Guide for the Physical Actor was published in 2020 and hailed by Drama Book Shop as “one of the ten most essential books for the actor.” www.lucidbody.com Register Now Participants Enrollment is limited to 14 actors. Participants are expected to attend all sessions. Very limited conflicts can be accommodated. Comments/Queries

  • Weekly Community Space

    Weekly Community Space

    Company CoLabs Community Space Tuesday Mornings Dates & Times Every Tuesday – 11:00am-12:30pm ET Launch Zoom Link Meeting ID: 837 0411 7798 Passcode: 374737 Hosted by Jodie Lynne McClintock About the CoLab Started three years ago at the height of the Covid-19 lockdown as a way to connect, it has continued weekly as a family of actors navigating the changing landscape of our times. Here you will find a supportive, safe virtual space where artists in our company bring their stories, concerns, questions, recommendations, and inspirations in a free-wheeling but facilitated discussion. With no set agenda, we delve into whatever is of interest or concern in any given week. We explore what it means to be an actor and what place our art holds in the world.  People suggest balm for body and soul while walking hand-in-hand along the actor’s way. About the Series Company CoLabs are a series at The Actors Center that offer a framework for collaborative explorations and community programming among company members. Company members host or facilitate projects—play reading groups, explorations of new material or approaches, writing labs, devising work, field trips, retreats—in short, anything inspiring to explore among peers. CoLabs offer creative outlets to explore work you might not otherwise have the opportunity for, while continuing to share resources and deepen connections among our Actors Center community. Comments/Queries

  • The Writer’s CoLab, Winter 2024

    The Writer’s CoLab, Spring 2024

    Pier 57 25 11th Avenue, NYC, NY, United States

    COMPANY COLABS The Writer's CoLab Wednesday Mornings Dates & Times Wednesday, March 20, 2024 – 10:00am-1:00pm Wednesday, March 27, 2024 – 10:00am-1:00pm Wednesday, April 3, 2024 – 10:00am-1:00pm Wednesday, April 10, 2024 – 10:00am-1:00pm Wednesday, April 17, 2024 – 10:00am-1:00pm Wednesday, April 24, 2024 – 10:00am-1:00pm Wednesday, May 1, 2024 – 10:00am-1:00pm Wednesday, May 8, 2024 – 10:00am-1:00pm Wednesday, May 15, 2024 – 10:00am-1:00pm Wednesday, May 22, 2024 – 10:00am-1:00pm Pier 57, 25 11th Avenue Hosted by Emily Kratter, Lena Kaminsky, Rebecca Harris, and Kathleen Turco-Lyon About the CoLab The Writer’s CoLab is a space where members can gather to write and share pages. Writing can often be isolating and working from home can be distracting. Our hope is to establish a designated space to work collectively each week, making the writing process more communal, offering accountability, and creating an opportunity to hear work aloud. The first two hours of the meeting will be devoted to independent work. You are welcome to use that time however you’d like. There will be three prompts offered at the beginning of each session to inspire if needed. The third hour will be devoted to sharing and reading. Each week, two people will have the opportunity to sign up for a 30-minute slot to use according to what is most helpful for their process. In most cases, the writer will assign roles for their pages, the pages will be read aloud, and if desired, the writer can ask for a round of feedback based upon their specific questions and needs. If you are not writing but would like to join for the reading portion of this gathering to participate or listen to the shared work, you are more than welcome. Sessions run Wednesday mornings from 10am-1pm. About the Series Company CoLabs are a series at The Actors Center that offer a framework for collaborative explorations and community programming among company members. Company members host or facilitate projects—play reading groups, explorations of new material or approaches, writing labs, devising work, field trips, retreats—in short, anything inspiring to explore among peers. CoLabs offer creative outlets to explore work you might not otherwise have the opportunity for, while continuing to share resources and deepen connections among our Actors Center community. RSVP Now Comments/Queries

  • Study Hall, Spring 2024

    Study Hall, Spring 2024

    COMPANY COLABS Study Hall Friday Mornings Dates & Times Friday, March 29, 2024 - 9:00am-11:00am ET Friday, April 5, 2024 - 9:00am-11:00am ET Friday, April 12, 2024 - 9:00am-11:00am ET Friday, April 19, 2024 - 9:00am-11:00am ET Friday, April 26, 2024 - 9:00am-11:00am ET Friday, May 3, 2024 - 9:00am-11:00am ET Friday, May 10, 2024 - 9:00am-11:00am ET Friday, May 17, 2024 - 9:00am-11:00am ET On Zoom Hosted by Heidi Armbruster About the CoLab Spring is springing, energy is bursting and bubbling over, and the world underneath us is roiling with complexity. Do you have an inclination to record your thoughts and feelings? Maybe an inkling to turn it into a piece of art someday? Or are you currently working on a project and looking for some structure, deadlines, and accountability? Study Hall can help! I’ve found that writing “alone together” can help to keep me accountable. Sometimes a community of people at work is what I need to start a project, make progress in my writing, or (fingers crossed!) finish something. Join me and the rest of the Study Hall crew for our Spring 2024 edition. Open to all newcomers and returning Study Hall-ers. About the Series Company CoLabs are a series at The Actors Center that offer a framework for collaborative explorations and community programming among company members. Company members host or facilitate projects—play reading groups, explorations of new material or approaches, writing labs, devising work, field trips, retreats—in short, anything inspiring to explore among peers. CoLabs offer creative outlets to explore work you might not otherwise have the opportunity for, while continuing to share resources and deepen connections among our Actors Center community. RSVP Now Comments/Queries

  • Fitzmaurice Voicework & Storytelling CoLab (3/29 & 3/30)

    Fitzmaurice Voicework & Storytelling CoLab (3/29 & 3/30)

    COMPANY COLABS Fitzmaurice Voicework & Storytelling CoLab with Mel House Two Days Dates & Times Friday, March 29, 2024 – 11:00am-5:00pm Saturday, March 30, 2024 – 11:00am-5:00pm La Mama Rehearsal Studios, 47 Great Jones Street About the CoLab Company member Mel House is offering an immersive exploration of how the Fitzmaurice approach to voicework might be used to source embodied wisdom for storytelling and playmaking. During this 2-day intensive, participants will be introduced (or reintroduced) to Fitzmaurice Voicework, alongside writing prompts and play. Mel is in the early stages of launching a new project, using publicly sourced stories to create a play that celebrates the beautiful complexity of all of our bodies and advocates for bodily autonomy as a fundamental human right. She will be offering similar workshops in 2024 to a diverse range of people, who may not be experienced actors or storytellers, but who have important stories to tell. Mel would like to offer this workshop to company members, as an opportunity to refine her own practice before taking it out into the wider world, and she will be seeking feedback from participants. She is also seeking potential collaborators from our company, who might co-lead workshops, submit stories, and/or perform in a staged reading and beyond. About the Series Company CoLabs are a series at The Actors Center that offer a framework for collaborative explorations and community programming among company members. Company members host or facilitate projects—play reading groups, explorations of new material or approaches, writing labs, devising work, field trips, retreats—in short, anything inspiring to explore among peers. CoLabs offer creative outlets to explore work you might not otherwise have the opportunity for, while continuing to share resources and deepen connections among our Actors Center community. RSVP Now Comments/Queries

  • CoLab: The Artist’s Way

    CoLab: The Artist’s Way

    COMPANY COLABS The Artist's Way Once a Week on Zoom Dates & Times Tentative Date: Saturday Mornings – 11:00am ET / 8:00am PT Beginning February 3, 2024 The day and time is negotiable Hosted by Jason Butler Harner About the CoLab From Jason Butler Harner: Have you ever thought about doing The Artist’s Way? Or maybe you did it years ago, and could use some hopeful invigoration now? Anyone ever started, not completed, and/or had the books gathering dust on your shelf, in the closet, or under a bed side-eying you? Well I have and I’d like to complete it this time. Here’s a chance for community support towards completion and inspiration. Let’s go diving for pearls. The key task in the book is the dreaded Morning Pages with a few artist dates alone in the week, and occasional time for introspection. I’m starting a group, with the solid goal of completing the 13 week cycle. Here’s how it will work: We meet once a week on Zoom for 60-75 minutes. We read the short chapter aloud until the ‘Tasks and Check In’ section, followed by a brief discussion. We also pair or throuple up. These smaller groups will encourage each other throughout the week, however each decides best for that group. I could potentially record the discussion portion and make it accessible for anyone who can’t join that week, with the set intention of showing up for each other and ourselves. The day and time is negotiable. Weekend mornings seem optimal currently. If you're interested, please kindly RSVP by Friday, January 26th. ​Let’s leap so the net will appear - yet again. Hoping for a nice group. About the Series Company CoLabs are a series at The Actors Center that offer a framework for collaborative explorations and community programming among company members. Company members host or facilitate projects—play reading groups, explorations of new material or approaches, writing labs, devising work, field trips, retreats—in short, anything inspiring to explore among peers. CoLabs offer creative outlets to explore work you might not otherwise have the opportunity for, while continuing to share resources and deepen connections among our Actors Center community. RSVP to Attend This CoLab is now full. Comments/Queries

  • Fitzmaurice Voicework & Storytelling CoLab (3/29 & 3/30)

    Fitzmaurice Voicework & Storytelling CoLab (3/29 & 3/30)

    COMPANY COLABS Fitzmaurice Voicework & Storytelling CoLab with Mel House Two Days Dates & Times Friday, March 29, 2024 – 11:00am-5:00pm Saturday, March 30, 2024 – 11:00am-5:00pm La Mama Rehearsal Studios, 47 Great Jones Street About the CoLab Company member Mel House is offering an immersive exploration of how the Fitzmaurice approach to voicework might be used to source embodied wisdom for storytelling and playmaking. During this 2-day intensive, participants will be introduced (or reintroduced) to Fitzmaurice Voicework, alongside writing prompts and play. Mel is in the early stages of launching a new project, using publicly sourced stories to create a play that celebrates the beautiful complexity of all of our bodies and advocates for bodily autonomy as a fundamental human right. She will be offering similar workshops in 2024 to a diverse range of people, who may not be experienced actors or storytellers, but who have important stories to tell. Mel would like to offer this workshop to company members, as an opportunity to refine her own practice before taking it out into the wider world, and she will be seeking feedback from participants. She is also seeking potential collaborators from our company, who might co-lead workshops, submit stories, and/or perform in a staged reading and beyond. About the Series Company CoLabs are a series at The Actors Center that offer a framework for collaborative explorations and community programming among company members. Company members host or facilitate projects—play reading groups, explorations of new material or approaches, writing labs, devising work, field trips, retreats—in short, anything inspiring to explore among peers. CoLabs offer creative outlets to explore work you might not otherwise have the opportunity for, while continuing to share resources and deepen connections among our Actors Center community. RSVP Now Comments/Queries

  • Weekly Community Space

    Weekly Community Space

    Company CoLabs Community Space Tuesday Mornings Dates & Times Every Tuesday – 11:00am-12:30pm ET Launch Zoom Link Meeting ID: 837 0411 7798 Passcode: 374737 Hosted by Jodie Lynne McClintock About the CoLab Started three years ago at the height of the Covid-19 lockdown as a way to connect, it has continued weekly as a family of actors navigating the changing landscape of our times. Here you will find a supportive, safe virtual space where artists in our company bring their stories, concerns, questions, recommendations, and inspirations in a free-wheeling but facilitated discussion. With no set agenda, we delve into whatever is of interest or concern in any given week. We explore what it means to be an actor and what place our art holds in the world.  People suggest balm for body and soul while walking hand-in-hand along the actor’s way. About the Series Company CoLabs are a series at The Actors Center that offer a framework for collaborative explorations and community programming among company members. Company members host or facilitate projects—play reading groups, explorations of new material or approaches, writing labs, devising work, field trips, retreats—in short, anything inspiring to explore among peers. CoLabs offer creative outlets to explore work you might not otherwise have the opportunity for, while continuing to share resources and deepen connections among our Actors Center community. Comments/Queries

  • The Writer’s CoLab, Winter 2024

    The Writer’s CoLab, Spring 2024

    Pier 57 25 11th Avenue, NYC, NY, United States

    COMPANY COLABS The Writer's CoLab Wednesday Mornings Dates & Times Wednesday, March 20, 2024 – 10:00am-1:00pm Wednesday, March 27, 2024 – 10:00am-1:00pm Wednesday, April 3, 2024 – 10:00am-1:00pm Wednesday, April 10, 2024 – 10:00am-1:00pm Wednesday, April 17, 2024 – 10:00am-1:00pm Wednesday, April 24, 2024 – 10:00am-1:00pm Wednesday, May 1, 2024 – 10:00am-1:00pm Wednesday, May 8, 2024 – 10:00am-1:00pm Wednesday, May 15, 2024 – 10:00am-1:00pm Wednesday, May 22, 2024 – 10:00am-1:00pm Pier 57, 25 11th Avenue Hosted by Emily Kratter, Lena Kaminsky, Rebecca Harris, and Kathleen Turco-Lyon About the CoLab The Writer’s CoLab is a space where members can gather to write and share pages. Writing can often be isolating and working from home can be distracting. Our hope is to establish a designated space to work collectively each week, making the writing process more communal, offering accountability, and creating an opportunity to hear work aloud. The first two hours of the meeting will be devoted to independent work. You are welcome to use that time however you’d like. There will be three prompts offered at the beginning of each session to inspire if needed. The third hour will be devoted to sharing and reading. Each week, two people will have the opportunity to sign up for a 30-minute slot to use according to what is most helpful for their process. In most cases, the writer will assign roles for their pages, the pages will be read aloud, and if desired, the writer can ask for a round of feedback based upon their specific questions and needs. If you are not writing but would like to join for the reading portion of this gathering to participate or listen to the shared work, you are more than welcome. Sessions run Wednesday mornings from 10am-1pm. About the Series Company CoLabs are a series at The Actors Center that offer a framework for collaborative explorations and community programming among company members. Company members host or facilitate projects—play reading groups, explorations of new material or approaches, writing labs, devising work, field trips, retreats—in short, anything inspiring to explore among peers. CoLabs offer creative outlets to explore work you might not otherwise have the opportunity for, while continuing to share resources and deepen connections among our Actors Center community. RSVP Now Comments/Queries

  • Haruna Lee: Breaking Open the Pilot

    Haruna Lee: Breaking Open the Pilot (3/14-4/25)

    In-Person Workshop HARUNA LEE: Breaking Open the Pilot Six Thursday Afternoons Dates & Times Thursday, March 14, 2024 – 3:00pm-5:30pm Thursday, March 21, 2024 – 3:00pm-5:30pm —No Class, Thursday, March 28, 2024— Thursday, April 4, 2024 – 3:00pm-5:30pm Thursday, April 11, 2024 – 3:00pm-5:30pm Thursday, April 18, 2024 – 3:00pm-5:30pm Thursday, April 25, 2024 – 3:00pm-5:30pm Theaterlab, 357 West 36th Street, 4th floor Atelier Unfortunately we are unable to accommodate observers for this workshop. About the Workshop Theater maker, screenwriter, and educator Haruna Lee comes to The Actors Center for the first time for a 6-week workshop focusing on “The Pilot”. Learn the fundamentals of TV writing by deconstructing the most important episode of a new series. We'll do a deep dive into the nuts and bolts—going over the structural and technical elements that make up any pilot, as well as reading, watching, and discussing scripts each week to sharpen our analysis. You'll also receive creative writing assignments outside of class to begin your own journey of writing your pilot episode. Sessions run Thursdays starting March 14 from 3:00pm-5:30pm. About Haruna Lee Haruna Lee is a Taiwanese/Japanese/American theater maker, screenwriter, educator and community steward whose work is rooted in a liberation-based healing practice. They wrote for AppleTV+'s Pachinko, HBO Max’s The Flight Attendant, and have been in TV development with Composition 8, Chatham Grove, Alloy Entertainment and WBTV, JuVee, Archer Gray, and other projects. Plays include War Lesbian (Dixon Place 2014), Memory Retrograde (Ars Nova 2017, UTR 2018), plural (love) (WP Pipeline Festival 2022, Soho Rep Writer/Director Lab 2019) and Suicide Forest (Ma-Yi Theater & Bushwick Starr 2019, remount 2020), for which they received an Obie Award for Playwriting and Conception and was on the 2020 Kilroys List. Lee has received the Steinberg Playwright Award, the Ollie New Play Award, FCA Grants to Artists Award, a MacDowell Fellowship including the Keith Haring Fellowship, the Map Fund Grant, the New Dramatists Van Lier Fellowship, and is a currently a member of New Dramatists (2023-2030) and a member of the 2019 artEquity cohort. Their writing has been published by 53rd State Press, Theater Magazine, Table Work. They’ve collaborated as a writer, performer, and in other myriad roles with artists such as Lynn Nottage, Vanessa German, Aya Ogawa, Ralph Lee, Mac Wellman, Cesar Alvarez, Kate Benson, Minor Theater, Normandy Sherwood, Taylor Mac, Andrea Geyer, David Lang, NAATCO and Anohni—among others. They've taught playwriting and devised theater at Brooklyn College, Stanford, NYU, Pace,...

  • Study Hall, Spring 2024

    Study Hall, Spring 2024

    COMPANY COLABS Study Hall Friday Mornings Dates & Times Friday, March 29, 2024 - 9:00am-11:00am ET Friday, April 5, 2024 - 9:00am-11:00am ET Friday, April 12, 2024 - 9:00am-11:00am ET Friday, April 19, 2024 - 9:00am-11:00am ET Friday, April 26, 2024 - 9:00am-11:00am ET Friday, May 3, 2024 - 9:00am-11:00am ET Friday, May 10, 2024 - 9:00am-11:00am ET Friday, May 17, 2024 - 9:00am-11:00am ET On Zoom Hosted by Heidi Armbruster About the CoLab Spring is springing, energy is bursting and bubbling over, and the world underneath us is roiling with complexity. Do you have an inclination to record your thoughts and feelings? Maybe an inkling to turn it into a piece of art someday? Or are you currently working on a project and looking for some structure, deadlines, and accountability? Study Hall can help! I’ve found that writing “alone together” can help to keep me accountable. Sometimes a community of people at work is what I need to start a project, make progress in my writing, or (fingers crossed!) finish something. Join me and the rest of the Study Hall crew for our Spring 2024 edition. Open to all newcomers and returning Study Hall-ers. About the Series Company CoLabs are a series at The Actors Center that offer a framework for collaborative explorations and community programming among company members. Company members host or facilitate projects—play reading groups, explorations of new material or approaches, writing labs, devising work, field trips, retreats—in short, anything inspiring to explore among peers. CoLabs offer creative outlets to explore work you might not otherwise have the opportunity for, while continuing to share resources and deepen connections among our Actors Center community. RSVP Now Comments/Queries

  • CoLab: The Artist’s Way

    CoLab: The Artist’s Way

    COMPANY COLABS The Artist's Way Once a Week on Zoom Dates & Times Tentative Date: Saturday Mornings – 11:00am ET / 8:00am PT Beginning February 3, 2024 The day and time is negotiable Hosted by Jason Butler Harner About the CoLab From Jason Butler Harner: Have you ever thought about doing The Artist’s Way? Or maybe you did it years ago, and could use some hopeful invigoration now? Anyone ever started, not completed, and/or had the books gathering dust on your shelf, in the closet, or under a bed side-eying you? Well I have and I’d like to complete it this time. Here’s a chance for community support towards completion and inspiration. Let’s go diving for pearls. The key task in the book is the dreaded Morning Pages with a few artist dates alone in the week, and occasional time for introspection. I’m starting a group, with the solid goal of completing the 13 week cycle. Here’s how it will work: We meet once a week on Zoom for 60-75 minutes. We read the short chapter aloud until the ‘Tasks and Check In’ section, followed by a brief discussion. We also pair or throuple up. These smaller groups will encourage each other throughout the week, however each decides best for that group. I could potentially record the discussion portion and make it accessible for anyone who can’t join that week, with the set intention of showing up for each other and ourselves. The day and time is negotiable. Weekend mornings seem optimal currently. If you're interested, please kindly RSVP by Friday, January 26th. ​Let’s leap so the net will appear - yet again. Hoping for a nice group. About the Series Company CoLabs are a series at The Actors Center that offer a framework for collaborative explorations and community programming among company members. Company members host or facilitate projects—play reading groups, explorations of new material or approaches, writing labs, devising work, field trips, retreats—in short, anything inspiring to explore among peers. CoLabs offer creative outlets to explore work you might not otherwise have the opportunity for, while continuing to share resources and deepen connections among our Actors Center community. RSVP to Attend This CoLab is now full. Comments/Queries

  • Peter Jay Fernandez: Scene Study (4/6-4/14)

    Peter Jay Fernandez: Scene Study (4/6-4/14)

    In-Person Workshop PETER JAY FERNANDEZ: Scene Study Two Weekends Dates & Times Saturday, April 6, 2024 – 11:00am-2:00pm Sunday, April 7, 2024 – 11:00am-2:00pm Saturday, April 13, 2024 – 11:00am-2:00pm Sunday, April 14, 2024 – 11:00am-2:00pm Actors Theatre Workshop, 145 West 28th Street, 3rd Floor This workshop is open to observers and all company members are invited to attend. About the Workshop Actor and Columbia faculty member Peter Jay Fernandez returns to The Actors Center for four days of scene study this April. Peter Jay will work with company members on scenes of their choice from any 20th- or 21st-century play. Participants are encouraged to bring in new material that intrigues and challenges them, with an emphasis on practicing process as opposed to performance. Sessions meet 11:00am-2:00pm on Saturdays and Sundays. Peter Jay will work on up to three scenes each day. You can sign up either together with a scene partner or as an individual and you will be paired with another individual. When registering, you may indicate your availability. If desired, you may bring your scene in twice over the four days. You should be well rehearsed with your material for this workshop. If your schedule does not permit sufficient time to prepare, please sign up for a future workshop instead. If you are looking for a scene partner, you may post in the comments thread, or you can also find contact information for all members in the member directory. About Peter Jay Fernandez Peter Jay Fernandez is co-head of Columbia University’s MFA acting program. He previously served as co-head of acting in the graduate theatre program at The New School and has also taught at Yale School of Drama, Sarah Lawrence College, NYU Tisch School of the Arts, the Black Arts Institute, the Brown University/Trinity Repertory MFA Program, and the Berklee College of Music, among others. Peter is a two time Audelco winner and has appeared on Broadway in productions of All The Way, Cyrano De Bergerac; Julius Caesar; Henry IV; Jelly’s Last Jam; and The Merchant Of Venice. He originated the role of Caesar in August Wilson’s Gem of the Ocean at the Goodman Theater, the role of Curtis Lowe in the premiere of Ben Bettenbender’s Bliss at the Rattlestick Theatre Company, and the role of ‘the Oldest Old Man’ in Father Comes Home from the Wars, by Suzan Lori Parks, at the Public Theater. Off-Broadway credits include...

  • Peter Jay Fernandez: Scene Study (4/6-4/14)

    Peter Jay Fernandez: Scene Study (4/6-4/14)

    In-Person Workshop PETER JAY FERNANDEZ: Scene Study Two Weekends Dates & Times Saturday, April 6, 2024 – 11:00am-2:00pm Sunday, April 7, 2024 – 11:00am-2:00pm Saturday, April 13, 2024 – 11:00am-2:00pm Sunday, April 14, 2024 – 11:00am-2:00pm Actors Theatre Workshop, 145 West 28th Street, 3rd Floor This workshop is open to observers and all company members are invited to attend. About the Workshop Actor and Columbia faculty member Peter Jay Fernandez returns to The Actors Center for four days of scene study this April. Peter Jay will work with company members on scenes of their choice from any 20th- or 21st-century play. Participants are encouraged to bring in new material that intrigues and challenges them, with an emphasis on practicing process as opposed to performance. Sessions meet 11:00am-2:00pm on Saturdays and Sundays. Peter Jay will work on up to three scenes each day. You can sign up either together with a scene partner or as an individual and you will be paired with another individual. When registering, you may indicate your availability. If desired, you may bring your scene in twice over the four days. You should be well rehearsed with your material for this workshop. If your schedule does not permit sufficient time to prepare, please sign up for a future workshop instead. If you are looking for a scene partner, you may post in the comments thread, or you can also find contact information for all members in the member directory. About Peter Jay Fernandez Peter Jay Fernandez is co-head of Columbia University’s MFA acting program. He previously served as co-head of acting in the graduate theatre program at The New School and has also taught at Yale School of Drama, Sarah Lawrence College, NYU Tisch School of the Arts, the Black Arts Institute, the Brown University/Trinity Repertory MFA Program, and the Berklee College of Music, among others. Peter is a two time Audelco winner and has appeared on Broadway in productions of All The Way, Cyrano De Bergerac; Julius Caesar; Henry IV; Jelly’s Last Jam; and The Merchant Of Venice. He originated the role of Caesar in August Wilson’s Gem of the Ocean at the Goodman Theater, the role of Curtis Lowe in the premiere of Ben Bettenbender’s Bliss at the Rattlestick Theatre Company, and the role of ‘the Oldest Old Man’ in Father Comes Home from the Wars, by Suzan Lori Parks, at the Public Theater. Off-Broadway credits include...

  • Weekly Community Space

    Weekly Community Space

    Company CoLabs Community Space Tuesday Mornings Dates & Times Every Tuesday – 11:00am-12:30pm ET Launch Zoom Link Meeting ID: 837 0411 7798 Passcode: 374737 Hosted by Jodie Lynne McClintock About the CoLab Started three years ago at the height of the Covid-19 lockdown as a way to connect, it has continued weekly as a family of actors navigating the changing landscape of our times. Here you will find a supportive, safe virtual space where artists in our company bring their stories, concerns, questions, recommendations, and inspirations in a free-wheeling but facilitated discussion. With no set agenda, we delve into whatever is of interest or concern in any given week. We explore what it means to be an actor and what place our art holds in the world.  People suggest balm for body and soul while walking hand-in-hand along the actor’s way. About the Series Company CoLabs are a series at The Actors Center that offer a framework for collaborative explorations and community programming among company members. Company members host or facilitate projects—play reading groups, explorations of new material or approaches, writing labs, devising work, field trips, retreats—in short, anything inspiring to explore among peers. CoLabs offer creative outlets to explore work you might not otherwise have the opportunity for, while continuing to share resources and deepen connections among our Actors Center community. Comments/Queries

  • The Writer’s CoLab, Winter 2024

    The Writer’s CoLab, Spring 2024

    Pier 57 25 11th Avenue, NYC, NY, United States

    COMPANY COLABS The Writer's CoLab Wednesday Mornings Dates & Times Wednesday, March 20, 2024 – 10:00am-1:00pm Wednesday, March 27, 2024 – 10:00am-1:00pm Wednesday, April 3, 2024 – 10:00am-1:00pm Wednesday, April 10, 2024 – 10:00am-1:00pm Wednesday, April 17, 2024 – 10:00am-1:00pm Wednesday, April 24, 2024 – 10:00am-1:00pm Wednesday, May 1, 2024 – 10:00am-1:00pm Wednesday, May 8, 2024 – 10:00am-1:00pm Wednesday, May 15, 2024 – 10:00am-1:00pm Wednesday, May 22, 2024 – 10:00am-1:00pm Pier 57, 25 11th Avenue Hosted by Emily Kratter, Lena Kaminsky, Rebecca Harris, and Kathleen Turco-Lyon About the CoLab The Writer’s CoLab is a space where members can gather to write and share pages. Writing can often be isolating and working from home can be distracting. Our hope is to establish a designated space to work collectively each week, making the writing process more communal, offering accountability, and creating an opportunity to hear work aloud. The first two hours of the meeting will be devoted to independent work. You are welcome to use that time however you’d like. There will be three prompts offered at the beginning of each session to inspire if needed. The third hour will be devoted to sharing and reading. Each week, two people will have the opportunity to sign up for a 30-minute slot to use according to what is most helpful for their process. In most cases, the writer will assign roles for their pages, the pages will be read aloud, and if desired, the writer can ask for a round of feedback based upon their specific questions and needs. If you are not writing but would like to join for the reading portion of this gathering to participate or listen to the shared work, you are more than welcome. Sessions run Wednesday mornings from 10am-1pm. About the Series Company CoLabs are a series at The Actors Center that offer a framework for collaborative explorations and community programming among company members. Company members host or facilitate projects—play reading groups, explorations of new material or approaches, writing labs, devising work, field trips, retreats—in short, anything inspiring to explore among peers. CoLabs offer creative outlets to explore work you might not otherwise have the opportunity for, while continuing to share resources and deepen connections among our Actors Center community. RSVP Now Comments/Queries

  • Haruna Lee: Breaking Open the Pilot

    Haruna Lee: Breaking Open the Pilot (3/14-4/25)

    In-Person Workshop HARUNA LEE: Breaking Open the Pilot Six Thursday Afternoons Dates & Times Thursday, March 14, 2024 – 3:00pm-5:30pm Thursday, March 21, 2024 – 3:00pm-5:30pm —No Class, Thursday, March 28, 2024— Thursday, April 4, 2024 – 3:00pm-5:30pm Thursday, April 11, 2024 – 3:00pm-5:30pm Thursday, April 18, 2024 – 3:00pm-5:30pm Thursday, April 25, 2024 – 3:00pm-5:30pm Theaterlab, 357 West 36th Street, 4th floor Atelier Unfortunately we are unable to accommodate observers for this workshop. About the Workshop Theater maker, screenwriter, and educator Haruna Lee comes to The Actors Center for the first time for a 6-week workshop focusing on “The Pilot”. Learn the fundamentals of TV writing by deconstructing the most important episode of a new series. We'll do a deep dive into the nuts and bolts—going over the structural and technical elements that make up any pilot, as well as reading, watching, and discussing scripts each week to sharpen our analysis. You'll also receive creative writing assignments outside of class to begin your own journey of writing your pilot episode. Sessions run Thursdays starting March 14 from 3:00pm-5:30pm. About Haruna Lee Haruna Lee is a Taiwanese/Japanese/American theater maker, screenwriter, educator and community steward whose work is rooted in a liberation-based healing practice. They wrote for AppleTV+'s Pachinko, HBO Max’s The Flight Attendant, and have been in TV development with Composition 8, Chatham Grove, Alloy Entertainment and WBTV, JuVee, Archer Gray, and other projects. Plays include War Lesbian (Dixon Place 2014), Memory Retrograde (Ars Nova 2017, UTR 2018), plural (love) (WP Pipeline Festival 2022, Soho Rep Writer/Director Lab 2019) and Suicide Forest (Ma-Yi Theater & Bushwick Starr 2019, remount 2020), for which they received an Obie Award for Playwriting and Conception and was on the 2020 Kilroys List. Lee has received the Steinberg Playwright Award, the Ollie New Play Award, FCA Grants to Artists Award, a MacDowell Fellowship including the Keith Haring Fellowship, the Map Fund Grant, the New Dramatists Van Lier Fellowship, and is a currently a member of New Dramatists (2023-2030) and a member of the 2019 artEquity cohort. Their writing has been published by 53rd State Press, Theater Magazine, Table Work. They’ve collaborated as a writer, performer, and in other myriad roles with artists such as Lynn Nottage, Vanessa German, Aya Ogawa, Ralph Lee, Mac Wellman, Cesar Alvarez, Kate Benson, Minor Theater, Normandy Sherwood, Taylor Mac, Andrea Geyer, David Lang, NAATCO and Anohni—among others. They've taught playwriting and devised theater at Brooklyn College, Stanford, NYU, Pace,...

  • Study Hall, Spring 2024

    Study Hall, Spring 2024

    COMPANY COLABS Study Hall Friday Mornings Dates & Times Friday, March 29, 2024 - 9:00am-11:00am ET Friday, April 5, 2024 - 9:00am-11:00am ET Friday, April 12, 2024 - 9:00am-11:00am ET Friday, April 19, 2024 - 9:00am-11:00am ET Friday, April 26, 2024 - 9:00am-11:00am ET Friday, May 3, 2024 - 9:00am-11:00am ET Friday, May 10, 2024 - 9:00am-11:00am ET Friday, May 17, 2024 - 9:00am-11:00am ET On Zoom Hosted by Heidi Armbruster About the CoLab Spring is springing, energy is bursting and bubbling over, and the world underneath us is roiling with complexity. Do you have an inclination to record your thoughts and feelings? Maybe an inkling to turn it into a piece of art someday? Or are you currently working on a project and looking for some structure, deadlines, and accountability? Study Hall can help! I’ve found that writing “alone together” can help to keep me accountable. Sometimes a community of people at work is what I need to start a project, make progress in my writing, or (fingers crossed!) finish something. Join me and the rest of the Study Hall crew for our Spring 2024 edition. Open to all newcomers and returning Study Hall-ers. About the Series Company CoLabs are a series at The Actors Center that offer a framework for collaborative explorations and community programming among company members. Company members host or facilitate projects—play reading groups, explorations of new material or approaches, writing labs, devising work, field trips, retreats—in short, anything inspiring to explore among peers. CoLabs offer creative outlets to explore work you might not otherwise have the opportunity for, while continuing to share resources and deepen connections among our Actors Center community. RSVP Now Comments/Queries

  • CoLab: The Artist’s Way

    CoLab: The Artist’s Way

    COMPANY COLABS The Artist's Way Once a Week on Zoom Dates & Times Tentative Date: Saturday Mornings – 11:00am ET / 8:00am PT Beginning February 3, 2024 The day and time is negotiable Hosted by Jason Butler Harner About the CoLab From Jason Butler Harner: Have you ever thought about doing The Artist’s Way? Or maybe you did it years ago, and could use some hopeful invigoration now? Anyone ever started, not completed, and/or had the books gathering dust on your shelf, in the closet, or under a bed side-eying you? Well I have and I’d like to complete it this time. Here’s a chance for community support towards completion and inspiration. Let’s go diving for pearls. The key task in the book is the dreaded Morning Pages with a few artist dates alone in the week, and occasional time for introspection. I’m starting a group, with the solid goal of completing the 13 week cycle. Here’s how it will work: We meet once a week on Zoom for 60-75 minutes. We read the short chapter aloud until the ‘Tasks and Check In’ section, followed by a brief discussion. We also pair or throuple up. These smaller groups will encourage each other throughout the week, however each decides best for that group. I could potentially record the discussion portion and make it accessible for anyone who can’t join that week, with the set intention of showing up for each other and ourselves. The day and time is negotiable. Weekend mornings seem optimal currently. If you're interested, please kindly RSVP by Friday, January 26th. ​Let’s leap so the net will appear - yet again. Hoping for a nice group. About the Series Company CoLabs are a series at The Actors Center that offer a framework for collaborative explorations and community programming among company members. Company members host or facilitate projects—play reading groups, explorations of new material or approaches, writing labs, devising work, field trips, retreats—in short, anything inspiring to explore among peers. CoLabs offer creative outlets to explore work you might not otherwise have the opportunity for, while continuing to share resources and deepen connections among our Actors Center community. RSVP to Attend This CoLab is now full. Comments/Queries

  • Peter Jay Fernandez: Scene Study (4/6-4/14)

    Peter Jay Fernandez: Scene Study (4/6-4/14)

    In-Person Workshop PETER JAY FERNANDEZ: Scene Study Two Weekends Dates & Times Saturday, April 6, 2024 – 11:00am-2:00pm Sunday, April 7, 2024 – 11:00am-2:00pm Saturday, April 13, 2024 – 11:00am-2:00pm Sunday, April 14, 2024 – 11:00am-2:00pm Actors Theatre Workshop, 145 West 28th Street, 3rd Floor This workshop is open to observers and all company members are invited to attend. About the Workshop Actor and Columbia faculty member Peter Jay Fernandez returns to The Actors Center for four days of scene study this April. Peter Jay will work with company members on scenes of their choice from any 20th- or 21st-century play. Participants are encouraged to bring in new material that intrigues and challenges them, with an emphasis on practicing process as opposed to performance. Sessions meet 11:00am-2:00pm on Saturdays and Sundays. Peter Jay will work on up to three scenes each day. You can sign up either together with a scene partner or as an individual and you will be paired with another individual. When registering, you may indicate your availability. If desired, you may bring your scene in twice over the four days. You should be well rehearsed with your material for this workshop. If your schedule does not permit sufficient time to prepare, please sign up for a future workshop instead. If you are looking for a scene partner, you may post in the comments thread, or you can also find contact information for all members in the member directory. About Peter Jay Fernandez Peter Jay Fernandez is co-head of Columbia University’s MFA acting program. He previously served as co-head of acting in the graduate theatre program at The New School and has also taught at Yale School of Drama, Sarah Lawrence College, NYU Tisch School of the Arts, the Black Arts Institute, the Brown University/Trinity Repertory MFA Program, and the Berklee College of Music, among others. Peter is a two time Audelco winner and has appeared on Broadway in productions of All The Way, Cyrano De Bergerac; Julius Caesar; Henry IV; Jelly’s Last Jam; and The Merchant Of Venice. He originated the role of Caesar in August Wilson’s Gem of the Ocean at the Goodman Theater, the role of Curtis Lowe in the premiere of Ben Bettenbender’s Bliss at the Rattlestick Theatre Company, and the role of ‘the Oldest Old Man’ in Father Comes Home from the Wars, by Suzan Lori Parks, at the Public Theater. Off-Broadway credits include...

  • Peter Jay Fernandez: Scene Study (4/6-4/14)

    Peter Jay Fernandez: Scene Study (4/6-4/14)

    In-Person Workshop PETER JAY FERNANDEZ: Scene Study Two Weekends Dates & Times Saturday, April 6, 2024 – 11:00am-2:00pm Sunday, April 7, 2024 – 11:00am-2:00pm Saturday, April 13, 2024 – 11:00am-2:00pm Sunday, April 14, 2024 – 11:00am-2:00pm Actors Theatre Workshop, 145 West 28th Street, 3rd Floor This workshop is open to observers and all company members are invited to attend. About the Workshop Actor and Columbia faculty member Peter Jay Fernandez returns to The Actors Center for four days of scene study this April. Peter Jay will work with company members on scenes of their choice from any 20th- or 21st-century play. Participants are encouraged to bring in new material that intrigues and challenges them, with an emphasis on practicing process as opposed to performance. Sessions meet 11:00am-2:00pm on Saturdays and Sundays. Peter Jay will work on up to three scenes each day. You can sign up either together with a scene partner or as an individual and you will be paired with another individual. When registering, you may indicate your availability. If desired, you may bring your scene in twice over the four days. You should be well rehearsed with your material for this workshop. If your schedule does not permit sufficient time to prepare, please sign up for a future workshop instead. If you are looking for a scene partner, you may post in the comments thread, or you can also find contact information for all members in the member directory. About Peter Jay Fernandez Peter Jay Fernandez is co-head of Columbia University’s MFA acting program. He previously served as co-head of acting in the graduate theatre program at The New School and has also taught at Yale School of Drama, Sarah Lawrence College, NYU Tisch School of the Arts, the Black Arts Institute, the Brown University/Trinity Repertory MFA Program, and the Berklee College of Music, among others. Peter is a two time Audelco winner and has appeared on Broadway in productions of All The Way, Cyrano De Bergerac; Julius Caesar; Henry IV; Jelly’s Last Jam; and The Merchant Of Venice. He originated the role of Caesar in August Wilson’s Gem of the Ocean at the Goodman Theater, the role of Curtis Lowe in the premiere of Ben Bettenbender’s Bliss at the Rattlestick Theatre Company, and the role of ‘the Oldest Old Man’ in Father Comes Home from the Wars, by Suzan Lori Parks, at the Public Theater. Off-Broadway credits include...

  • Weekly Community Space

    Weekly Community Space

    Company CoLabs Community Space Tuesday Mornings Dates & Times Every Tuesday – 11:00am-12:30pm ET Launch Zoom Link Meeting ID: 837 0411 7798 Passcode: 374737 Hosted by Jodie Lynne McClintock About the CoLab Started three years ago at the height of the Covid-19 lockdown as a way to connect, it has continued weekly as a family of actors navigating the changing landscape of our times. Here you will find a supportive, safe virtual space where artists in our company bring their stories, concerns, questions, recommendations, and inspirations in a free-wheeling but facilitated discussion. With no set agenda, we delve into whatever is of interest or concern in any given week. We explore what it means to be an actor and what place our art holds in the world.  People suggest balm for body and soul while walking hand-in-hand along the actor’s way. About the Series Company CoLabs are a series at The Actors Center that offer a framework for collaborative explorations and community programming among company members. Company members host or facilitate projects—play reading groups, explorations of new material or approaches, writing labs, devising work, field trips, retreats—in short, anything inspiring to explore among peers. CoLabs offer creative outlets to explore work you might not otherwise have the opportunity for, while continuing to share resources and deepen connections among our Actors Center community. Comments/Queries

  • The Writer’s CoLab, Winter 2024

    The Writer’s CoLab, Spring 2024

    Pier 57 25 11th Avenue, NYC, NY, United States

    COMPANY COLABS The Writer's CoLab Wednesday Mornings Dates & Times Wednesday, March 20, 2024 – 10:00am-1:00pm Wednesday, March 27, 2024 – 10:00am-1:00pm Wednesday, April 3, 2024 – 10:00am-1:00pm Wednesday, April 10, 2024 – 10:00am-1:00pm Wednesday, April 17, 2024 – 10:00am-1:00pm Wednesday, April 24, 2024 – 10:00am-1:00pm Wednesday, May 1, 2024 – 10:00am-1:00pm Wednesday, May 8, 2024 – 10:00am-1:00pm Wednesday, May 15, 2024 – 10:00am-1:00pm Wednesday, May 22, 2024 – 10:00am-1:00pm Pier 57, 25 11th Avenue Hosted by Emily Kratter, Lena Kaminsky, Rebecca Harris, and Kathleen Turco-Lyon About the CoLab The Writer’s CoLab is a space where members can gather to write and share pages. Writing can often be isolating and working from home can be distracting. Our hope is to establish a designated space to work collectively each week, making the writing process more communal, offering accountability, and creating an opportunity to hear work aloud. The first two hours of the meeting will be devoted to independent work. You are welcome to use that time however you’d like. There will be three prompts offered at the beginning of each session to inspire if needed. The third hour will be devoted to sharing and reading. Each week, two people will have the opportunity to sign up for a 30-minute slot to use according to what is most helpful for their process. In most cases, the writer will assign roles for their pages, the pages will be read aloud, and if desired, the writer can ask for a round of feedback based upon their specific questions and needs. If you are not writing but would like to join for the reading portion of this gathering to participate or listen to the shared work, you are more than welcome. Sessions run Wednesday mornings from 10am-1pm. About the Series Company CoLabs are a series at The Actors Center that offer a framework for collaborative explorations and community programming among company members. Company members host or facilitate projects—play reading groups, explorations of new material or approaches, writing labs, devising work, field trips, retreats—in short, anything inspiring to explore among peers. CoLabs offer creative outlets to explore work you might not otherwise have the opportunity for, while continuing to share resources and deepen connections among our Actors Center community. RSVP Now Comments/Queries

  • Haruna Lee: Breaking Open the Pilot

    Haruna Lee: Breaking Open the Pilot (3/14-4/25)

    In-Person Workshop HARUNA LEE: Breaking Open the Pilot Six Thursday Afternoons Dates & Times Thursday, March 14, 2024 – 3:00pm-5:30pm Thursday, March 21, 2024 – 3:00pm-5:30pm —No Class, Thursday, March 28, 2024— Thursday, April 4, 2024 – 3:00pm-5:30pm Thursday, April 11, 2024 – 3:00pm-5:30pm Thursday, April 18, 2024 – 3:00pm-5:30pm Thursday, April 25, 2024 – 3:00pm-5:30pm Theaterlab, 357 West 36th Street, 4th floor Atelier Unfortunately we are unable to accommodate observers for this workshop. About the Workshop Theater maker, screenwriter, and educator Haruna Lee comes to The Actors Center for the first time for a 6-week workshop focusing on “The Pilot”. Learn the fundamentals of TV writing by deconstructing the most important episode of a new series. We'll do a deep dive into the nuts and bolts—going over the structural and technical elements that make up any pilot, as well as reading, watching, and discussing scripts each week to sharpen our analysis. You'll also receive creative writing assignments outside of class to begin your own journey of writing your pilot episode. Sessions run Thursdays starting March 14 from 3:00pm-5:30pm. About Haruna Lee Haruna Lee is a Taiwanese/Japanese/American theater maker, screenwriter, educator and community steward whose work is rooted in a liberation-based healing practice. They wrote for AppleTV+'s Pachinko, HBO Max’s The Flight Attendant, and have been in TV development with Composition 8, Chatham Grove, Alloy Entertainment and WBTV, JuVee, Archer Gray, and other projects. Plays include War Lesbian (Dixon Place 2014), Memory Retrograde (Ars Nova 2017, UTR 2018), plural (love) (WP Pipeline Festival 2022, Soho Rep Writer/Director Lab 2019) and Suicide Forest (Ma-Yi Theater & Bushwick Starr 2019, remount 2020), for which they received an Obie Award for Playwriting and Conception and was on the 2020 Kilroys List. Lee has received the Steinberg Playwright Award, the Ollie New Play Award, FCA Grants to Artists Award, a MacDowell Fellowship including the Keith Haring Fellowship, the Map Fund Grant, the New Dramatists Van Lier Fellowship, and is a currently a member of New Dramatists (2023-2030) and a member of the 2019 artEquity cohort. Their writing has been published by 53rd State Press, Theater Magazine, Table Work. They’ve collaborated as a writer, performer, and in other myriad roles with artists such as Lynn Nottage, Vanessa German, Aya Ogawa, Ralph Lee, Mac Wellman, Cesar Alvarez, Kate Benson, Minor Theater, Normandy Sherwood, Taylor Mac, Andrea Geyer, David Lang, NAATCO and Anohni—among others. They've taught playwriting and devised theater at Brooklyn College, Stanford, NYU, Pace,...

  • Study Hall, Spring 2024

    Study Hall, Spring 2024

    COMPANY COLABS Study Hall Friday Mornings Dates & Times Friday, March 29, 2024 - 9:00am-11:00am ET Friday, April 5, 2024 - 9:00am-11:00am ET Friday, April 12, 2024 - 9:00am-11:00am ET Friday, April 19, 2024 - 9:00am-11:00am ET Friday, April 26, 2024 - 9:00am-11:00am ET Friday, May 3, 2024 - 9:00am-11:00am ET Friday, May 10, 2024 - 9:00am-11:00am ET Friday, May 17, 2024 - 9:00am-11:00am ET On Zoom Hosted by Heidi Armbruster About the CoLab Spring is springing, energy is bursting and bubbling over, and the world underneath us is roiling with complexity. Do you have an inclination to record your thoughts and feelings? Maybe an inkling to turn it into a piece of art someday? Or are you currently working on a project and looking for some structure, deadlines, and accountability? Study Hall can help! I’ve found that writing “alone together” can help to keep me accountable. Sometimes a community of people at work is what I need to start a project, make progress in my writing, or (fingers crossed!) finish something. Join me and the rest of the Study Hall crew for our Spring 2024 edition. Open to all newcomers and returning Study Hall-ers. About the Series Company CoLabs are a series at The Actors Center that offer a framework for collaborative explorations and community programming among company members. Company members host or facilitate projects—play reading groups, explorations of new material or approaches, writing labs, devising work, field trips, retreats—in short, anything inspiring to explore among peers. CoLabs offer creative outlets to explore work you might not otherwise have the opportunity for, while continuing to share resources and deepen connections among our Actors Center community. RSVP Now Comments/Queries

  • CoLab: The Artist’s Way

    CoLab: The Artist’s Way

    COMPANY COLABS The Artist's Way Once a Week on Zoom Dates & Times Tentative Date: Saturday Mornings – 11:00am ET / 8:00am PT Beginning February 3, 2024 The day and time is negotiable Hosted by Jason Butler Harner About the CoLab From Jason Butler Harner: Have you ever thought about doing The Artist’s Way? Or maybe you did it years ago, and could use some hopeful invigoration now? Anyone ever started, not completed, and/or had the books gathering dust on your shelf, in the closet, or under a bed side-eying you? Well I have and I’d like to complete it this time. Here’s a chance for community support towards completion and inspiration. Let’s go diving for pearls. The key task in the book is the dreaded Morning Pages with a few artist dates alone in the week, and occasional time for introspection. I’m starting a group, with the solid goal of completing the 13 week cycle. Here’s how it will work: We meet once a week on Zoom for 60-75 minutes. We read the short chapter aloud until the ‘Tasks and Check In’ section, followed by a brief discussion. We also pair or throuple up. These smaller groups will encourage each other throughout the week, however each decides best for that group. I could potentially record the discussion portion and make it accessible for anyone who can’t join that week, with the set intention of showing up for each other and ourselves. The day and time is negotiable. Weekend mornings seem optimal currently. If you're interested, please kindly RSVP by Friday, January 26th. ​Let’s leap so the net will appear - yet again. Hoping for a nice group. About the Series Company CoLabs are a series at The Actors Center that offer a framework for collaborative explorations and community programming among company members. Company members host or facilitate projects—play reading groups, explorations of new material or approaches, writing labs, devising work, field trips, retreats—in short, anything inspiring to explore among peers. CoLabs offer creative outlets to explore work you might not otherwise have the opportunity for, while continuing to share resources and deepen connections among our Actors Center community. RSVP to Attend This CoLab is now full. Comments/Queries

  • Weekly Community Space

    Weekly Community Space

    Company CoLabs Community Space Tuesday Mornings Dates & Times Every Tuesday – 11:00am-12:30pm ET Launch Zoom Link Meeting ID: 837 0411 7798 Passcode: 374737 Hosted by Jodie Lynne McClintock About the CoLab Started three years ago at the height of the Covid-19 lockdown as a way to connect, it has continued weekly as a family of actors navigating the changing landscape of our times. Here you will find a supportive, safe virtual space where artists in our company bring their stories, concerns, questions, recommendations, and inspirations in a free-wheeling but facilitated discussion. With no set agenda, we delve into whatever is of interest or concern in any given week. We explore what it means to be an actor and what place our art holds in the world.  People suggest balm for body and soul while walking hand-in-hand along the actor’s way. About the Series Company CoLabs are a series at The Actors Center that offer a framework for collaborative explorations and community programming among company members. Company members host or facilitate projects—play reading groups, explorations of new material or approaches, writing labs, devising work, field trips, retreats—in short, anything inspiring to explore among peers. CoLabs offer creative outlets to explore work you might not otherwise have the opportunity for, while continuing to share resources and deepen connections among our Actors Center community. Comments/Queries