California Actors Workshop Abridged builds students' acting, creative expression, and public speaking skills, helping students perform confidently onstage in a variety of settings. Through daily monologue work, scene work, and a variety of electives, the students will discover how to create rapport with the audience and let their personal charisma shine.
Students will participate in the following areas:
Core Curriculum
The core curriculum for the Actors Workshop Abridged consists of a Scene Study class and a Voice/Body Lab. Student actors begin each day with a physical and vocal warm-up, after which they participate in games and exercises to develop their voice, body, and impulse “instruments.” The emphasis is on becoming stronger, nimbler, and more expressive storytellers, all in an environment of exploration and play. Then, in Scene Study, students work in pairs to analyze, rehearse, and perform an assigned scene from a contemporary play or movie. Informed by Stanislavsky, Hagen, Shurtleff, and Donnellan, the course adapts to individual students' needs to either introduce or deepen understandings of the basic building blocks of realistic acting - relationship, objective, obstacles, and actions.
Monologues
Learn techniques and practice exercises designed to increase your range, projection, articulation and character development. Participants learn the building blocks to realistic acting through playing objectives (what the character wants), obstacles (what stands in the way), and tactics (how the character tries to get around those obstacles to accomplish her objectives). In the final monologue showcase, students perform for fellow campers, families, and friends.
Ensemble Scene Work
Theater at any level is a collaborative process. Working effectively in an ensemble requires that an actor possess both the skills to shine when the spotlight is on them and the ability to support the other members of the group when it’s their turn in the spotlight. Each day, students will practice exercises that help them vocally project, physically tell stories, as well as emotionally and intellectually connect to other characters sharing the stage.
Electives
Elective offerings vary each year and depend on the interests of the students and the specialty of the acting faculty. Possible offerings include the below.
Audition Technique: Whether you’re up for the high school musical, a professional play, or a yogurt commercial, this elective gives you the tools to walk into any audition with confidence and cool. Topics covered include monologues, cold reads, slates, headshots and resumes, audition attire and etiquette, how to choose material, and tips for dealing with nerves.
Solo Performance: Learn to research, write, direct, and perform a one-person show. Students are guided through character creation, writing exercises, and the critique and development process.
Shadow Puppetry: Discover the rich history of “paper theatre” and work together to create your own shadow puppet shows. This elective is a great opportunity to try on the director’s or playwright’s hat.
Musical Theatre: Some emotions and ideas can only be expressed in song. If you have dreams of Broadway, this elective can help you sing, dance, and learn the skills you need to explore the exciting world of musical theatre.
Introduction to Design: If you’ve ever wondered about foley sound effects or wanted to try your hand at costume design, this is the class for you. Students work together to design an imaginary play (with an equally imaginary budget!).
Improvisation: Act without a script! Games and exercises teach essential skills like saying “yes and,” heightening, sharing and taking focus, and building a shared environment.
Stage Combat: How do we create violence onstage so that it looks real but no one gets hurt? Students work with partners to learn and perform short unarmed combinations of punches, slaps, kicks, holds, throws, and falls.
Shakespeare: Learn to love the Bard and enjoy the richness and complexity of his language as you prepare an audition-ready monologue.
Final Production
All actors in the Workshop participate in the final production. Each year short plays and scene work are chosen and cast with that year’s specific ensemble in mind. The extremely condensed rehearsal process allows all of us the freedom to trust our first choices and lean on the support of our fellow artists as we work fast and hard to create a unique piece of theatre that truly could exist no place else. Friends and family are invited to join us on Saturday morning for the live final performance.
**Extended Day:* Extended Day Campers attend camp from 9am to 9pm seven days a week (except check-in and check-out days, which are half days), with lunch and dinner provided in the dining hall each day.