The Playground Conservatory Program Overview
Life Skills
There are many reasons to act at The Playground. Many come to learn the craft in hopes to attain representation and work in the Industry. While that is true, it is also true that most come for the life skills one receives throughout the program. Skills like learning to listen. Skills like learning to speak. Skills like learning to socialize. All the skill that will improve one’s current situation in life and future as well.
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Vocal Articulation Exercises*
To strengthen communication skills specifically so that the young actor will be able to work on-camera. Also, these exercises help focus concentration and establish for each young performer a short warm-up they will have that will become part of their personal technique. These exercises are important in developing a student’s confidence and will have a profound effect on not only their ability to perform on camera but also expressing themselves in their daily lives.
Relaxation Exercises*
Breathing, Stretching, etc. to aid the student in relaxing their body to help them perform. This is especially important for actors who must work under considerable stress and pressure whether in front of an audience, at an audition, or on a set, on-camera under the lights in a professional situation.
*(These will be on-going exercises throughout the 2-year program)
Theatre Games and Improvisation
The moment before, relationships, the environment and listening, etc, which help to build good acting habits and dissolve specific acting problems. Various exercises will involve the student focusing on different aspects of acting that will eventually feed into the scene work they will be doing in class.
Scene Study
In the first 12 weeks we will begin the process of how we go about breaking down a scene into specific choices the actor must make regarding their character. This includes things such as what they want in the scene (“intention”), why they want it, (“reason”), and what obstacles are in the way of getting what they want (“conflict”). These, along with other specific (personal) choices, will help the young actor begin the creative process of learning the craft of acting.
Cold Reading Technique
Will begin at the start of the 24-week session and is an essential element in the audition process. Advanced students coming into the program will, of course, be challenged to develop this audition technique as they continue in our program.
These improvisations, theatre games, and scene studies will continue throughout the 24 and 48-week sessions evolving into more advanced work on personal connection to characters, strong, specific character choices, sensory work, etc. In each of these 12-week sessions the student actor will also be exposed to the skills needed to work on commercial copy as well as theatrical material.
The student actor will be required by the end of the 24th week to have a short commercial memorized so we might record it and they can practice working on-camera. By the end of the 48-week session the student actor will have a short monologue memorized to record.
This will continue in the second year program where we will get more involved with creating an audition technique to help the actor in professional situations (commercials, television, film). In addition, part of the second year will be work involving everything from hitting marks for camera, working with props, as well as learning the nomenclature of onset behavior.
Real Audition Material
As part of the curriculum, actors will be using real audition material and scenes from television and film scripts (feature, commercial, sitcom, 1-hour dramas). They will have an opportunity to work with a variety of material so they might have a better understanding of what is expected of them in the various genres of the professional arena.
At every stage of the young actor’s development we shall be testing their abilities and encouraging their own personal technique. It’s all to aid the individual actor in feeling confident to take risks and be relaxed in their own technique to create authentic and honest moments on film and to communicate to an audience a character’s humanity.
As stated, this is simply an overview giving everyone the broad strokes of what the student actor will be experiencing over their course of study at the Playground. Then, if you wish, I can get more specific in regards to the various exercises and techniques myself and our teaching staff what will be employing to help the students learn the craft of acting. We have, of course, a curriculum of lesson plans for each and every class the student actor attends.
Comprehensive Curriculum
Drawing on more than 25 years of experience with young actors, Gary has crafted a unique program that is focused on preparing your child for Film and Television acting – and auditioning! Children who attend The Playground will improve not just in their acting skills but in other areas of life too! Students at The Playground often experience; better speaking ability, better listening skills, improved reading comprehension, improved school performance and increased confidence. Programs are available for children ages 6 to 18 at all experience levels.
Top Facilities
Our facilities are “state-of-the-industry” and provide theater style seating, Sony playback monitors, HD cameras, and studio-lighting. Gary Spatz and his staff of professional acting teachers nurture each student’s creativity to help them excel at on-camera work. The staff are dedicated to helping young actors develop a personal technique for television and film. They train the young performer in the craft of acting.
Sign Up Today
Whether you are preparing your child for a career in acting or just for success in life, The Playground is a great place to learn. Sign up for an interview with our admissions counselors today!
