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Public Speaking
Vienna Shakespeare offers open-enrolment acting classes and workshops, in which you learn how to perform Shakespeare's works in their original English.
All our classes are taught in English by the American actor, opera singer and teacher, Catrina Poor.
Enrolment is open to students of all ages and levels of experience.
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Vienna Shakespeare
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Our take on acting Shakespeare
Anchor 1
feeling comfortable on stage
When it comes right down to it, feeling comfortable on stage is about three things.
You have to understand how your character thinks, you have to know your lines and the emotional trajectory of the scene...
And then you have to let go of your sense of control, predictability and safety, so that you can let yourself listen and react spontaneously on stage.
It's so easy to think that FEELING COMFORTABLE on stage is the same as FEELING IN CONTROL on stage. It's easy to think that if you could just choreograph every gesture and plan every facial expression, then you would feel fine and everything would be great.
But while that makes you feel safe and in control as an actor, it's terrible for your audience.
When you try to control everything you do and plan every feeling you show, you close yourself off from any real discovery within your character, and any genuine connection with your emotions and your fellow actors. You are, inadvertently, manipulating your audience.
The best thing you can do, is take the time to understand your character before you're performing on stage.
Figure out who your character is, what they want, and what's important to them. Not from the perspective of what you think the audience should see, but from what THE CHARACTER feels.
With that understanding, you'll develop a consistent sense of self as your character. This not only gives you the flexibility and freedom to create a deeper, more human performance on stage, but feels more real to your audience.
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