The following does not define an acting training, nor do we mean to suggest that aspects of the training are isolated from each other. At The Poor School voice involves movement and vice-versa; all work relates to the rest of the work.

Movement

An actor needs a relaxed, expressive and responsive body with an awareness of self, a feeling for space, a response to rhythm and music and a vivid physical imagination. Exercises attempt to reveal the extent of any inhibition and to demonstrate the means of freeing the body.

Voice

The aim is to make the voice as free, versatile and responsive as possible, provided always that it remains an honest expression of a desire to communicate. Exercises aim to show the relationship of breath to sound, to cultivate power and resonance, to eliminate tension and to increase range and colour.

Acting Study

A series of structured improvisations that aim to reveal the dramatic power of honesty and economy, the deadly influence of self-conscious acting or over-acting, and to demonstrate the dramatic force of the individual imagination.

Verse & Text

Character and situation are often absent from this less complicated but vital area of training. A reader rarely speaks from within an already created dramatic situation and thus different problems are encountered from those which arise when playing a role.

Rehearsal

In the first four terms all work is internal, with showings seen by the staff and your colleagues only. This gives the opportunity for creative mis-casting, for exploring and discovering dramatic texts of many kinds in an environment where there is freedom to fail.

Students at the end of the fourth term will have worked on a modern, colloquial play, a tightly written comedy (by, for example, Wilde, Orton or Shaw), an Ibsen, a Chekhov, a play demanding the use of dialect (usually American) and a Shakespeare.

There will have also been the opportunity to work on various scenes, with some autonomy given to the students in terms of choice.

Dance & Singing

Dance and singing are introduced in the second term. It makes sense that these applications of physical and vocal training should be attempted with bodies and voices that are already partly trained.

Animal Study

Animal study is, in effect, third term acting study. Students observe and then recreate the physical and vocal behaviour of animals.

The Preview

The Preview precedes the Public Season. In January, students who are due to graduate in the summer perform short scenes in front of an invited audience from the profession.

Any interest from a casting director, agent or producer in a particular student can be followed up by seeing their work in the season and the Evening of Scenes.

Public Season

In the final two terms of the training students in a given year resemble a repertory company. There is no Easter break and demands are made on your weekday daytime; your actual commitments will depend on your casting. The profession (agents, casting directors etc.) are invited to these shows.

During the final two terms second year students must expect some stage management duties or similar. All students are rostered for bar and front of house duties.

An Evening Of Scenes

The final two nights of the training. Students perform scenes in front of an invited audience from the profession: agents, casting directors, producers ... anyone, in fact, who is or may be in a position to offer work or representation.

Directing Students

Up to one directing student will be accepted each year. Entrance is based on an acting audition and interview. The training, in the first four terms, is largely the same as for an acting student. After that time, or indeed before it, the directing student may be invited to work with current students on various projects. This, however, is not guaranteed and depends on progress.

To apply as a directing student please mark the application form accordingly.