Theatre Acting Masterclass - Script Analysis

This acting class will be taught by Erika Jenko, an award-winning playwright and Creative Director of Windy Hallows.

Normally, actors get to collaborate with a director during the rehearsal process for a play. In this class, you’ll get to collaborate directly with the playwright herself. Focusing on scripts that are stage direction heavy and less focused on dialogue, students will learn how to navigate the text from the perspective of a playwright and focus their performance with movement and subtle nuance.

• Exercise: Students will engage in an improv exercise focused on zero dialogue as they craft the story in the moment.
• Performance: Students will workshop a scene written by Erika Jenko that heavily focuses on stage directions and how to pull their unique voice from within the stage directions. Focusing on minimal dialogue, students will learn how to explore movement and connection as a means of working through the scene.

Bonus: Students will receive access to downloadable PDFs with original audition material to use outside of class.

While this class will mostly focus on acting for the stage, its principles can also be applied to acting for TV and film. Classes will feature a combination of solo and collaborative exercises involving both improvised and scripted scenes. Prior acting experience is highly recommended but not required.

--- 

Note for Actors

Thank you for considering taking this class with me. I truly love working with actors. Being a playwright can sometimes be incredibly lonely. I spend a lot of time listening for the words that characters want to say before I jot the dialogue down, but nothing brings me more joy than to hand the characters over to an actor so that they can truly breathe life into them. As a director, I love the conversations with actors that happens during the rehearsal process and creating something together in a truly collaborative way. I predominantly write about mental health, and it’s a topic I love navigating with actors so that we can have an open dialogue and shed light on a subject that deserves more stage time. I look forward to working with you. Let’s make something haunting together.

- Erika

Erika Jenko Bio

Erika is a native Californian ghoul who has been writing, directing and producing plays in Los Angeles, New York City, Chicago and Boise for the past 17 years. She is the owner and Creative Director of Windy Hallows (www.WindyHallows.com), where she creates original theatrical productions. Erika is a haunted creature who enjoys creating worlds in the realm of magical realism and giving a voice to children navigating themes of mental health including suicide, grief, depression and anxiety.

Her work on the tragic play, “The Firefly Web” (Playwright / Director) won the awards of Best Director as well as Best Production at the 2022 SheLA Theatre Festival. “The Firefly Web” is a part of the SheNYC program, New Pages and is currently available for licensing. Erika is also a proud member of the Dramatists Guild.

Past credits include “Dex: A Killer Parody Musical,” (bookwriter), “Darling” (Playwright), “Up Here, Down There” (Co-Director, Playwright), Horrific Puppet Affair (Contributing Playwright + Director), and many more.

Erika is the creator of the storytelling group, “The Rabbit Hole Society,” which got its start in iconic mansions in the Chicago area. When she’s not creating a macabre environment for the stage, Erika can be found working on the Production Management team for Halloween Horror Nights (Universal Studios, Hollywood) where she strategically plans Halloween year-round.