Actor training
For ages 8-18
Classes from only £90!
Contact us today to book your place
At HAYA we focus on actor training in all areas of acting for stage and screen.
Our staff, as well as being general acting tutors, also have their own specialisms.
Teachers
Voice and Speech
An actors voice is one of their greatest tools. At HAYA we teach you how best to use your voice for different mediums including stage, screen, voice over and radio.
We help you learn about “The Physical Voice” and where in the body your voice comes from. We help with strengthening the muscles required to create your Theatre Voice and the different dynamics required when on screen.
We also regularly do speech exercises to assist with articulation and diction.
Movement / Physical Theatre
Our movement director Luke Rose regularly leads our actors in movement specific workshops. Movement is not dance but a way of creating comfort for each actor in their physical abilities. Luke works extensively to create body comfort and helps each actor work to their physical potential.
Classical Performance (Shakespeare and others)
Our Specialist workshop leaders are used for a variety of training purposes and we run intensives in classical performance. In these workshops our actors learn how to perform Shakespeare. This is particularly useful for our Drama School applicants who have to learn a classical monologue for their auditions. Our Classical performance workshops really help to bring Shakespeare to life and our actors really do find themselves falling in love with the Bard and his work.
Acting for Screen / Naturalism
A lot of our focus at HAYA is on screen acting and creating truthful and natural performances. As this is a priority our Academy Director leads these workshops and also teaches remotely through self tapes ahead of auditions etc. We teach our actors how to listen and respond, how to connect with the thought and the feelings of the character, how to develop nuance and make choices. Our aim is to make sure that we no longer hear the lines being said but believe that the words are the truth of the character in the moment.
Theatre Performance Skills
If you ask any actor what experience they prefer, 95% will say Theatre. Unless you are Anthony Hopkins. We teach a love of theatre amongst our actors by enabling them to develop these intrinsic skills over the course of their training. Each Academy gets an annual performance in a theatre directed by our Academy Director.
Stage Combat
Luke Rose, supported by his company “Wandering Knight”, run intensive 5 week Stage combat training sessions on a rotational basis for each academy. You can expect to have one of these intensives every 18 months.
Within the workshops you will learn varying levels of combat skills moving from Unarmed combat (punches, kicks, slaps etc) through to armed combat (swords, lightsabers etc). Luke and his colleagues are all trained combat professionals and facilitators and are fully qualified and insured to provide this training. At the end of every intensive you will be assessed and those that pass will receive their “Wandering Knight” medallion.
Devising and Theatre Making
GCSE and A level drama require students to create their own original work. We support the curriculum at HAYA by providing specialist one of workshops with Theatre Makers and also half term intensives in devising theatre. Often these devised pieces form part of their end of term production. The actors learn to work as an ensemble, create lighting, sound and set designs, write scripts, direct, produce and stage manage.
Accent and Dialect
Every Autumn term we focus on accent and dialect alongside our other training for the term. This culminates in an end of term “Accent Challenge” where our actors are required to do a “cold read” in Standard American and Received Pronunciation. They also present a rehearsed paragraph in their “Free Choice” accent which can be a regional accent from the Uk or a culturally appropriate accent from anywhere in the world.
Improvisation
Improvisation is a real skill and forms the basis of many actors training programmes. At HAYA we recognise the importance of being able to create characters and scenarios both through instant improvisation - thinking on your feet and responding to people and scenarios around you. Rehearsed or planned improvisation also forms a large part of our weekly workshops. Creating scenes to respond to stimulus or as a means to present an acting skill that we have been studying e.g emotional memory recall, relationship dynamics etc.
Character Development
How to create and bring to life a believable character forms the basis of nearly all performances. At HAYA we spend a lot of time with the concept of “self”. As young actors understanding your own “character” helps enormously when developing similar characters for performances. Rarely will we require an actor to perform as an age or identity that they could not feasibly play themselves. However, we do explore character through Stereotypes and Archetypes and have been known to think wildly outside the box too.
