Fall Class Schedule

One day – Sunday – Nov 5
1:00–4:00 p.m. | online

What’s the difference between an agent and a casting director? Do I need to join a union? What information goes on an actor’s resume? How do I spot a casting scam? In this one-day online class for students of all levels, actors will learn about the tools an actor needs to look for work, gain an understanding of the casting process for stage and on-camera work, and identify a unique action item for the next step in their acting career. Everyone will leave the class with a list of resources for further exploration.

Your Acting Career Workshop is for you if:

• You want to have a professional resume that meets industry standards for theater and film casting
• You want to create effective relationships with agents and casting directors
• You have questions about acting as a business

To ensure the safety and wellbeing of all faculty and students, Studio A.C.T. will adhere to the most updated safety precautions recommended by San Francisco, county and state guidance in effect at the time of classes.* These policies are subject to change. Our standard withdrawal and refund policies apply.

As of July 17, 2023, showing proof of vaccination will no longer be required for Studio A.C.T. students. Masks will be welcome but not required for all faculty and students while indoors at 30 Grant Avenue. This mask policy will be in effect when CDC COVID-19 Bay Area case levels are rated as "low." When levels are rated as "medium" or higher, masks will be required for all. CDC COVID-19 Regional Case Levels can be accessed at this link: COVID data tracker

*Some additional precautions may apply in consideration of the wide range of students, staff and artists using our facilities, including young children, adults of every age, and professional artists whose unions maintain specific COVID precautionary measures. We appreciate your participation in upholding our safety precautions.

For further information or any other specific questions about Studio A.C.T. in-person classes with regard to COVID-19 precautions, please email us at studio@act-sf.org

One class – Sunday – Oct 8

11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. | in person

In this daylong workshop we will approach analyzing a script from the actor’s perspective. Working primarily at the table and reading aloud, we’ll explore practices for quickly analyzing plot, character, and style to better inform our acting choices. Actors have been described as “acrobats of the heart,” emphasizing physicality and emotion. Coordinating movement and feelings with an intellectual engagement and understanding of the script supports the actor in making active, insightful, dynamic and truthful choices, which together tell the stories of the characters we play.

Note – The exact play we will focus on is TBD based on enrollment. We may also focus on scenes or a single act from a play or plays. Students will be emailed the material approximately one week in advance, so as to have read it prior to the first day of class. Hard copies of the material will then be provided on the first day.

Acting: Intro to Analyzing The Script is for you if:

• You are pursuing actor training with seriousness, whether toward a career, as a passionate interest, or otherwise.
• You’ve already taken Acting 2 or Acting 3 at Studio A.C.T., or their equivalent elsewhere, and wish to continue advancing your acting skills.
• You wish to explore acting with an emphasis on practical, real-world approaches to script and character analysis.

One day – Sunday – October 15
1:00 to 5:00 p.m. | in person

Conveying truly authentic emotion in performance can be among the most daunting aspects of acting. Often the characters we play are grappling with emotional circumstances that people grapple with in life. Playing these characters truthfully is a way to respect and to honor these real-life emotional experiences. If not done with care, it can also take a toll on the actor. When playing emotionally vulnerable characters, how can we access our own true emotions, share them on stage repeatedly each week or get there quickly when working in film, in a way that is healthy and sustainable? In this one-day class with legendary Bay Area actor, director, teacher, and artistic director of the Lorraine Hansberry Theatre, Margo Hall, students will learn practical techniques for accessing their own inherent emotional power in order to craft truthful performances. Every actor is a human being with a wealth of stories inside, from both their personal experiences and the ancestors they carry with them. Margo Hall—known for her powerful stage and film performances, her fierce intelligence and wit, and her commitment to truth—creates a supportive environment for actors to tap into their true selves and so also the truth of the characters they play.

Please Note: For this one-day, in-person class, students should come prepared with a fully memorized monologue that they are passionate to speak, yet find emotionally challenging. For the best experience, it is important the monologue be fully and fluently memorized.

Acting: Tapping Into The Power of Emotional Truth is for you if:

• You wish to develop practical tools for accessing truthful emotion in performance that are repeatable, dependable, and emotionally safe for you personally.
• You want your performances of emotionally vulnerable characters to honor the real-life experiences they depict by handling them utterly truthfully.
• You’ve taken Acting 2 or Acting 3 at Studio A.C.T., or equivalents elsewhere, and wish to continue advancing your acting skills in the area of truthful emotion.

Two Classes – Sundays – Oct 15 & 22
1:00–5:00 p.m. | in person

In this repeatable two-day Monologue Audition workshop, open to all experience levels, you will have the opportunity to (1) freshen up an audition monologue you already know, and (2) work on a new monologue in new ways. On the first day students will perform the monologue they already know, and we’ll explore practical ways to explore this monologue further. We’ll then identify possibilities for a new, second monologue to complement or contrast the first. In the week between the first and second days, students will memorize and prepare their new monologue. On the second day we’ll share both monologues in a mock-audition format, with feedback and the opportunity to re-audition—a.k.a. return for a call-back!

Note – Students must come to the first day with an audition monologue of their choice, no more than two minutes long, fully memorized and prepared to perform. In the week between class dates, students will need to continue working on their chosen monologue, as well as prepare a new monologue, to be selected in consultation with the teacher.

This repeatable two-day Monologue Audition Workshop is for you if:

• You are an actor who wants to feel more relaxed, centered, confident, and at ease when you audition.
• You are an actor who wants to work on their already memorized monologue from a play – contemporary or classical – for use in future auditions.
• You are an actor who wants to find, memorize, and bring to life a new audition monologue from a play – contemporary or classical.
• You want new practices that are at once efficient and effective for selecting, preparing, and acting monologues.
• You want a chance to practice acting in the context of a monologue.

One class – Sunday – Oct 29
1:00 to 4:00 p.m. | in person



Have you ever felt curious about what Hip Hop Theater is? Do you like musicals like Hamilton and In the Heights? Or maybe you’re not a singer or musical theater performer, but an actor hoping to bring a greater sense of rhythm to your acting? Taught by local emcee, actor, and teaching artist, Carlos Aguirre (also known as "Infinite"), this one-day introductory class will explore how a strong sense for rhythm can support actors in any acting style or genre. Using monologues, scene work, rap, and spoken word performance, we will elevate our breath work and enunciation on stage. The feeling of acting “on the beat” can be empowering and clarifying. How can freestyling rhymes over a beat help us not only to expand our verbal and physical improvisation skills, but also get us out of our heads and into the moment? This fun, energizing class offers practical techniques to help you do exactly that.


This one-day Intro to Rhythm & Acting workshop is for you if:

• You’re an actor interested in honing core acting skills via practical methods found outside traditional practices.
• You’re interested in bringing a greater sense of rhythm to your movements and voice when acting or performing.
• You want to explore alternative texts such as rap and poetry, and to learn the methods that go along with performing these art forms.
• You’re an actor, singer, or other performing artist interested in exploring the intersection between hip hop and theater.

One class – Sunday – Nov 5
1:00 to 5:00 p.m. | in person

Interested in performing your own work, and in the world of spoken word, rap theater, and poetry? Taught by local emcee, actor, and teaching artist, Carlos Aguirre (also known as "Infinite"), this one-day introductory class offers you an opportunity to tell your stories through both rap and spoken word. We will explore many key elements of these art forms, including rhyme, rhythm, and improvisation. The class will touch on the fundamentals of rap, spoken word, and hip hop; storytelling through music, movement, and facial expression; and tools for writing evocative lyrics and spoken word pieces through instructor-led prompts. No past experience with rap or spoken word is necessary! 


This one-day Intro to Rhythm & Original Performance workshop is for you if:

• You’re a performing artist interested in creating and writing your own original work in the world of spoken word, rap, and improvised storytelling.
• You’re interested in bringing a greater sense of rhythm to your movements and voice when acting or performing.
• You want to explore alternative texts such as rap and poetry, and to learn the methods that go along with performing these art forms.
• You’re an actor, singer, or other performing artist interested in exploring the intersection between hip hop and theater.