“First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do.”
(Epictetus)
. . .
“One of the best acting classes I’ve been to in quite a while. And I studied with Uta/AADA/Meisner and Actors from The Actor’s Studio in NY. I know a thing or two about acting classes.”
—DAMON MILLICAN
Portland, OR
Schedule and details
Mondays.
7:45P-9:45P.
Portland, Oregon.
The Autumn 2023 Cycle lasts nine weeks, beginning October 23, and running through December 18, 2023.
Ages 18 and older, please.
$175.00
Training isn’t a luxury.
It is necessary. There is no progress without practice. Magicians recognize this. Athletes recognize this. Public speakers recognize it. Maybe everyone does on some level.
But practice is a key reason why momentum as an actor can be less accessible than progress in other artforms.
Writers, musicians, sculptors, and many other artists can all practice and develop their craft in sweet solitude. Acting is different.
Actors need connection, dialogue, and exchange with fellow actors to develop their skills and advance as quickly as they might. Humans blossom in community. That’s the key, and also the obstacle.
Consider…
- When we train, we build our bravery to do the thing.
- When we train, we expand our ability for communication about the thing.
- When we train, we refine our ability to collaborate. We become more powerful, more generous, and more reliable.
- With training, we uncover more about the shape of our nerves and how to conquer or cope with them productively.
- With training we strengthen our stamina and resilience to do the thing.
- With training, we learn about our limitations. The authentic limitations we should respect to keep ourselves happy and healthy, but just as importantly, the perceived or imposed limitations we can overcome if we dare.
- With training, we learn about leaving the work behind, and caring for ourselves when the work is done.
“The thing that makes Jeffrey stand out to me is how good he is at bringing out YOUR brilliance. He doesn’t impose anything but instead, like any good teacher, helps you discover your own excellence. His coaching is insightful, deeply useful, expertly tailored to YOU.”
—LYRA BUTLER-DENMAN
PORTLAND / PHILADELPHIA
Why I offer The Monday Night Acting Lab
Actors are storytellers for their community. To be an actor is a privilege. Actors are powerful. They shine light on what it can mean to be human. They help audiences see their own beauty and mess. They help people feel less alone. The right actor can change a person’s life for the better.
Not everyone gets to do that. It takes practice to do that.
The Monday Night Acting Lab is a space for training to do the invisible work that flows into what an audience sees, and to cope with the invisible challenges actors face along their way.
The purpose of The Monday Night Acting Lab is not to dogmatically prescribe new or old ideas about what to do, but to facilitate and hold space for your discoveries about how.
Everyone’s how is different.
How can you do this work with greater self-insight, bravery, ease, and generosity toward yourself and your collaborators?
“I came home from class wired for hours. It happens every class. When I started the class, I did not speak in public. But now I’m finding my voice and I’m less afraid of it.”
—Nancy Campbell
Portland, OR
Participation in The Monday Night Acting Lab
There are as many pathways to great acting as there are actors.
Not every class is right for every actor. This class will be a good fit for you if acting (and communicating about acting) is not a whole new world for you.
As we work together, I will be inviting you to communicate about the actor you are, and I hope you will feel comfortable doing so. For instance, I will want to know about what types of material and projects get you excited, what you love about acting, and what parts of doing this work are particularly challenging for you.
With the exception of the first nights of a new cycle, our flow through a Monday evening has four parts.
- Check in. This is a space for questions, reflection, relaxation, and community.
- A guided group activity. Warm-ups, games, exercises to help actors continue building the bridges between their imagination, body, and voice.
- Performance lab. Participants engage in monologues and scene work, allowing access to practice, performance, and personalized, nuanced feedback. Performances in The Lab also allow the opportunity to learn as an observer, which is equally important.
- Closing rituals. Culturally we’ve been conditioned to care about being ready and beginning our work easily and smoothly. Stopping and detaching from our work is just as important, and it can take practice to learn how to leave it behind. At the end of class, we return to the spirit of checking in, for questions, reflection, and aftercare, before closing and saying goodbye until next time.
A few examples of what The Monday Night Acting Lab can support you with…
-Relaxation and energy
-Focus and attention
-Getting out of your head and into the room
-Cold reading skills development
-Monologue development
-Bringing your body with you
-Safeguards, tricks and practices for dealing with intense emotion
-Working with others: reciprocity, flexibility, spontaneity
-Exploring playable opportunities through nuanced scene study.
Frequently asked questions
Here are the most frequently asked questions I receive about The Monday Night Acting Lab, in case this information can be helpful to you, or someone you know.
Is it possible to audit The Monday Night Acting Lab?
Because of my current structure for The Monday Night Acting Lab, which is a nine-week cycle, I do not allow auditing. My goal is to create a space that is worthy of my participants’ trust and vulnerability, so that we can all collaborate, play, and explore our sincere questions and concerns with as much carefree bravery as possible, so that we can learn and make discoveries. Because of that, I feel it is more respectful on my part to do what I can to keep the environment familiar week to week, through the cycle.
Where is it?
We work in a great little studio in S.E. Portland, (not far from the intersection of Powell and Cesar E. Chavez). It is one level, very clean, has excellent heating and cooling, lots of windows, a bathroom, and lots of mirrors.
How many people usually participate?
No more than ten.
Is this for theatre or on-camera actors?
This is not a theatre class, nor an on-camera class. This is about acting. This is a space to play, explore, and make discoveries about acting, the actor that you are, and stuff you can do to share your gifts with greater ease. The discoveries participants make are often the kind that can feel personal, and unique to them. That means you can carry what you learn here with you into the mediums you choose to work in as you go, because the link is you.
Is this class designed for beginners?
The Monday Night Acting Lab is intended for actors with some previous exposure to acting, and the challenges of communicating about acting. It isn’t intended to be someone’s very first exposure. The scope of previous training or career experiences will range, based on who is participating in the cycle. My goal is to be useful to you “wherever you are at now”. If you participate, I want you to explore whatever material, goals, challenges, or questions interest and matter most to you now.
Do you offer scholarships?
If you feel The Monday Night Acting Lab is for you, but cost prohibits your participation, click here.
“The magic of being simultaneously inside one’s comfort zone and outside it: Jeffrey has been able to strike the most graceful and fruitful of balances when it comes to making sure participants are stretched to their potential, without sacrificing the warmth and guidance that stand as testament to a gifted teacher and acting coach.”
—ANI ELIZAVETA
LOS ANGELES / NEW YORK
JEFFREY PUUKKA 