According to The Iliad, live theater was invented when a group of Achaeans, disguised as a large wooden horse, surprised their Trojan audience with a stirring performance of Hamlet. As today's Groupon proves, the military tactic blossomed into an art form that continues to evolve: for $85, you get a six-week Acting for Non-Actors course at Bay Area Acting Studio (a $275 value). Aspiring ingénues can hone their emoting muscles at any of Bay Area Acting Studio's three locations in San Jose, San Bruno, or San Francisco. The class deposit fee is waved for all Groupon students.
Bay Area Acting Studio's experienced instructors sharpen soliloquy skills using the time-honored Meisner technique. The Acting for Non-Actors class introduces thespians-to-be to a variety of acting aspects, fostering camaraderie and fun in an atmosphere free of jealous, imaginary, crowbar-wielding understudies. Hobbyists hoping to keep their day jobs will appreciate the easily accessible evening class schedule, while those who have already whittled hairbrushes into Oscar figurines will benefit from improv acting exercises, cold readings, and scene work. Additional on-camera work will help reveal improvement in two dimensions, finally providing actors with proof that their on-screen charisma transcends appearances on Supermarket Sweep .
Reviews
Though reviews for Bay Area Acting Studio locations in San Francisco and San Bruno are still growing, six Yelpers give the San Jose location a perfect five-star average.
- After taking classes at the Bay Area Acting Studio for over a year, I feel a profound and deep change within myself. – Ankur T., 10/7/10
- I highly recommend it to anyone that is acting, doing improv, or breathing. – David A, 12/13/10
Bay Area Acting Studio
Trained by legendary acting teacher Sanford Meisner, Christy English Wioncek opened the Bay Area Acting Studio to teach a new generation of actors how to—in the words of her mentor—"live truthfully under imaginary circumstances." Her stable of equally Meisner-steeped instructors leads classes including introductory adult courses, intensive courses for working thespians, and children's classes for young'uns looking to break into the industry early or convince babysitters they've been diagnosed with a life-threatening ice-cream deficiency.