Atlantic Acting School Is Creating an Easier Path for Future Working Actors

Atlantic Acting School offers impeccable professional training and access to an amazing creative network. Atlantic is alive and thriving with brand new work from artists like Ngozi Anyanwu, Clare Barron, and Sarah Silverman among others. And as a producing organization of hit shows like Spring Awakening, The Band's Visit, and Hangmen, Atlantic is a community uniquely positioned to develop artistic success.

Atlantic is where professional habits are developed and where artistic relationships are born. From the start, Atlantic students are engaged as artistic peers. Within the past semester, while students were in the studios preparing for their Throughline Festival, down the hall, the Artistic Director Neil Pepe was rehearsing Lawrence Fishburne, Sam Rockwell, and Darren Criss for the Broadway production of American Buffalo. During the day Neil would pop out of the rehearsal and head across the hall to work with the graduating students on their Exit Interviews which consist of directed monologues presented to industry professionals.

Atlantic actors work. The alumni are tremendously successful. They are on Broadway, working in film and television, and are successful as actors, directors, writers, and designers. You can see alumnus Stephanie Hsu in the recently released feature Everything Everywhere All at Once, Rebecca Rittenhaus starring in the upcoming ABC episodic Maggie, Cameron Gellman in the DC series Stargirl, Elizabeth Olsen starring as Wanda Vision in Marvel's Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness which opened May 6th, and DeWanda Wise in the feature Jurassic World Dominion coming out in June.

We sat down with the Atlantic Acting School to learn more about their training process for their students!

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What is your technique?

Atlantic is home to Practical Aesthetics -- known as The Atlantic Technique. Practical Aesthetics was created and developed by the founding members of the Atlantic Theater Company and School and is outlined in A Practical Handbook for the Actor.

Our curriculum includes instruction in a disciplined approach to script analysis, working truthfully moment-to-moment, and bringing these competencies together in a performance of the material. Emphasis is placed on finding clear, compelling objectives, playing those objectives truthfully, and learning how to stage scenes effectively. Through the technique, actors explore their potential to "act before they think." They are readied to dive into the given circumstances of a play with impulsive freedom, curiosity, and dynamism. By prioritizing heightened presence, holistic listening, and brave intimacy in their acting, students learn to deepen and expand their improvisational skills, with and without text.

The Atlantic Technique encourages the honest and specific connection to another actor in each and every moment of performance. Using Sanford Meisner's Repetition exercise as a touchstone to practice heightened moment work, and drawing on ideas and philosophies from various performance aesthetics, actors focus on the concept of "radical presence" in their acting via a range of exercises, etudes, improvisations, and short scenes.

What does your audition process look like?

Our Admissions department, led by Admissions Director Chris Booth, does a fantastic job in selecting the most promising candidates.

The interview experience includes a creative conversation with the applicant to gain insight into what compels them to choose acting as a profession. We really want to know what kind of storyteller they are and what type of work they want to create. We want to discover what skills they are looking to build, why now, and ultimately, what drew them specifically to the Atlantic. Atlantic is an incredible organization with tremendous opportunity and innovation and applicants should be able to communicate and articulate why they want to train with us.

For the audition, the applicant can expect an analytic exploration of text and a demonstrated expression of their voice and physicality through the performance of a monologue. All of these elements help us obtain an understanding of their range and readiness for training.

Through the application and audition process, we are seeking actors who not only exhibit great potential and talent but have curiosity, compassion, and stamina. The individuals who stand out are those that are flexible, who find inspiration in connection, and who are fearless in their uniqueness.

Tell us about the full-time conservatory! What does that journey look like for a student?

The Full-Time Conservatory is our most comprehensive programming and best embodies the ethos of the Atlantic. This is where actors receive the fundamental building blocks and training necessary for success in the business. Designed as a two and half year course, the Conservatory equips the actor to "work truthfully" in the service of bringing a playwright's text to life. The journey for the student begins with a solid foundation of technique, manifests in an expression of their skills in a series of one-act performances, and culminates with the creation of their own theater company. They then go on to produce a full-length show and perform on one of Atlantic's Off-Broadway stages.

Our motto at the school is "Atlantic Actors Work." Every graduate leaves with an understanding of the business and a set of tools to successfully audition and network.

Key elements include:

-Film and TV performance.

-Website portfolio development.

-A professional actor's reel.

-An introduction to the industry through guest classes.

Their culminating Exit Audition is presented to a panel of invited casting directors, managers, and agents.

You also have an evening conservatory, what is the difference between that and the full-time program?

The Evening Conservatory is truly designed with the working actor in mind. It is a concentrated course and the perfect program for actors who are auditioning or working during the day yet are seeking additional training, a solid technique, and a community. Actors will experience rigorous scene study exploration, gain a working understanding of the Atlantic Technique, take supplemental courses in movement and speech as well as have special guest industry and business classes. The program spans a year and culminates over the summer with an original play written expressly for the actors by a professional playwright! The Evening Conservatory show is presented in a studio performance for a live audience.

Tell us about the Global Virtual Conservatory!

The Global Virtual Conservatory is an exciting new program that began in 2021. It was born out of the pandemic when we realized how successfully we could connect and create with artists virtually. Many actors are not able to join us in Our Studios in New York but now, through the GVC, they have the opportunity to create and train with us from anywhere in the world. This intensive five-month program focuses on the Fundamentals of Practical Aesthetics in a scene study class and places great emphasis on creating distinct portfolio projects: a Solo Show, an Ensemble Devised Performance and a Film Project. It features a Global Perspectives course where professional artists and playwrights share their own personal processes while engaging in creative conversation and writing activities with participants.

What programs do you offer teens/kids?

We offer a variety of classes in an afterschool, weekend, and summer camp setting for youth that span ages 5 through 18. The youngest students engage in creative explorations and develop original characters and plays through improvisation and games. Our high school students build technique and hone their skills in our Saturday Teen Conservatory and pre-college Summer Teen Ensemble programs.

In addition to creating characters and scripts, young actors have opportunities to produce their own work and perform. Each program has a focus that varies from musical theater to sketch, improv, scene study, film/TV, and more, but all are rooted in the Atlantic Technique. Some of our most popular classes for youth are our Farce & Fantasy class, our Creators Play series, the Young Actors Sketch, and Improv troupe.

Our Summer Teen Ensemble is an intensive course of training for the serious high school actor and attracts students nationally and internationally. Students train with faculty drawn from our NYU and Conservatory programs. Graduates have gone on to be accepted to schools such as California Institute of the Arts, Carnegie Mellon, Emerson, Howard, Kenyon, NYU Tisch, Northwestern, UCLA, Vassar, Yale, and others.

What Scholarships do you offer?

We have several wonderful scholarship opportunities for applicants.

Our most prestigious award is our annual Practical Aesthetics Scholarship which awards a full merit tuition scholarship to our Conservatory programs. Applicants are invited in December to audition for a panel of faculty and administration.

In February, applications open for our New Voices and Global Perspectives scholarships which award partial tuition scholarships to the Full-Time and Evening Conservatories and require the submission of a two-minute creative video.

For our Summer Intensive program, we just launched the Resident Artist scholarship which awards a full-tuition scholarship to the recipient. Resident Artist applications open in December.

Any upcoming events?

Yes! This week on Thursday, May 19th we are hosting a Spring Open House for our adult conservatory and summer programs. The event will be in-person at Our Studios - please join us!

The Open House will be an opportunity to learn more about all of our adult acting programs and conservatories. It will be in a "meet and greet" format with Atlantic Acting School staff, faculty, and alumni and will include a 45-minute interactive workshop led by a faculty member. Participants can expect to hear about Atlantic's school and theater, get a taste of the Practical Aesthetics technique and learn about alumni offerings. Programs that will be highlighted are our two and half year Conservatory, Evening Conservatory, Spring Comprehensive, and Summer Intensive.

Atlantic Acting School

76 Ninth Ave, Suite 313

Studio 3

May 19, 2022

6pm - 7:30pm ET

To RSVP click here.

Is there anything specific you would like our readers to know?

We care about our Alumni community. The journey doesn't end upon graduation and we understand the networking necessary for a successful career. Our Alumni Program provides space for artists to connect, create, and produce shows. We host an annual Alumni Industry Showcase that all graduates are eligible to audition for whether they graduated last year or 10 years ago! Our yearly Alumni Mixer is an event for graduates to come together and network, discuss their current projects and engage in panels with industry professionals. Additionally, we welcome them back throughout the year to attend special "Alumni Evenings" of our productions. We also offer a monthly Alumni Newsletter which shares casting notices for productions and readings along with opportunities for teaching artist training and job notices. Staying connected is an important part of the Atlantic community!