When a clown picks up a script, where do they go?
Act, Clown, Act! is an acting class for comedians, clowns, and improvisors approached through the lens of traditional acting tools AND the principles and play of clown.
When actors act, they are beholden to certain structures. They have text, character, imaginary circumstances, relationships, setting, a fourth wall, cues, and more. Clowns, on the other hand, often have nothing but the wide-open space of a theater and an audience ready for a journey. And yet, the qualities of a great clown are the same ones shared by every great actor: authenticity, deeply-rooted desire, physical presence, a fearlessness of the unknown, and a commitment to following impulse. If the pedagogies of clown and acting are limited when held separately from each other; let’s allow them to crash into each other at full speed!
In this acting class, we will honor students’ existing experience in clown and comedy and layer onto that acting and script analysis methods derived from Stanislavski, Meisner, Declan Donnellan, Kristin Linklater, Michael Chekhov, and more.
Through games, physical explorations, and scene and monologue study, students will gain practical tools to immerse themselves in a text without tamping down their individual life force, finding freedom within a structured performance. Students will learn how to make specific and brave choices in their work and to not only trust their physical impulses, but funnel those impulses into text. Emphasis will be placed on strengthening the performer’s imaginative muscle and cultivating a delicate openness and generosity to their scene partner.
Over the course of the six-week class, students will work on one contemporary two-person scene and one monologue, chosen in collaboration between the student and instructor. Each student will perform either the scene or monologue each class and is expected to rehearse with their scene partner between classes. Class SOLD OUT? Join the WAITLIST!
Six Sundays - November 2 - December 14
NO CLASS NOVEMBER 30th
6-10pm in the Skunk Room
About the Instructor:
Meera Rohit Kumbhani is an actor, clown, writer, and teacher. As an actor, she has been working on television, in film, and onstage for fifteen years. She was a series regular on FOX’s "Weird Loners," recurred on all episodes of USA's “Donny!" and has appeared in numerous other shows, including HBO’s “Julia”, "This is Us", "The Lincoln Lawyer," "Shameless," the upcoming “Wonder Man”, and more. Her film work includes the upcoming The Best You Can opposite Judd Hirsch and Kevin Bacon, Uncorked, A Futile & Stupid Gesture, and cult-horror comedy Dave Made a Maze. She also works extensively in theater and has originated roles in several world and NYC Off-Broadway premieres, including Ayad Akhtar's The Who and the What and Kate Attwell's Testmatch. She's performed with Classic Stage Company, Ensemble Studio Theater, Playwrights' Horizons, Ma-Yi, La Jolla Playhouse, American Conservatory Theater, and more. She has an MFA in Acting from Columbia University where she trained under Kristin Linklater, Olympia Dukakis, Larry Singer, and Anne Bogart.
As a clown, Meera has trained for over 15 years under Chris Bayes and John Gilkey and she performs monthly at the Elysian in the ensemble show Cruel Babes. She was also a member of The Idiot Workshop’s The Murge and WOM.
As a teacher, Meera has been teaching both clown and acting for almost a decade, both in classrooms and as a private coach. She is currently a faculty member at The Last Acting Studio, where she teaches scene study and on-camera acting, and The Idiot Workshop, where she teaches beginning to advanced clown. She is a graduate of the Teacher Development Program through the National Alliance of Acting Teachers, where she studied with Gregory Wallace (Head of Graduate Acting at Yale University), Hugh O’Gorman (Michael Chekhov teacher, founder of Praxis Studios) and visionary viewpoints instructor Alexandra Billings. She has also spent years teaching acting, clown, and writing to underserved populations such as migrant farmworker communities, homeless shelters, state prisons, and city jails. Regardless of whether Meera is teaching acting or clown, she pulls from her extensive training in techniques such as Meisner Technique, Linklater Voice & Speech, Viewpoints, Michael Chekhov Technique, and Stanislavski Technique.
Class cancellation policy: No refunds, exchanges, or transfers.