AD: Brooklyn Center for Theatre Research Moving to Manhattan and offering New Classes
CATEGORY: Classes
Brooklyn Center for Theatre Research
New York, NY
US
Job Details
DESCRIPTION
The Greenpoint theatre company Brooklyn Center for Theatre Research is relocating to Manhattan. Under the same management with the same vision, as of Feb 1, 2026, our theatre will be located at 13 West 17th Street, just off Union Square in the Studio 17 space. Our shows have been reviewed by the New York Times, New York Magazine and The Guardian, and have appeared across the US, in Europe and Australia. Our classes feature founding members of our own company, as well as actors and professionals with deep knowledge of their fields who can help to expand and deepen your craft, whereever you are in your career or involvement with theatre.
Learn more and sign up for classes here: https://brooklyncenterfortheatreresearch.com/classes
We are offering new and returning classes in February and March that approach acting and writing for the theatre from multiple perspectives:
ACTING: 4 Week Intensive with Marcel Simoneau
Feb 3, Feb 10, Feb 17, Feb 24 (Tuesdays)
1:00 pm - 5:00 pm
A weekly, in-person acting class combining Method, Meisner, and other techniques with exercises, script analysis, and hands-on scene study and monologue work. Designed for growth and risk-taking, the class offers a safe, consistent environment to put theory into practice each week. (Marcel Simoneau is a New York City–based actor, teacher, director, and voice actor with credits spanning film, television, and national commercials.)
ACTING: Bergman Scene Study
ACTING: Bergman Scene Study
Feb 14, Feb 21, Feb 28, Mar 7 (Saturdays)
4:00 pm - 6:00 pm
For actors looking to deepen their work with psychological characterization, conscious and unconscious motivation in relationships, and the link between personality and behavior on stage. This 4-week class taught by a psychologist will use scenes from Ingmar Bergman films as a tool to analyze and practice performance. Students can expect to work on scenes from both popular and rare Bergman texts and films. (Yosef Brody PhD is a clinical psychologist with decades of experience teaching and practicing in the US and Europe. He writes about film and is based in Brooklyn.)
ACTING: Scene Study with Meg MacCary
Feb 14, Feb 21, Feb 28, Mar 7 (Saturdays)
11:00 am to 2:00 pm
It’s all about the words. How do you make the most heightened language feel accessible? What makes naturalistic dialogue pop? In this scene study class we will play with theatrical texts across the spectrum, connecting to them emotionally, while also employing “tricks of the trade.” Our goal: to communicate with authenticity and impact. (Meg MacCary is an OBIE award winning actor, producer, and writer who has performed on Broadway, off-Broadway, downtown, and regionally. She co-founded the critically acclaimed theater company Clubbed Thumb.)
ACTING: Un-Preparing with Ephraim Birney
Mar 14, Mar 21, Mar 28, April 4 (Saturdays)
1:00 pm - 3:00 pm
Ephraim Birney dropped out of his acting conservatory after he failed movement class while pretending to be a tree. Since then he’s been nominated for an Outer Critic’s Circle Award for Best Leading Actor, worked with directors like Lear deBessonet, Knud Adams, Stephen Brackett and Stephen Spielberg, taken plays to Edinburgh and films to Sundance. Ephraim understands more than most that for many performers, acting school can really only make you a professional acting student. So he’s designed a class for actors like him. A class that helps you identify exactly what you bring to a character by allowing you to explore roles you would typically never play. Whether you’re right out of acting school and feel confused by the industry or if you’ve been in every program in the city and are disillusioned by the craft as a whole, this is the class for you. The old idiom is that “an actor prepares,” and while this is true for some, we’re most excited by the actor with the approach that seems strange, surprising, unconventional and unprepared.
ACTING: Scene Study with Matthew Gasda
Mar 12, Mar 19, Mar 26, April 2 (Thursdays)
1:00 pm to 3:00 pm
For actors, but also useful to directors, this four week class will work on scenes from Gasda's oeuvre, focusing on, but not limited to Dimes Square, Zoomers, Morning Journal, Quartet, Minotaur, and Ardor. As we explore these plays, we will also discuss the broader themes and ideas that they explore, including identity, relationships, sexuality and power dynamics, and mortality. We will engage in in-depth discussions about the text, exploring how conceptual understandings of the texts can find objective correlates in performance. Actors will also explore acting in a "chamber" environment, honing in on the kinds of acting techniques that really sing in smaller, intimate spaces. (Matthew Gasda a theatre director and the author of numerous plays, novels, poems and essays. He is a co-founder of the BCTR.)
WRITING: Playwriting with Matthew Gasda
Mar 15, Mar 22, Mar 29, April 5 (Sundays)
4:15 pm to 6:15 pm
For playwrights at all levels, this two hour class discusses the philosophy and construction of drama. Bring whatever you’re working on – idea or draft – to workshop. (Matthew Gasda a theatre director and the author of numerous plays, novels, poems and essays. He is a co-founder of the BCTR.)