Robert & Judi Newman Center for Theatre Education MAP
OUR CORE ACTING TRACK
We’ve designed a rich path for artistic development, akin to those found in a master-level training program. Discover that journey.
Master Level classes, on your own timeline
Build your skills and confidence as you progress through our series of courses, designed to support your growth alongside other dedicated students and working professionals.
Meet our faculty
With years of professional experience and credentials from around the country, our team leads with top talent and thoughtful curriculum development. Instructor Bios
Support starts here
Connect with our Head of Acting and staff to discuss your goals and unique artistic journey by emailing: education@dcpa.org
START HERE
Introduction to Acting
6 sessions, 2 hours per class | Tuition: $325
Prerequisites: None
Do you want to act but aren’t sure where to start? Join us for this six-week class designed specifically for the beginning actor, where you’ll learn the fundamentals of the craft. The class highlights powerful ways to make your acting choices feel natural and spontaneous. Discover the building blocks of acting through improvisation, theatre exercises, and character work.
BUILD YOUR FOUNDATION
Scene Study Level 1
6 sessions, 2 hours per class | Tuition: $345
Prerequisites: Intro to Acting or instructor approval. Please inquire at education@dcpa.org.
Formerly titled “Approaching a Play: The Craft of Acting”
Delve further into the core fundamentals of acting. This “must-take” class introduces the process of approaching a play and studying scenes, in preparation for in-depth partnered work in Scene Study Level 2. Formerly titled Approaching a Play: The Craft of Acting, this class focuses on core elements of text analysis and script scoring to help you build a clear map of specificity. Through exercises focused on given circumstances, behavior, and character work, you’ll strengthen your foundation and leave with greater readiness for partnered scene study.
CHOOSE YOUR PATH
(Select 2 of 3)
Scene Study Level 2
6 sessions, 3 hours per class | Tuition: $430
Prerequisites: Scene Study Level 1 or or instructor approval. Please inquire at education@dcpa.org.
We offer three intermediate courses, created to focus on vital aspects of the actor’s toolbox. These classes are the core of our instruction, and we invite you to take all three and immerse yourself in deep scene and partner work.
Character
Dive into partnered scene work with a core focus on character! In this 6-week session, actors will explore how to build layered, specific characters from the ground up, using scene work as the foundation. Students will collaborate with partners to develop two scenes, diving into character, relationships, circumstances, objectives and more. Instructors will provide tools and frameworks to help you make strong, grounded choices and bring authenticity and depth to your character development. By the end of the session, actors will have a stronger sense of how to approach a role and create dynamic, believable characters in their work.
Objective & Action
Strengthen your scene work by focusing on objective and action! This 6-week session centers on what characters want (objective), and how they pursue it – discovering playable, active choices to drive every moment. Actors will work closely with partners to build two scenes, breaking down the concept of objective and action/tactics, and beats to create compelling, dynamic work. Instructors will offer clear tools and techniques to help you identify strong objectives and translate them into actionable, specific choices. Through this process, you’ll learn how to bring clarity and intention to your work, making your performances more engaging and alive.
Acting in Context
Build your awareness of context and its importance in the world of the play through partnered scene work. In this 6-week session, actors will explore how environment, style, and circumstances shape behavior and action throughout a scene and play. Working with a partner on two scenes, students will examine how elements like genre, time period, given circumstances, and environment influence their choices. Instructors will provide frameworks for analyzing the broader context of a scene and integrating it into a more fully realized journey. This class will help actors develop adaptability and awareness, allowing them to ground their work in the world of the story while making clear, informed choices.
DEEPEN YOUR CRAFT
Scene Study Level 3 Courses
As students advance, we begin to focus on specific plays, playwrights, eras, styles and forms, deepening the skills developed in prior classes to take scene work to the next level.
8 sessions, 3 hours per class | Tuition: $480
Prerequisites: Two Scene Study Level 2 Courses or instructor approval. Please inquire at education@dcpa.org.
Formerly titled “Scene Study II”
Forgotten Female Playwrights of the Early 20th Century
In the 1970’s, prolific playwright Paula Vogel began her advocacy for more female playwrights to be produced in the American theater. Forty years later that number had only increased by 1%; only the second American female playwright won the Tony Award for Best Play this year. Gratefully, efforts continue to close that gap! Delve into this class where we will explore female playwrights who burst onto the scene as trailblazers during the Roaring Twenties and the Depression, proving over and over that female playwrights could achieve commercial and critical “success”. Sadly, so many of these voices were forgotten; Come explore scene work by these fierce playwrights that forged ahead over every obstacle to be heard in their own voice.
Arthur Miller: American Realism
Celebrate this opportunity to dig into one our great American Playwright’s family driven dramas. Deeply ensconced in the world of the “Realism” theatre movement, Miller’s great classics continue to resonate with our lives and circumstances today, in both the realms of family relationship and the challenges of surviving amidst the struggles we are all aware of, day to day. This class will focus specifically on Death of a Salesman (currently celebrating a fantastic revival on Broadway), The Price, All My Sons, and A View from the Bridge as its source material.
TAKE ON ADVANCED WORK
Advanced Scene Study (NEW Format!)
Challenge yourself and further deepen your craft alongside other advanced level students. With a required audition to participate, these classes are the ultimate preparation for professional theatrical performance.
All Albee: Rehearsing the Rehearsal
6 sessions, 3 hours per class | Tuition: $430
Prerequisites: 2 Scene Study Level 3 Courses (formerly Scene Study II) or instructor approval. Please inquire at education@dcpa.org.
Long considered one of the masters of American realism, this Advanced Acting class focuses on the psychology of survival in the plays of Edward Albee. His characters, from Peter and Jerry in Zoo Story to George and Martha in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? to Tobias and Agnes in A Delicate Balance to the Three Tall Women, are all challenges for the committed actor. This class is also a workshop for developing rehearsal techniques for self-directed scenes –no pressure to perform, just explore, expand and discover new ways of working.
3 Minute Max
2 sessions, 3 hours per class | Tuition: $165
Prerequisites: 2 Scene Study Level 3 Courses (formerly Scene Study II) or instructor approval. Please inquire at education@dcpa.org.
In this advanced offering, you’ll be challenged to dig in and realize a scene of your choosing, to your fullest capacity without previous instruction, and then receive detailed, specific feedback and adjustments to work on to bring back the following week! The material you choose must be 3 minutes or less in length from a published play. Scene partners will be assigned after registration. Join us as you continue to further deepen your craft and preparation!
MASTER THE WORK
Master Classes & Performance Projects
Tuition: $600
Prerequisites: Audition: Two previous DCPA Education classes including a scene study required to audition. Call 303.446.4892 or email education@dcpa.org to set up an audition time.
The DCPA’s Adult Performance Projects provide a wonderful opportunity to experience and develop an actor’s process in the work. With a lengthy rehearsal process, actors will further develop essential acting tools and strategies including text analysis, objectives and action/tactics, listening and responding, comedic timing, character development, and building authentic relationships on stage. The process will culminate with 3 performances to share their work!
AUDITIONS
Choose one of the two days listed. All auditioners will be considered for both projects.
Audition Dates: Wed Oct 7 & Thu Oct 8 – 6-9pm
A) SMALL MOUTH SOUNDS by Bess Wohl
Directed by Kate Gleason
Bess Wohl’s uniquely engaging contemporary play Small Mouth Sounds engages us in a wonderful way – through lengthy spans of silence. In a very quiet wooded location, six individuals step into the challenge and opportunity of a silent retreat far away from their normal daily lives. From Bess Wohl’s apt description, she offers “As these strangers confront internal demons both profound and absurd, their vows of silence collide with the achingly human need to connect.” There is much to explore in the uncomfortable and ofttimes engaging humor, both verbal and non-verbal. It’s a unique ask for the actors stepping into the work, as words and language are not the primary modes of communication throughout this layered story of connection.
REHEARSALS FOR SMALL MOUTH SOUNDS BEGIN MONDAY OCT 27
Mon – Thu evenings from 6:00-10:00pm (schedule will vary per week)
Saturdays 1-5pm (TBD)
No rehearsals Fridays or Sundays
Minimal rehearsals week of Nov 24.
PERFORMANCES: Thu – Sat Dec 10 -12, 7pm
B) PARFUMERIE by Miklós László (adaptation by E. P. Dowdall)
Directed by Samuel Wood
Miklós László’s Parfumerie is set in a charming European perfume shop in the days leading up to Christmas, where romance, misunderstandings, and hidden identities intertwine. The play explores themes of love, longing, and the balance between professional ambition and personal happiness. We follow the lives of a group of shop employees—particularly two feuding clerks who are, unbeknownst to them, secretly falling in love through anonymous letters—alongside their eccentric coworkers and their employer, whose own troubled marriage adds complexity and depth to the story. Actors will step into a plot full of warmth and wit: the sparring and secret affection of the central couple, the comedic charm of the ensemble, the tension between duty and desire, and the heartfelt journey toward connection.
REHEARSALS FOR PARFUMERIE BEGIN TUESDAY Oct 27
Mon – Fri evenings from 6:30 – 9:30pm (schedule will vary per week)
Saturdays 1 – 5pm (TBD)
No rehearsals Sundays
Minimal rehearsals week of Nov 23.
PERFORMANCES:
Thu, Dec 17 – Sat, Dec 19, 7pm
Stage Manager and Assistant Director Positions are available for both productions as a part of class enrollment , please inquire.
The Studio Performance Projects are supported by the Lewis Myers Scholarship Fund
For the audition, prepare one monologue not exceeding 2 minutes in length. Sides may also be provided prior to audition date. Please bring a headshot and current resume.
Call 303.446.4892 or email education@dcpa.org to set up an audition time.
Information about our Winter Performance Project will be released later this year. Check back for upcoming registration opportunities. Check back for upcoming registration opportunities.
Questions?
More to Explore
Introductory Classes
Inclusive, welcoming classes designed to help you explore, create, and connect with fellow creatives.
Acting Skills-Building Classes
We regularly program improv, acting on camera, dialect, character work, voice & speech, movement, and other skill-building courses.
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