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Theatre Education Classes

River's Edge Theatre Co. offers theatre education classes to kids and adults of all skill levels. We embrace the social emotional benefits of theatre making and allow students to collaborate in a fun and nurturing environment. Classes are process driven. It's all about the journey, not the destination. We encourage students to hone their craft, connect to their peers,

and explore their creative self through theatre arts.

Classes take place at our NEW studio space:

546 Warburton Ave, Hastings on Hudson, NY.

(Entrance is behind the building in the Boulanger Plaza parking lot!)

SPRING CLASSES!

Tuesday 4pm-5pm                    Improv Ages 7-10 

Tuesday 6:30pm - 8pm            Acting Lab Adults  

Wednesday 4:30pm-5:20pm    Page to Stage Ages 6-10

Wednesday 5:30pm-6:30pm    Acting Lab Ages 9-13

Friday 4:30-5:30pm                  Stage Makeup/Costume Design Ages 9 -13

Saturday 10am -10:50am         Page to Stage Ages 6-10

Saturday 11am - 11:30am         Page to Stage Ages 6-10

Keep scrolling for class descriptions and registration links!

 

Act Fast Improv (Ages 7-10)

 

Tuesdays 4pm-5pm REGISTER HERE.

February 28th - June 13th

(No class April 4th for spring break)

$375 for 15 weeks.

Let’s learn to improvise! Each week students will dive into improv exercises and games that get actors to think quickly on their feet. Students will learn to trust their instincts, make bold choices, and tackle stage fright. Families are invited to an improv show on the last day of the session, so that the young actors can show off their new skills. All levels are welcome. Taught by Katie Kopajtic.

Acting Lab for Adults

Tuesdays 6:30pm-8pm FULL!!

March 14th - June 6th

(No class April 4th for spring break)

$360 for 12 weeks

Acting lab for adults is open to all levels and is formatted to be deeply student-centered. The structure and material for this class will be determined based on the needs and interests of the group. Topics may include scene study, monologue work, vocal and physical warmups, and acting exercises from techniques such as Stanislavski, Meisner, Grotowski, and Chekhov. From day one, we will focus on cultivating an ensemble environment to work toward creating a brave, generative, and playful working space. We will discuss how to give useful and compassionate feedback in a class setting, and students will be encouraged to share material within the group. This class is rooted in collaboration and community to activate an enormous sense of play and creativity while using conventional acting techniques. At every level, students will learn and revisit concrete tools that they will be able to take into their practice. Join us! Taught by Julia Schonberg

Acting Lab (Ages 9-13)

 Wednesdays 5:30pm-6:30pm REGISTER HERE. (2 spots left!)

April 12th - June 14th

$250 for 10 weeks

 

Acting Lab is a place for middle school actors of all skill levels to come together and develop their craft. This 10 week workshop gives students a safe and supportive environment to learn or build upon acting techniques for stage and screen. Students will have an opportunity to work on assigned scenes and monologues throughout the course of the session. All levels are welcome. Family members are invited to a final presentation on the last day of class. Taught by Meghan Covington.
 

Page to Stage (Ages 6-10)

Choose one of 3 class times:

Saturdays 10am-10:50am REGISTER HERE.

Saturdays 11am-11:50am REGISTER HERE.

Wednesdays 4:30pm-5:20pm REGISTER HERE.

Saturday class dates: April 15th - June 10th

(No class May 27th for Memorial Day Weekend)

$200 for 8 weeks

Wednesday class dates: April 12th - June 14th

$250 for 10 weeks

Page to Stage is our signature class and perfect for students who wish to learn basic acting, storytelling, AND playwriting techniques.  Kids work together to create and perform in an original play from scratch! Perfect for social emotional learning, Page to Stage requires students to collaborate and connect through performance and creative play. Every class starts with warm ups for body, voice, and imagination, and then students cultivate acting skills through exercises and games. The second half of class is dedicated to writing and rehearsing the play! Parents/caregivers are invited to a final performance on the last class of the session. Recommended for ages 6-9. Taught by Meghan Covington.

Play in a Day (Ages 8-12)

ONE DAY ONLY!

Saturday, April 15th

12pm-6pm (performance at 5:30pm)

$150 for the day

REGISTER HERE before April 1st to participate!

Do you love acting in a play and just can't wait to get to opening night? Then join River’s Edge for Play in a Day! In just one day, students will read, rehearse AND perform a short play for an audience! In addition, students will create characters with props and costumes and play improv games, too. The script for the workshop is an age-appropriate title from a publishing company that specializes in texts for young actors. This text will be totally new to students in the class, making it even more fun to experiment with and build together. Young actors will exercise their skills, making bold character choices, reading the text closely and working together. At 3:30pm, the play will be performed for an audience! Students will grow as actors and ensemble members as we work to put together A Play in a Day! Taught by Merideth Maddox

Let's Make a Play:

Playwriting Mini Retreat for Adults

 

Sunday, April 15th

1pm-5pm

$100 REGISTER HERE.

 

Join Serena Norr of Let’s Make a Play for an interactive, immersive, and fun afternoon of playwriting! The class will include a discussion about the structural components of developing plays as well as character development, establishing tone, setting, creating structure, and writing. Students will leave with a draft of their 10-minute play. The class is for all levels; no experience is necessary. There will be one break and group sharing.

Let's Make a Play:

Playwriting Mini Retreat for Kids

 

Sunday April 23rd

1pm-4pm

$75 REGISTER HERE.

Join Serena Norr of Let’s Make a Play for an interactive, immersive, and fun afternoon of playwriting! Kids will learn all of the components of how to make their own play. Kids will also enjoy brainstorming, idea building, establishing setting and tone, structure, creating characterprofiles, and writing! Kids will leave with the start of their 10-minute play. The class is for all levels; no experience is necessary. There will be one break and group sharing.

 

OUR TEACHERS!

Jed Aicher

Jed  has been teaching acting for twenty five years. He has taught toddlers and retirees, at a private middle school and at a medium security prison. As an actor, his roles include Mitch in A Streetcar Named Desire at Gulfshore Playhouse and Lennie in Of Mice and Men at Playhouse on Park. Favorite roles for River's Edge include being an award-winning liar for Two Truths and a Lie and Leo Irving in In the Next Room.

 

Meghan Covington

Meghan is the Artistic Director, Co-Founder, and President of River's Edge Theatre Company. She started working professionally as an actor almost 20 years ago while obtaining her BFA in Performance from Virginia Commonwealth University.Her most notable stage work took place regionally on the stages of The Kennedy Center for the Preforming Arts, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Co, The Shakespeare Theatre, Round House Theatre, Olney Theatre in Washington DC, and Firehouse Theatre, Richmond Shakespeare Festival, and Theatre Lab in Richmond, VA. She was also a company member for Synetic Theatre, where she spent 4+ years developing skills in classical pantomime technique, physical theatre, and dance. In the arts management world, Meghan ran the Education and Outreach department for Synetic Theatre, where she spent time teaching acting, dance, and pantomime skills to children and adults in classroom, workshop, and camp settings. 

 

Katie Kopajtic

Katie Kopajtic is an actor, writer and former improviser that has enjoyed playing at The PIT and Upright Citizen's Brigade. As a teacher she has worked with Irondale in Brooklyn teaching after school improv at Fort Greene Prep and running their summer drama school. Recently she has worked with River's Edge Theatre Company in their improv program at the Dobbs Ferry Library.  Katie holds a B.F.A. in Acting from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. 

 

Merideth Maddox

Merideth holds both a BFA (University of Florida) and MFA (FSU/Asolo Conservatory) in Acting and worked as a performer in regional theatre before moving to New York and beginning her work in theatre education. While in NYC, Merideth was the Director of the Young Actors Program at The Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute, a teacher of acting technique at the Professional Performing Art School, an annual guest lecturer at the School of Visual Arts and a private audition coach. Merideth relocated to Westchester to teach at Hackley School, where she has been teaching middle school theatre classes and directing multiple productions each year since 2009. Her favorite thing to tell young actors is "make bold choices!" 

 

Serena Norr

is a writer, playwright, and founder of Let’s Make a Play, a playwriting program for kids and adults. Her plays have been performed at the Omaha Fringe Festival, White Plains Performing Arts Center, the New Deal Creative Arts Center, Westchester Collaborative Theater, NYC at the Players Theater with the Rogue Theater Festival and the NYC Short Play Festival, the University of Alabama as well as various productions over Zoom. She was a second-rounder at the 2021 Austin Film Festival for her play, “Agency for the Lost.” Her play, “OTHER” was published in Theatre Unbound’s “Bittersweet” Monologue Collection and “Zoom Like No One is Watching” was published in the “UNTITLED COVID SHORT PLAY ANTHOLOGY” by Flower Song Press. She is also a member of the Dramatists Guild, Westchester Collaborative Theatre, Cut Edge Collective, and participant in the 2021 Kennedy Center Playwriting Intensive and Women’s Theatre Festival (WTF) Directing Program. For more information, visit http://www.serenanorr.com/

Julia Schonberg

Julia Schonberg (she/her) is an actor, theatre maker, applied theatre artist, facilitator, educator, and arts administrator living in Tarrytown, NY. Julia received her BFA in Theatre Arts from Boston University and her MA in Applied Theatre from CUNY's School of Professional Studies. By way of Cleveland and Boston, Julia moved to New York in 2014, working as an actor and theatre educator with ages PreK-adults. Along the way, Julia deepened her practice by training in acting, physical theatre, and community-centered theatre methods with The Barrow Group, Double Edge Theatre Company, Cornerstone Theater Company, and Sojourn Theatre. Julia is a founder and core company member of The Neighborhood Theatre Project, a company that creates original, verbatim theatre from interviews and conversations. In June 2022, Julia joined the team at Bethany Arts Community in Ossining as the community engagement & outreach coordinator. juliaschonberg.com, theneighborhoodtheatreproject.org.

 

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