Level 1 Acting Course in Canterbury
- For beginners or those without any formal actor training
- For all ages over 18
Typically includes:
- Basic Acting Techniques
- Introduction to Improvisation
- Difference Between Stage and Screen Acting
- Industry Advice and Knowledge
- Confidence Building
- Stanislavski Building Blocks
- Vocal Training
- Learn how to self-tape for auditions
Course details:
Start DateW/C 5th May 2025
Duration10 week course (10 sessions + 1 showcase)
Day/TimeOne evening per week, 7pm – 9.30pm
VenueCanterbury CollegeNew Dover Road, Canterbury, Kent CT1 3AJ
PriceOnly £445 (incl VAT) - Limited Places*Payment plans available
Summary:
Our Level 1 course introduces the basics of acting, building confidence and skill through a supportive environment. Guided by a Core Tutor and industry professionals, you’ll explore different roles, collaborate with various actors, and work with different directors and styles to enhance your versatility and adaptability.
The course fosters relaxation, creativity, and playfulness, creating a safe space for taking creative risks and building trust with peers and instructors. This mindset encourages exploration and confidence, allowing you to grow as a performer.
Each week, you’ll develop a toolkit of acting techniques, starting with Stanislavski’s building blocks and expanding into movement, vocal techniques, and creative decision-making. You’ll also learn to create self-tape auditions, adapting your performance for different media. By the end, many students are surprised by their rapid growth and deeper connection to their work.
The course concludes with a showcase, where you'll present short scenes in pairs or small groups to fellow participants, tutors, and family. This informal performance helps manage stage nerves and celebrates everyone’s progress, strengthening the sense of community within the TAL group.
Meet the Core Tutor
Isabelle Defaut
Isabelle Defaut is a theatre director and playwright.
She trained at the Webber Douglas Academy, London and worked as an actor for 15 years before retraining as a theatre director with the Studio Theater in Washington DC.
She completed her Masters in Theatre Making at the University of Kent in 2020, specialising in verbatim theatre.
Isabelle has been teaching acting for 30 years. She loves sharing her passion for storytelling with students who are keen to step out of their comfort zone and explore what makes a character do and say the things they do.
Isabelle has been teaching with The Actors Lounge in Canterbury since the start in 2022. She adores how TAL brings together actors who have trained before with those who are trying it out for the first time. She believes that powerful combination is what makes the The Actors Lounge so special.
Isabelle is Artistic Director of Portrait Theatre, Resident Theatre Company at the University of Kent and she is a member of the Marlowe Theatre’s Writers’ Room.
