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Distance Learning with Meryl Duff
Zoom with Meryl   ~ For Advanced Students and Adults

~ Audition Preparation ~ Acting Master Classes ~ Shakespeare ~ ~ Directing ~ Public Speaking and Spoken English ~                 ~ Verse and Prose Speaking ~ Advanced Examinations ~

The Classes are for Everyone! From Beginners with a keen interest and lively enthusiasm! To Experienced students who want to polish and progress their skills.

For students aged 16 + and Adults ~ Solo or Pairs Lessons

More about Meryl

Meryl Duff is a Teacher, Director, Examiner and Adjudicator with Decades of Experience. Her expertise and experience can now be accessed from wherever you live! Lessons can be arranged at regular times to suit, but are flexible to accommodate other activities and occasional events.

Online Zoom lessons have proved very popular and highly successful for Advanced and Adult students in auditions and exams, as well as for students’enjoyment, interest and furthering knowledge.

1. Audition Preparation ~ See Audition page for more details
2. Acting Masterclasses

Learn Advanced Performance Skills to equip you to start preparing for Acting Roles, Drama School or Advanced Exams.  Key skills and in-depth exploration of methods will vastly improve the way you approach acting which will totally enhance all your performances. Exam options available.

3. William Shakespeare  

Explore and enjoy the plays of William Shakespeare – our greatest writer!  Learn to Perform with Confidence or Study for Fun and Enlightenment! Choose Course Masterclasses on any of Shakespeare’s Plays or Sonnets. Exam options available.

4. Directing

This course is suitable for aspiring professional directors and novice  amateur theatre directors too.

Step by step guidance on how to select a play, explore the writing and the playwright’s intent, develop your ideas, work with the cast and realise your vision on the stage.

5. Public Speaking and Spoken English

So many aspects of work and life involve speaking to others with confidence and clarity. These courses help you to gain excellent speaking skills and include guidance on presentation and topics according to your requirements.  Exam options.

6. Verse and Prose

Reading aloud or speaking poetry for an audience or for pleasure is a wonderful skill and a joy! This course enables you to speak with understanding and clarity. Look at language and verse forms to bring the text to life. Explore writers and poets or even take an exam!

~  Scroll Down for Course Details  ~

1. Advanced Acting and Performance Courses

These courses can be used to really build your acting skills and knowledge to help you enter the Professional acting world. Also – for those wanting to get a part with an Amateur Company. Or – you may want to consider Acting Exams to give you a goal and a standard to achieve. Designed to help you excel and learn skills and techniques which you can apply to all your acting roles.

Course Content

Content can be tailored to individual requirement, but typically would contain:

• Key Acting and Performance Skills
• Studying a play/s and key character/s
• How to find and understand your role in a play
• Using and building on Stanislavski’s techniques
• How to create character/s naturally and realistically
• Practitioners and Director’s vision
• Rehearsing and Experimenting
• Using your Voice – Breathing, Voice, Expression and more
• Physicality
• Acting Techniques
• Making Choices – the Rehearsal Process
• Setting Scenes effectively
• Discussion at all stages
 
2. Shakespeare ~ Performance Skills ~ or ~ Study a Play

Studying Shakespeare is one of the greatest joys of life!  Exploring the plays and sonnets will be extraordinarily rewarding.

Whether you want to perform for fun or aim towards auditioning for a performance or to enter a specialist Shakespeare Acting Exam, you can be sure that this course will be enjoyable, excitingly challenging and absolutely fascinating. Your acting skills will rocket! Your love of the Bard will last a lifetime!

Course Content

A Shakespeare Course can be concentrated on Acting and Performance or alternatively focused on exploring a play in depth for interest or study.

Course Content can be tailored to individual requirement, but typically, depending on preference, would contain:

• Studying play/s (or Sonnets)
• Understanding Shakespeare’s language
• Verse forms
• The Question of the Play. Themes and Issues. Outcomes.
• Characters
• Much Discussion
• Performing Scenes /Speeches /Duologues
• Making choices – the Rehearsal Process
• Using your Voice
• Physicality
• Acting Techniques
• Sonnets
• Shakespeare’s Life and Times
• Tudor Theatre
• Shakespeare’s Contemporaries

3. Directing  

This course takes you through the all the stages, from the first thought of putting on a play to the first night! It allows you to look at some short plays and scenes, explore possibilities, consider how to successfully bring your play to life and develop your own ideas. Revel in the creative process and challenge yourself to experiment and take risks!

Course Content
1. How to approach a play

2. Theatre Space

3. Costing and Budget
4. Choosing a Play and Casting
5. Preparation and Research
6. What is the Question of the Play?
7. How to create and hold a coherent vision
8. Auditioning
9. Collaboration with Actors – The Rehearsal Process
10. Giving Notes to individual actors
11. Technical aspects including Use of Stage Area.
12. Consideration of Music, Sound, Lighting
13. Set and Costume
14. Directing your scene
15. Final Rehearsals
16. Feedback Session with cast
17. Critical assessment and feedback
4. Public Speaking and Spoken English

This course can be tailored to your specific needs. You will be guided through the key components to compiling an interesting and relevant talk or speech.  You will be able to practise and improve your vocal technique and presentation skills.

Course Content

1. What makes a good talk?
2. Considering possible audiences
3. Purpose of Talk
4. How to prepare and research
5. Structuring your Speech
6. Learning good speech and presentation skills
7. Using notes
8. Using power point
9. Using props
10. Building your confidence to be able to ad–lib
11. Addressing and engaging the audience
12. Using appropriate movement around the “performance area”
13. Timing
14. Question and Answer session – how to deal with questions
15. Things to avoid
16. Personal presentation
17. For Examinations – if required  – Specific preparation  

                                                                                                                       

5. Verse and Prose

Learn to read aloud and speak poetry with understanding and expression. You can explore language, style, rhythm and rhyme and discover how poets and writers use carefully chosen words to create atmosphere and mood to convey their message or story.

You can create a linked or themed programme for performance, for fun or for an exam. Alternatively you could study particular poets or writers.

Content

Vocal Skills, Interpretation and Performance including:

• Clarity
• Using Consonants and Vowels
• Breathing
• Projection
• Expression and Inflexion
• Understanding Text
• Revealing Subtext
• Rhythms
• Rhyme
• Content and context
• Poet or writer’s intention and use of language, devices etc to create moodand atmosphere
• Period and Genre and Style
• Discussion
• Performance

You can also ask for a course tailored to your own goals and preferences