APPLICATION NOW OPEN FOR 2024

ABOUT THE PROGRAMME

Under the tutelage of award-winning playwright and director, Chong Tze Chien, this rigorous 6 months actors’ training programme prepares talents to not only survive the creative industry but to thrive in every audition, role and show.

Step 1: Identify Your Qualities

Through monologues and individual scene-work, you will get to work with Tze Chien to discover your “type”, strengths, and weaknesses in a safe and constructive space. You will realise your qualities and work to apply it appropriately and productively in different working contexts.

Step 2: Define & Refine Your Techniques

Building upon your type, Tze Chien will introduce frameworks to refine and structure your instincts for a more believable performance. You will learn the ability to tap into the emotional landscape of characters effectively and enrich your emotional sensitivity as a multifaceted actor.

Step 3: Analyze & Memorise Scripts Effectively

Tapping on Tze Chien’s wealth of experience as an award-winning playwright, you will gain valuable script analysis techniques and tips to help you memorise scripts effectively, so it will come across as natural and organic in delivery. 

Step 4: Ace That Audition & Score That Role

Peeling back the curtains, you will have a rare chance to step behind the director’s table to hear directly from Tze Chien on what a director is looking for during an audition and how you can prepare for it and score that role. You will learn audition techniques and how to work with different directorial styles. Tze Chien will also dive deep in sharing how you can unpack the director’s brief so that you may better process feedback to deliver and excel in your role.

ABOUT THE PROGRAMME DIRECTOR

CHONG TZE CHIEN

Tze Chien is an award-winning playwright/director who has won numerous awards including the Singapore Dramatist Award and the Straits Times Life! Theatre Awards. His plays have been staged in Singapore, UK, Budapest, Taiwan and Japan.

He has two collections of plays published by The Necessary Stage and Epigram Books respectively, containing critically acclaimed plays such as Charged and PIE. Other notable plays directed and written by Tze Chien include Turn By Turn We Turn, Poop!, Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea, and The Book of Living and Dying. He also writes feature films and for television channels, such as Channel 5, OKTO/Arts Central and Vasantham Central. For his contributions to Singapore Theatre, he was awarded the Young Artist Award by Singapore’s National Arts Council in 2006.

As an arts educator, Tze Chien has been conducting workshops and masterclasses for tertiary institutions and schools in Singapore since 2001. He currently sits on the Curriculum Development Assessment Committee in Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts. He is also an adjunct lecturer in NUS, Lasalle College of the Arts and NTU/NIE. He was a SYF Arts Presentation (Drama) Adjudicator for five years, and most recently, the Creative Director of SYF Concert 2019. In 2018, he conducted a MOE commissioned devising workshop for two schools, and wrote two scripts (based on input by the student participants) for OPAL, a MOE internal teaching and learning portal.

COURSE OUTLINE

This entire training programme is designed to help you elevate your performance, plug any gaps in your knowledge and sharpen your acting instincts. The main outcome of the programme is to equip you to become a multifaceted actor who will succeed in every audition, role and show.

The Actor & The Emotional Core

  • Activating and deploying emotional memory
  • Physical embodiment of emotions and characters
  • Emotional conviction
  • Physical/vocal expression
  • Emotional truths of action and speech

Acting & Delivery Techniques

  • Chong Tze Chien’s Push/Pull Techniques
  • Chong Tze Chien’s static/descriptive/implosion delivery techniques
  • Freeing the body for performance
  • Body as an instrument exercises: shape/forms/levels/breaking the line
  • Connecting body language and gestures to the emotional core

Script Analysis & Character Study

  • Script analysis study (motivation and subtext)
  • Triggering and activating impulses
  • Hot seating and establishing backstories
  • Crafting and layering emotions
  • Finding informed acting choices for maximum impact “find the verb”

Application & Delivery

  • Audition techniques & mock audition roleplay
  • Working with different directorial styles
  • Conceptualising and amalgamating different techniques
  • Scene work with different plays/genres
  • Identifying, quantifying and qualifying impact on audience

Bonus Session taught by Derrick Chew, Executive Producer of Sight Lines

  • How to package and market yourself as a performer
  • How to work with your USP to stand out and differentiate yourself as a unique creative individual
  • How to build a following and create regular content on social media through a systematic and simple content creation grid
  • How to secure funding and sponsorships through a proven framework for funding and grant applications for your self-produced works

GRADUATION SHOWCASE

Finally, you will get to conceptualise and amalgamate the different techniques learnt and hone your skills in a graduation showcase directed by Chong Tze Chien at the end of the programme.

Programme details

Training Duration:
8 January – 31 July 2024 (6 months)
(No class for certain weeks, dates TBC)

Showcase Dates:
26 & 27 July 2024

Training Venue:
7pm – 10pm, Mondays
Frequency of classes might increase in the lead up to the showcase

Programme Fees:
$150/class
Total: $150 x 4 wks x 6 mths = $3,600

Eligible for up to 90% funding.

Please register by 4 August to be considered for the grant.

Will be in touch with you to discuss this after receiving your application.

 

Class Size:
12 – 15 pax

2023 pioneer batch

WHO THIS PROGRAMME IS FOR

You should attend this programme if you:

  • Would like to refine your craft and enhance your script analysis techniques.
  • Are facing difficulties in elevating your skills/knowledge in your professional practice.
  • Would like to have the opportunity to meet like-minded peers and mentors.
  • Have an intermediate understanding of acting or has either graduated from Lasalle, NAFA, or other acting schools or are self-taught but have experience performing on stage.
  • Have at least 1 year of experience in acting.
  • Are able to commit at least 80% of the programme.

We only have limited spots available. Sign Up Today!

To apply:

  • Click on the link to submit your application (including your CV in pdf format and a recent headshot).
  • Please do not submit your applications via email.
  • Deadline for Submission: 4 August 2023, 2359hrs (SGT).

If you have any enquiries about the programme, please email our team at hello[@]sightlines.com.sg.

APPLICATION NOW OPEN FOR 2024

ABOUT THE PROGRAMME

Under the tutelage of award-winning playwright and director, Chong Tze Chien, this rigorous 6 months actors’ training programme prepares talents to not only survive the creative industry but to thrive in every audition, role and show.

Step 1: Identify Your Qualities

Through monologues and individual scene-work, you will get to work with Tze Chien to discover your “type”, strengths, and weaknesses in a safe and constructive space. You will realise your qualities and work to apply it appropriately and productively in different working contexts.

Step 2: Define & Refine Your Techniques

Building upon your type, Tze Chien will introduce frameworks to refine and structure your instincts for a more believable performance. You will learn the ability to tap into the emotional landscape of characters effectively and enrich your emotional sensitivity as a multifaceted actor.

Step 3: Analyze & Memorise Scripts Effectively

Tapping on Tze Chien’s wealth of experience as an award-winning playwright, you will gain valuable script analysis techniques and tips to help you memorise scripts effectively, so it will come across as natural and organic in delivery. 

Step 4: Ace That Audition & Score That Role

Peeling back the curtains, you will have a rare chance to step behind the director’s table to hear directly from Tze Chien on what a director is looking for during an audition and how you can prepare for it and score that role. You will learn audition techniques and how to work with different directorial styles.

Tze Chien will also dive deep in sharing how you can unpack the director’s brief so that you may better process feedback to deliver and excel in your role.

ABOUT THE PROGRAMME DIRECTOR

CHONG TZE CHIEN

Tze Chien is an award-winning playwright / director who has won numerous awards including the Singapore Dramatist Award and the Straits Times Life! Theatre Awards. His plays have been staged in Singapore, UK, Budapest, Taiwan and Japan.

 

He has two collections of plays published by The Necessary Stage and Epigram Books respectively, containing critically acclaimed plays such as Charged and PIE. Other notable plays directed and written by Tze Chien include Turn By Turn We Turn, Poop!, Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea, and The Book of Living and Dying. He also writes feature films and for television channels, such as Channel 5, OKTO/Arts Central and Vasantham Central. For his contributions to Singapore Theatre, he was awarded the Young Artist Award by Singapore’s National Arts Council in 2006.

 

As an arts educator, Tze Chien has been conducting workshops and masterclasses for tertiary institutions and schools in Singapore since 2001. He currently sits on the Curriculum Development Assessment Committee in Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts. He is also an adjunct lecturer in NUS, Lasalle College of the Arts and NTU/NIE. He was a SYF Arts Presentation (Drama) Adjudicator for five years, and most recently, the Creative Director of SYF Concert 2019. In 2018, he conducted a MOE commissioned devising workshop for two schools, and wrote two scripts (based on input by the student participants) for OPAL, a MOE internal teaching and learning portal.

 

COURSE OUTLINE

This entire training programme is designed to help you elevate your performance, plug any gaps in your knowdege and sharpen your acting instincts. The main outcome of the programme is to equip you to become a multifaceted actor who will succeed in every audition, role and show.

The Actor & The Emotional Core

  • Activating and deploying emotional memory
  • Physical embodiment of emotions and characters
  • Emotional conviction
  • Physical/vocal expression
  • Emotional truths of action and speech

Acting & Delivery Techniques

  • Chong Tze Chien’s Push/Pull Techniques
  • Chong Tze Chien’s static/descriptive/implosion delivery techniques
  • Freeing the body for performance
  • Body as an instrument exercises: shape/forms/levels/breaking the line
  • Connecting body language and gestures to the emotional core

Script Analysis & Character Study

  • Script analysis study (motivation and subtext)
  • Triggering and activating impulses
  • Hot seating and establishing backstories
  • Crafting and layering emotions
  • Finding informed acting choices for maximum impact “find the verb”

Application & Delivery

  • Audition techniques & mock audition roleplay
  • Working with different directorial styles
  • Conceptualising and amalgamating different techniques
  • Scene work with different plays/genres
  • Identifying, quantifying and qualifying impact on audience

Bonus Session taught by Derrick Chew, Executive Producer of Sight Lines

  • How to package and market yourself as a performer
  • How to work with your USP to stand out and differentiate yourself as a unique creative individual
  • How to build a following and create regular content on social media through a systematic and simple content creation grid
  • How to secure funding and sponsorships through a proven framework for funding and grant applications for your self-produced works

GRADUATION SHOWCASE

Finally, you will get to conceptualise and amalgamate the different techniques learnt and hone your skills in a graduation showcase directed by Chong Tze Chien at the end of the programme.

Programme details

Training Duration:
8 January – 31 July 2024 (6 months)
(No class for certain weeks, dates TBC)

 

Showcase Dates:
26 & 27 July 2024

 

Training Venue:
7pm – 10pm, Mondays
Frequency of classes might increase in the lead up to the showcase

 

Programme Fees:
$150/class
Total: $150 x 4 wks x 6 mths = $3,600

Eligible for up to 90% funding.

Please register by 4 August to be considered for the grant.

Will be in touch with you to discuss this after receiving your application.

 

Class Size:
12 – 15 pax

2023 pioneer batch

WHO THIS PROGRAMME IS FOR

You should attend this programme if you:

  • Would like to refine your craft and enhance your script analysis techniques.
  • Are facing difficulties in elevating your skills/knowledge in your professional practice.
  • Would like to have the opportunity to meet like-minded peers and mentors.
  • Have an intermediate understanding of acting or has either graduated from Lasalle, NAFA, or other acting schools or are self-taught but have experience performing on stage.
  • Have at least 1 year of experience in acting.
  • Are able to commit at least 80% of the programme.

We only have limited spots available. Sign Up Today!

To apply:

  • Click on the link to submit your application (including your CV in pdf format and a recent headshot).
  • Please do not submit your applications via email.
  • Deadline for Submission: 4 August 2023, 2359hrs (SGT).

If you have any enquiries about the programme, please email our team at hello[@]sightlines.com.sg.