Want to brush up on your technique? Want to add a new skill to your resume? Or maybe you just want to expand your knowledge of theatre? Whatever you’re looking for, the Actor’s Gym at Aloha Theatre is for you!

For this session, join instructor Kerry Matsumoto by working out improvisational skills in the morning, and apply new knowledge to tone acting muscles in the afternoon.

Intro to Improv (10:00am-12:00pm)
When we think of “improv”, it can sometimes seem frightening. Yet our entire life is made up of 99% improvisation. On June 30, come to the Actor’s Gym to workout those improv muscles to tone spontaneity, shed your inhibitions, and laugh your way to acting fitness!
In this workshop, actors explore the basics of improv through physical exercises and game play. Real-world outcomes may include improved listening skills and comfort in communication. Actors may also discover that improv isn’t about “being funny,” but rather embracing everyday situations, learning to listen, and making a positive contribution to any conversation or situation with a “yes, and…”

Acting and Stage Presence (12:00pm-2:00pm)
There is nothing better than watching an actor portray a character well. When they do, we actually believe they ARE that character. There is nothing worse than an actor who “over plays” a character. You’ve seen them and watched them, but I’m guessing you didn’t believe them. The most important foundation an actor can learn is to master the balance of portraying a character while remaining true to themselves!
“How can you become someone else by being yourself?” This course will explore how this can and will be done. Actors will participate in exercises that show the right, and wrong, techniques to “get into character”. Examples include Meisner technique, games, cold-reading, monologue dissection, improv, scene work. Learn to say “yes, and…” in making choices, and we’ll discuss making choices as an actor.

About The Instructor
Kerry Matsumoto has lived on the Big Island for over twenty five years with her husband Sid, and two dogs, Lily and Lucky. Before moving to Hawaii she spent many years in Community Theater in Washington State.
Kerry has been active at the Aloha Theatre since 2011, when she finally had a work schedule that would allow rehearsals. She has appeared in “The Diary of Anne Frank”, “I Hate Hamlet”, “Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike”, “Arsenic and Old Lace”, and “Pruning the Family Tree”. She also has appeared in multiple “Original Play Festival” productions, and continues to emcee at various fundraising events. It was also through the Aloha that she took her first improv class in 2011. After getting hooked on improv, she and several other cohorts from the class formed an improv comedy group, which is now known as “The Alohahas”, a company that promotes all things comedy on the Big Island. Kerry loves acting, comedy and improv, and has recently begun her adventure in stand-up.

"The Actor's Gym" Technique and Skill Improvement Series: Improvisation and Acting