Winter Semester

This is a very millenial-coded thing to say, but I saw a meme once that really resonated with me. It asked the question, how do you stay sane during the darkest part of winter? The answer: aggressively schedule out your time like a high-school honor student.

Genius advice! If I find myself at home without a structured activity at 5 PM during the deep winter months, I wallow. I get bored, lonely, anxious - you name it. At first it can feel nice to relax and do nothing, but after a while (especially after the holidays) I think we as humans need some enrichment.

Winter is a time for nourishing.  We drink warm drinks, spend time with our family - things that feed our body and soul.  Art is also a deep source of fulfillment, especially when it’s paired with community.  This winter, how can you find enrichment through art?  

I’ve given a lot of thought to this question, and it’s why I’m so excited about the Winter Semester training program Green Shirt is offering in January-February 2027, which bundles together 5 specialized classes to create what is essentially a term of a college theater program (albeit much more affordable).

Dedicating 8 weeks to training your body, mind, and voice in different disciplines of acting is an invaluable way to improve as a performer. Something about really getting to live in the world of acting by committing multiple days of the week to the craft allows for greater transformation.

The Green Shirt Meisner program isn’t a prerequisite; anyone interested in becoming a better actor can benefit greatly from the classes we’ve selected for the Winter Semester. We’ve put together a set of classes that has a little bit of everything an actor needs.

Personally, I believe that a good actor is an open actor.  All the different techniques and methods we study serve the purpose of turning ourselves into an open channel for emotion to pass through.  Meisner teaches us to open up our emotional selves, so that we can let a story or text come out of us with honesty and brilliance.  

Each of the classes included in our Winter Semester program are designed to open up a different element of an actor, with all the elements working together to create good art.

Voice for the Actor will help you find your clear, expressive voice.  It’s so easy for emotion to get stuck in the throat - the Lessac Kinesensics work will help get it unstuck so that the audience can see it.  Alexander Technique for Actors will help you find more ease in your body on stage, giving you a set of physical adjustments you can do on yourself before any performance or audition.  Physical Freedom for Actors helps you learn to use your body as a tool of expression; big emotions can often make actors tighten up, but the Williamson Technique teaches you to use your body to be even more present and alive on stage or screen.  On-Camera Acting teaches you the practical skills of putting your talent on film; you’ll have lots of opportunity to work in front of the camera, and you’ll get to do a showcase for Chicago casting professionals.  And finally - the program is rounded out by Scene Study! You’ll work on scenes from contemporary plays, learning how to put everything you’ve studied into practice.

This program is such a cool way to feel like you’re going back to school; you’ll be in class Wednesday & Thursday evenings, and Saturday & Sunday afternoons.  If you have too many conflicts to take the full program, you can take these classes individually and work on whatever skills you especially want to develop.  BUT!  If timing allows, I recommend taking a deep breath and diving in.  The darkest time of year can be the most fulfilling, spent with the Green Shirt community discovering yourself as an artist.