PRACTICAL AESTHETICS TECHNIQUE

PRACTICAL AESTHETICS TECHNIQUE with Award Winning Actor JANE HARBER. Screen-Test Session with Award Winning Television Drama Executive Producer Andrew Walker.

5 Week Program
Tuesdays I 6:30pm – 9:30pm
Commencing April 30, 2024

A GOOD ACTOR IS AN INTREPID EXPLORER OF SCENES. A PRACTICAL AESTHETICS CLASS GIVES YOU THE MAP AND THE COMPASS. 

Join Award Winning Actor Jane Harber as she takes you through the step-by-step process of revolutionary acting technique PRACTICAL AESTHETICS, utilised by OSCAR & BAFTA Award Winning Actors all over the world.

Executive Producer Andrew Walker (DEADLOCH; THE SURVIVORS; PROSPER) will view your work in a Screen-Test Session on June 29, 2024.

“PRACTICAL AESTHETICS (PA) IS LIKE HAVING A VERY COOL SECRET WEAPON AS AN ACTOR.  IT IS SPONTANEOUS AND SPECIFIC AT THE SAME TIME AND CAN OFFER A TERRIFYING BUT ULTIMATELY EXHILARATING EXPERIENCE FOR PERFORMANCE” – Rose Byrne (Bridesmaids; X-Men; Physical; Damages; Marie Antoinette; Mrs America; Annie; Two Hands).

A GOOD ACTOR IS AN INTREPID EXPLORER OF SCENES. A PRACTICAL AESTHETICS CLASS GIVES YOU THE MAP AND THE COMPASS. 

Practical Aesthetics is both an acting technique and a philosophy, originally conceived by David Mamet and William H. Macey, based on the teachings of Stanislavsky and Stanford Meisner. Simple, honest and straightforward, the technique de-mystifies the process of acting, giving actors an empowering set of analytical and physical tools. 

Practical Aesthetics avoids the trap of the Method Actor: self-absorption and self-analysis. By taking the attention away from you and onto the other, you truly become liberated to act and live in the moment. You’re no longer trapped inside your head, no two performances will ever be identical, and the magic of storytelling casts its spell on the audience.

The technique is broken down into two parts: think before you act, and act before you think. Think before you act involves script analysis:

1. What is the character literally doing?
2. What does the character want the other character to do in the scene?
3. What is the actor doing onstage to achieve this goal?
4. The “as if,” which personalizes it. Or: What is this to me?

Through script analysis, Practical Aesthetics helps actors explore given circumstances, understand their character, and make personal performance choices. The act before you think part is where we learn to put our attention on the other person in the scene, so that you know how to play the action. This part of the technique leads the actor to be spontaneous, imaginative and in the moment. Although the technique is based on the teachings of Stanislavski and Meisner, what makes Practical Aesthetics unique is the rigorous script analysis. A lot of actors don’t know what to do when they’re given a script. This method allows you to dig deep into it.  

Andrew Walker is one of Australia’s busiest Television Drama Executive Producers. He is currently producing the Netflix Australian drama series The Survivors with development, production and post-production in Victoria, and principal photography happening in Tasmania.  The Survivors is adapted from Australian best-selling author Jane Harper’s novel by the award-winning team at Tony Ayres Productions (Fires, Clickbait, Stateless).  

Tony Ayres, Showrunner, Executive Producer and Writer said, “We want to intrigue and move our viewers, just as Jane does with her readers. We’re blessed to be working with the brilliant Netflix team, a stunning cast and crew led by the indomitable Andy Walker and Cherie Nowlan.”   

Andrew is the series producer on Kate McCartney & Kate McLennan’s comedy mystery series DEADLOCH (Guesswork Television/Amazon Prime). Other credits include SPREADSHEET (Northern Pictures/Paramount+), STAN original television series PROSPER, starring Richard Roxburgh and Rebecca Gibney, FIVE BEDROOMS (Hoodlum/Paramount+) and all five seasons of Celia Pacquola & Luke McGregor’s hit comedy series ROSEHAVEN (Guesswork Television/ABC-TV). Walker was also the Casting Director on ROSEHAVEN. Other drama and comedy credits include TRUE STORY WITH HAMISH & ANDY (Radio Karate/Nine Network), WANTED (Matchbox Pictures/Seven Network) and Anne Edmonds’ THE EDGE OF THE BUSH (Guesswork Television/ABC-TV). Walker co-produced Seasons 1 and 2 of THE FAMILY LAW (Matchbox Pictures/SBS) and was one of the producers of the multi-award winning THE KETTERING INCIDENT (Porchlight Films/FOXTEL/BBC Worldwide). Earlier credits include drama series WONDERLAND and MR & MRS MURDER (both for FremantleMedia/Network TEN) and SATISFACTION (LoneHand/FOXTEL). Narrative comedy credits include A MOODY CHRISTMAS (Jungle/ABC-TV), LAID Season 2 (Porchlight Films/ABC-TV) and WOODLEY (Guesswork Television/ABC-TV), and many more groundbreaking series over the past 30 years. 

Jane Harber has been at the forefront of Australian television for decades, tackling some of the most interesting and thought-provoking lead female characters. Recognised throughout the world for her award-winning role of Zara Perkich in Network Ten’s most successful drama Offspring (Seasons 1-7), alongside Asher Keddie and Kat Stewart, Jane has just finished shooting feature film Sleeping Dogs alongside Academy Award Winner Russell Crowe, Karen Gillan and Tommy Flanagan. She has also just completed filming the 2nd season of multi award-winning television series The Newsreader.

Currently, Jane can be seen on the ABC Network in the hit 6-part television drama series In Limbo, alongside Ryan Corr and Bob Morley.  Her extensive list of credits include (but are not limited to) Summer Love; Maverix; Informer 3838; My Life is Murder; Pretty Little Stalker; Back in Very Small Business; Offspring (Season 1-7); St Francis; High Expectasians; The Moodys; Never Tear Us Apart: The Untold Story of INXS; Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries; House Husbands; The Nurses; Underbelly; The Secret Life of Us; Neighbours; Raw FM; Blue Heelers and many more. She is a Practical Aesthetics Graduate and Practitioner.