Jeanne Hartman - Acting & Writing Workshops in HK

I first attended Jeanne's Acting Workshop in Dec 2009. It was a wonderfully enriching time, both in terms of learning more about the craft, as well as getting to know more people in the HK industry - friends with similar passions.  Acting is a craft which is often misunderstood. Acting is not pretending, nor is it putting on a front. Audiences can tell when an actor is faking emotions, or behaving awkwardly & self-consciously. Jeanne encourages all this, and more.Jeanne started off the 2-Day Workshop by allowing us to perform "monologues" of poems/songs she had given us beforehand - the purpose being to exercise our memory muscles. Now, memorisation is one of my greatest strengths. And so, Jeanne challenged me to change the situation, make it more emotionally heart-wrenching & perform the same lines.I enjoyed working with this class of actors - each of them committed to doing their best in the class, and that means a lot. Especially when we become so open about our emotions. Somehow, it is such a liberating feeling.Jeanne gave me these two words during a monologue I was performing - allowing even the actor him/herself to not know what is coming up next.Pick your moments. Modulate emotions. Physicalize emotions. Show different sides of the character in a single scene. Set yourself up so you will be out of control.On the second day, we wrote an obituary for ourselves, and Jeanne gave it to another actor to read out in class. It was interesting how the words could resonate when in another person's voice. Mine ended with  Beautifully read out by Betty Chow.I also had the privilege of reading Grace Huang's piece. It put a smile on my face. It was an obituary, but yet it brought joy to me & those who were listening. Phrases like & .  Enjoyed our brief lunch sessions as well.  This time around, Jeanne also conducted a Writers' Lab - where they workshopped a couple of scripts. The actors were invited to sit in on the final session when we did read-throughs of the writers' scripts. Would love to see them developed into actual movies~!I didn't get to participate in the Writers' Lab this time due to scheduling conflicts, even though I am currently developing a short film script. But being able to sit in on the session, listen to the writers' works, reflect on the requirements of a film script & take in the feedback from actors, directors & writers who were present - all in all, it was a very beneficial session even for me, as an actor!And I enjoyed the last segment, where the actors read out  fairytales that each of the writers had written. Pretty amusing fantasies. LOL. It was a joy to meet up with Jeanne once again. She has such a big heart for us creative folk, and is always pushing us to become even better. Such an inspiring time~Of course, it was also a wonderful opportunity to meet up with other actors, directors & writers - both the new friends, and those I've met before. Kudos to Jason Tobin, and Grace, for their hard work in organising these workshops. Now I can't wait for the next series~!