Queensland’s capital has spawned many successful actors: Geoffrey Rush, Jacinda Barrett, and Miranda Otto among them. Taking an acting class in the city can’t guarantee you a successful career, but it could prove the start of such a journey. Whether you're looking to hone your on-camera skills, dive into improv, or perfect your self-tape technique, Brisbane has a class for you. Here's a roundup of some of the most highly regarded acting classes in the city, spanning a broad range of acting techniques and styles.
Specialism: On-camera acting
The Australian Actors Studio, formerly the Academy of Television, has been offering screen-acting training in Queensland for 30 years. Its classes focus on techniques for television and film, helping students understand the nuances of performing in front of a camera. It offers classes for kids, teenagers, and adults at different levels, and all courses are led by industry professionals. The introductory level screen-acting course costs AU $275 for a four-week programme, taking place on Saturday mornings at the Judith Wright Centre of Contemporary Arts.
Specialisms: Beginners’ acting and one-to-one coaching
Perform Australia offers a range of acting classes that cater to different levels of experience. For beginner actors, its Acting 101 course in Brisbane is a great place to take your first steps. You will be in a group with other beginners and there will be lots of icebreakers that feel like games, introducing you to acting techniques before you move on to script work and learning a bit about the acting business. The course is taught by Charles Allen, a former head of acting at the Aboriginal Centre for Performing Arts. What’s more, at the end of the eight-week course, you’ll perform a short scene for an invited audience of friends and family. The course costs AU $400 and runs weekly for eight weeks in the Perform Australia Brisbane Studio. It also runs one-to-one actor coaching, which you can do in person or on Zoom at a cost of AU $90 an hour.
Specialisms: Self-tapes and audition techniques
Taught by Andrew Hearle, who has taught at leading drama schools throughout Australia and is the founder of StageMilk.com, the in-person Screen Acting Class is a popular choice for actors wanting to hone their self-tape technique and onscreen presence. During the course, you’ll work on several scenes hand-picked for you by Hearle, allowing you to explore a range of styles, genres, and characters to help further your range and versatility on camera. At the end of the six weeks, you’ll have a portfolio of self-tapes to use for your casting profiles or to stitch into a showreel to send to agents. The six-week course costs AU $695 (AU $495 with an early-bird discount) and meets weekly at the PIP Theatre.
Specialisms: Musical theatre and improvisation
BeXD Create is a production company that runs kids’ classes and adult workshops. It produces theatre, music, and film. It specialises in musical theatre – it runs an adult Musical Theatre Class – and welcomes all levels, from absolute beginners to experienced performers. It also offers an eight-week adult Improv and Drama Class, which should arm you with skills to think quickly and respond in the moment. An eight-week term costs AU $384, with classes taking place at St Andrew's Anglican Church, Indooroopilly.
Specialisms: Voice and film acting
FilmLab Academy not only offers intensive courses in film acting and voice acting, but you can also take part in IMDb-listed films. Its film Wired, in which all the characters were played by students of the academy, premiered at the Marina Del Rey Film Festival in Los Angeles and has since won several awards. Keep a lookout for its intensives, which give you the opportunity to take part in a short film or web series so you can experience what it’s like to act in a professional film setup. If you’re in it just to learn, however, try the Mature Acting class (which, despite the name, is open to actors over the tender age of 18), which covers both film acting (scene study and subtext) and voice acting, including enunciation and accents. A 10-week term costs AU $590, with classes taking place at 247b Simpsons Road, Bardon.
Specialisms: Uta Hagen technique
Peter Rasmussen is a well-known Brisbane-based acting coach and casting director. At his Acting Studio in McDowall, he runs courses in self-taping, character, and scene study. He also teaches various specialised acting techniques, such as the Uta Hagen technique, which goes through the five exercises in Hagen’s book A Challenge for the Actor and is the same course Rasmussen formerly taught at the University of Queensland to its Bachelor of Fine Arts Acting students. His graduates include the actors Emily Weir, Mitchell Burke, and Sisi Stringer. The eight-week Uta Hagen class costs AU $570 and takes place at the Peter Rasmussen Acting Studio.
Specialisms: Theatre Sports
Theatre sports is a form of improvisational theatre where teams of performers compete against each other by creating scenes and stories based on audience suggestions. Developed by Keigh Johnstone, it combines the spontaneity and creativity of improvisation with the structure of a game, often judged by a panel or audience members to determine the winning team. Keen to join a weekly theatre sports club? Head to Ithaca Hall to develop your improvisation skills and practice theatre sports in preparation for appearing in front of an audience in the monthly live shows. Other classes offered by Improv Queensland include a beginner’s improvisation course and advanced classes on how to improvise a play and how to improvise characters. An AU $100 registration fee allows you to join in on any of its Theatresports Social Club practice sessions.