Program of Studies

Beit Zvi offers its students an intensive three-year program, at the conclusion of which one receives a certificate of graduation. The study year is comprised of three eleven-week trimesters, with two-week vacations after the first and the second trimesters. The emphasis during the first two years is on combination of practical and theoretical coursework geared toward developing a solid foundation in acting, voice, and movement.

Special courses are offered in a wide range of areas including dance, singing, pantomime, commedia-del-arte, musical theatre, theatre games, classics, theatre history, criticism, and script analysis. Evenings are devoted to the preparation of rehearsal exercises which are presented to the school community at the end of each term.

Shmuel Vilozni

("Look back in anger" 1985)

Anat Waxman, Dov Navon

("Born Yesterday" 1983)

Itay Tiran, Daniel Efrat

("Hair" 2003)

The third year operates as a Theatre in which an average of 30 productions is mounted for performance before paying audiences. Ticket prices are nominal, and each production runs as a limited run of 14 times. This program of studies allows each student to develop his own stage persona, blending his natural talent with acquired skills. During the third year, the student gains experience in a wide spectrum of theatrical styles and works with variety of directors, all within the context of constant exposure to audiences. Thus, the school attempts to equip its students with the necessary tools to meet the professional challenge.

The First Year
First year studies are divided into four categories:

1. Theatre History and Script Analysis.

Reading and analysis of modern and classic dramatic literature - history, esthetics, genre and leading playwrights; attendance at performances of professional productions around the country; followed by discussions with teachers and guest lecturers.

2. Acting Classes and Rehearsal Exercises.

a. Acting Classes (Stanislavsky Uta Hagen) The seven questions; partner exercise; properties exercise; place and time; the psychological action; the physical action; internal and external obstacles; sense memory; emotional memory; improvisation.

b. Rehearsal Exercises and Monologue preparation.

Rehearsal productions in the three trimesters are spent respectively on American, Russian and European plays. Concurrently throughout the year, students prepare monologues from Chekhov, Arthur Miller, Tennessee Williams, Ibsen and Shakespeare.

3. Movement and Dance.

The psychology of movement (Laban System);awareness of the body and its function; physical relaxation; the body as instrument of actor expression; physical concentration, flexibility; contact and physical improvisation; beginning ballet.

4. Voice.

Vocal production; speech and diction; poetry reading.

Additional disciplines: Commedia-Del-Arte; Clowning; Acrobatics; Theatre Games; History of Cinema.

The Second Year

After mastering the basics incumbent in the first year of studies, the second year curriculum grows in breadth and depth, with further specialization in the areas of acting, voice and movement. Attendance at rehearsal exercises is enlarged to include the entire school community of students and teachers, while technical skills undergo further polishing. Courses are given in acting, voice for the actor (Linklater method), and styles in dance, stage fighting, pantomime, tap dancing, stand-up comedy, theatre games, dramatic reading, and theatre history and script analysis. In addition, students receive individual instruction in singing,' Alexander technique, speech therapy and text analysis. Rehearsal exercises ate devoted to the works of Shakespeare, the Greeks, Moliere, Brecht and the American musical. Monologues are also prepared from French and Greek classics, as well as Shakespeare. Concurrent to the regular program of studies, attention is given to the cultural enrichment of the students. Lectures and meeting are arranged with a wide range of working professionals, including stage and film directors from Israel and from abroad. Students attend an average of fifty professional productions, as well as symphony concerts, operas and related museum exhibits. The school also sponsors yearly trips abroad to cultural centers such as London and most recently Moscow.

The Third Year

The third year operates as a small theatre with an average of 20 productions being mounted in a ten-month season.

Rehearsals are held during the daytime hours, with a portion of the time being devoted to individual and group classes in voice and movement, as well as meetings with invited theatre artists. The directors for third year productions are enlisted from the top ranks of the Israeli professional theatre, and from visiting foreign directors. Many of the directors come from outside the regular faculty, as well as British, American and European guest directors (working through translators), further preparing the students for integration into the profession, as well as acquainting the directors with young talent.