Actor Coaching

Nick Coghlan is one of Australia’s most respected independent performance coaches. As well as being a practicing professional actor and writer for theatre, he is a sessional teacher at NIDA, The National Theatre Drama School, and St. Martin’s Youth Arts Centre. He is the co-creator and teacher of Life & Your Phenomenal Creative Practice (The Public Studio’s flagship program), and the lead facilitator at The Public Studio.

He is available by appointment for actor coaching (one-on-one and groups), or public speaking preparation sessions. To get in touch with him, and book a time, email Nick at nsc(at)thepublicstudio(dot)net, or get in touch using this contact form.

“I believe that the art of acting is the highest of art forms. In performance the actor combines the totality of their emotional, intellectual, spiritual and physical life in pursuit of uncovering meaning and as such, I see my role as a teacher of the form as one of constantly and fluidly apprehending each aspect of the entire (and individual) actor/student. In order that the actor wholly embody a role, my work with students is not only in giving them the tools and practice to develop the technical and practical command of their total instrument (their body, voice, mind, etc.) but also in challenging and extending the student’s imaginative capacity and in developing actors as ‘manual philosophers’.

I am interested in exploring the actors’ task as one of uncovering ‘Being’ and the true nature of existence via philosophical, psychological and physical engagement. My work with actors deals in a range of psychological and physical methods, and I am especially interested in teaching actors how to read well – that is, to understand themselves, their context and the text – and in finding individually appropriate and practical ways to bring that understanding to performance fruition.

I help actors to explore and uncover the frameworks and processes that they might employ to authentically engage in their practice, deal with technical issues in the pursuit of truthful performance, and to create a living art.

Acting is an art.
It is the fearless embodiment of a moment.
It is an act of absolute self-revelation.
It is the authentic playing of the instrument and the form.
It is ultimately hopeful.
It is inhabiting another’s world-view.
It is permission and play.
It is wakefulness.
It is awareness, acknowledgement and acceptance.
It is story.
It is connection and communing.
It is creation through doing.

Actors are manual philosophers.
They are constantly deepening their understanding of self.
They are explorers of being.
They sense and receive from multiple perspectives.
They strive to live without bias and fear.
They allow a text, an audience, and life to read them.
They maintain awareness even whilst letting-go.
They are utterly open to possibility.
They are ego-less.
They are conscious and awake.
In order to discover why, they do.

Acting is a craft.
The actor learns how to play the instrument, the self.
The actor is in constant creative practice.
The actor trains the mind, the body and the voice.
The actor practices being.
The actor manipulates time and space with his instrument..
The actor develops mastery of self.
The actor learns how to breathe.
The actor is not afraid of hard work.
The actors’ best friend is discipline.
The actor finds freedom in doing.

Through constant practice and deepening awareness of The Actor’s Instrument (mind, body, voice) and The Actor’s Self (knowledge of self and the infinite personas it can wear) the actor will develop mastery and uncover the ultimate boon – The Actor’s Choice (freedom in the art).

Freedom can only be understood and appreciated when there are restrictions placed upon that freedom. The senses apprehend ‘reality’ because they are limited. We know beauty because of the limits of ‘that which is not beautiful’ and we can perhaps only fully appreciate life when we are faced with death. The more extreme the limitation the more likely it is that we will be forced to consciously recognize freedom. The actor must embrace limitations of self, form, style, and circumstances in order to transcend them. These very limits give us the opportunity to create and make sense of the story of existence. We push against the box in order to know it is a box.” – Nick Coghlan

Fill in the contact form below to get in touch…