Otto  Falcken-
berg  Schule 

Application

Acting

WHAT YOU WILL – or: acting training at the OFS.

The professional profile of an actor is constantly evolving due to the diverse and various styles and methods deployed in contemporary productions in theatres as well as on the independent scene, in the visual arts and digital media. This diversity – alongside a focus on international networking – forms a key part of today’s actor training.

The training at the Otto Falckenberg School instructs in and reflects on acting and production techniques, teaches solid craftsmanship and promotes in its students the development of an independent artistic personality whose ability to perform is shaped by the desire to deal with complex socio-political contexts.

The basic training in the first year of the programme teaches dramatic, technical and theoretical skills which enable the students to recognise the means of expression at their disposal, reproduce them and individually utilise them. Improvisation, dramatic exercises and the engagement with theatrical texts are the focus of acting lessons and serve to help the students think about the body and language as important means of expression, to experience them with all the senses and to utilise them.

Body work, speech training, voice training and singing become the foundations of the students’ basic technical skills. A third essential component is the theoretical instruction during the training which is intended to mentally and conceptually enrich and support the students’ access to practical dramatic work and to support their political education.

In order to push the students into developing an independent artistic practice, after the basic training in the first year, study at the Otto Falckenberg School is characterised by a self-organised approach to learning and to the implementation the curriculum. The modular structure of the course gives students the chance to design their curriculum largely by themselves. The variety of opportunities ranging from cross-year stage work and independently developed projects to workshops by acclaimed guest lecturers and numerous cooperations with the Münchner Kammerspiele and other theatres and cultural institutions, present the ideal framework for this.

Directing

The work of a director is grounded in the desire to tell a story. An individual perspective on people and the world should be conveyed to the audience via the director’s personal aesthetics of expression. The school therefore sees itself as a source of inspiration and a trainer, as a field for experimentation and a free space in which the directing students can undertake the search for their individual style.

The four-year course is based on the following corresponding key concepts: individuality, engagement, skilled crafts and support.

In addition to having a creative personality, we expect prospective directing students to have had several years of professional and/or training experience. A special feature of the directing training at the academy is the close link to the Münchner Kammerspiele. Students can gain practical experience during internships, assistant directorships and work placements in the various theatre crafts (set design, costume design, lighting et al). In the second year of training, directing students are expected to undertake two assistant directorships at the Münchner Kammerspiele. These are coordinated between the academy and the theatre in accordance with the wishes and availability of the directing students.

At the beginning of their training, the directing students participate in the classes of the acting students, becoming familiar with the actors’ means of expression and learning how to describe them. The theoretical and practical development of concepts, dramatic exercises with actors and drama students and closely supported themed projects are the focus of the first two years of training. In addition, by staging their own productions from the second year onwards and with their graduation project in the fourth year, the directing students have the opportunity to develop their individual and independent style of storytelling.