“I aim to help my actors reach deeper into themselves, therefore their roles”, said Adam Davenport, founder of The International Acting Studio (TIAS) in a BPR interview last December. This time, we’ve been invited to one of his workshops, to see all of that in practice.
Despite the COVID pandemic shutting down Broadway three years ago, master acting coach Adam Davenport wasn’t content with waiting it out – instead, he decided to bring acting coach Ivana Chubbuck‘s techniques to Europe. After establishing his studio Serbia, Davenport expanded his services to Budapest, Hungary, where he now offers weekly online and in-person classes, monthly classes at ORIGO Studios, as well as private coaching to some of his Hungarian and international clients.
After attending his seventh workshop at ORIGO on the 24th of April, we are no surprised that actors from all over the world attend Davenport‘s classes.
“It’s my 4th time here, and it’s amazing. There are always so many great actors from all over, and it’s so exciting get together with them and work on scenes. I take part in the online classes every week, then we meet here every month to work on our craft. It’s a great opportunity, that is also quite rare in Europe,” said Verena Müller, who drives from Vienna to Budapest every month to attend the class.
“I’ve been training with Adam since last June, and it’s been fantastic so far. Most of us are professionals, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t room for improvement. We approach acting from many aspects, including how to perform in front of cameras, how to bring out our deeper emotions using psychological techniques, while also diving deep into substitution techniques via confrontations. It’s such a rich experience to us both personally and professionally. Genius stuff.”, said Italian actor Alessandro Sparta, who’s been living in Hungary for 35 years now.
Davenport‘s workshops are advanced classes, but they are open to actors of all levels, from beginners to professionals. In some cases, he helps his students to get their first professional jobs, but he also to work privately with more experienced actors.
“There are actors who join us every month from different countries. It’s starting to become a kind of UN for actors, with beginners and professionals working together to up their craft”, said Adam before starting the first session of his 8-hour workshop.
“Today we are doing 3-person scenes from movies in English. When you are building 3-person scenes, there is something that you need from all of the actors. Since we mostly did 2-person scenes here before, this will be a much more complicated process.”
Even though we couldn’t stay till the end, it was clear that Adam Davenport‘s TIAS classes are more than just a place to hone one’s acting skills. They are a community, where actors come together to share their experiences and to support each other. With his unique blend of Ivana Chubbuck‘s techniques and his own style, Davenport is providing a rare opportunity for actors in Europe to deepen their understanding of their craft and reach new heights in their performances.
