Scene Study: The Actor’s Craft
Next Intensive – FALL – November 7th, 8th, 14th, 2025
Let’s work.
Let’s grow. Let’s act.
Fundamental knowledge of Stanislavski highly recommended.
Quarterly Scene Study Intensives
With Brandy Hotchner
Quarterly Immersive Intensives
Tuition: $275 per intensive
Scene Study is where committed actors deepen their craft, sharpen instincts, and expand their range. In our quarterly intensive format, you’ll work in a concentrated burst of training designed to push your skills forward fast.
This class offers more than just technique. It’s an artistic space to explore the kind of acting that moves people. You’ll learn to bring your full voice and emotional depth to the work, remove personal blocks, and connect honestly with your scene partner and the story. It’s the kind of training that demystifies great performance; not through tricks, but by building trust, specificity, and freedom in your craft.
Upcoming Intensives:
Fall 2025: November 7, 8 & 14 | 6:00 PM – 10:00 PM
Spring 2026: March 16, 17 & 18 | 6:00 PM – 10:00 PM
Summer 2026: July 5, 6 & 7 | 6:00 PM – 10:00 PM
Each intensive begins with Relaxation & Sensory work from 6:00–7:00 PM, grounding you in your body and preparing your emotional instrument for the scene work ahead. This foundation helps you release tension, open up creatively, and access a fuller range of truthful responses in performance. The remainder of the evening is devoted to scene rehearsal, individualized coaching, and ensemble collaboration.
Upcoming Intensives:
In each intensive, you will:
- Work on fully realized scenes from contemporary and classic plays or film scripts
- Receive detailed, individualized coaching
- Develop stronger physical, vocal, and emotional presence
- Build deeper character work using professional rehearsal techniques
- Collaborate in an ensemble environment that mirrors professional rehearsal rooms
Who it’s for:
Actors with strong training who want to maintain momentum, reconnect with instincts, or prepare for upcoming auditions and projects. This intensive is an ideal next step after Acting Technique or for experienced actors returning to the work.
This is the work great actors return to; the kind of work that builds careers and leaves an impact.
Fundamental knowledge of Stanislavski highly recommended.
Lee Strasberg’s Relaxation & Sensory Training
6:00PM – 7:00PM
Included with your Intensive
Lee Strasberg’s systematic technique of Relaxation and Sensory was nearly a century ahead of its time. Long before modern science caught up, Strasberg understood what we now call somatic intelligence — the body’s role in memory, emotion, and expression.
Today, this work is backed by neuropsychology and somatic research, which recognize that the body holds lived experience in its muscles, reflexes, and voice; often more vividly than the mind. Strasberg observed what science now confirms: conditioning and trauma manifest as chronic tension, shallow breath, and reflexive holding patterns that limit an actor’s full range.
This class focuses on:
- Releasing physical and emotional tension
- Building concentration and present-moment awareness
- Training the senses to respond vividly to imagined circumstances
- Accessing emotional truth through the body, not just the mind
This is somatic work for actors — grounding the imaginary in the body, clearing blocks to expression, and expanding the instrument for deeper, more truthful performance.
Scene Study and Sensory at Arizona Actors Academy
In these specialty classes at Arizona Actors Academy, Artistic Director Brandy Hotchner guides actors on a transformative journey through Method Acting—a technique rooted in the teachings of Lee Strasberg. This approach goes beyond surface-level performance, inviting actors to explore their deepest truths and bring unparalleled realism and authenticity to their craft.
Brandy teaches these workshops in the traditional format, nearly 100 years old, as passed down by her mentors, Barbara Poitier and Sandra Seacat—both students of Lee Strasberg and Elia Kazan. Adding her own insights and modern updates,
Brandy helps each actor discover what inspires their creativity, unlocks their empathy, and ignites a passion for bold, unapologetic artistry. Every class will include Relaxation and Sensory followed by intensive scene study. Read more below about the unique approach to both and why this training is so highly sought after.
“When you work with Brandy, the lineage is clear: Lee Strasberg to Barbara Poiter to Brandy. She creates a safe, joyous and rigorous environment found only in the classroom of a precious few coaches living today. But she doesn’t stop with just Method work. Her extensive background in classical acting is the foundation she imparts to all actors who study with her.”
American Method Acting at Arizona Actors Academy
“I know of no other advice than this: Go within and scale the depths of your being from which your very life springs forth.”
Arizona Actors Academy features the highly sought after and too often mis-understood American Method tool box of acting. This technique is at its core a deep dive into Lee Strasberg’s Method, Sandra Seacat’s mining of the unconscious, Stella Adler’s expanding of the human spirit through imagination, and Barbara Poitier’s mastery of moment-to-moment work through research/empathy. Actors are expected to always be working on fully prepared scenes while actively looking for and introducing new material.
Registration Open
