Acting Workshops in Auckland

What the Workshops Cover

The subject changes from one workshop to the next, and three themes return through the year.

Audition preparation

The audition preparation workshop teaches a five step process for preparing a role effectively and efficiently, even under a tight deadline, using Michael Chekhov screen acting tools. The studio describes it as the fastest way to prepare for auditions, and it has run as a four hour intensive limited to ten actors. It is designed for actors who want to feel prepared, professional and inspired when a script lands.

Actors work with psychological gesture, atmosphere, imagination and character development to build a character quickly, and leave with an approach that supports strong choices and confidence in the room. The tools apply equally to a screen audition, a self tape and the development of a role. In October 2026 it was scheduled as a three hour Saturday morning session. In November 2026 it was scheduled twice in the studio: for adults on Saturday 21 November, and for teenagers on Sunday 22 November. It opens the 2027 calendar on Saturday 30 January 2027.

The embodied actor

The Embodied Actor: Presence Intensive and Audition Preparation ran over a weekend in March 2026, with a morning of meditation and presence followed by a morning of audition preparation. It could be taken as a single day or as the full weekend.

Reset: a meditation based workshop

A workshop that uses meditation to help actors reconnect with themselves before a term begins. It runs just ahead of the first week of classes, as a way of arriving ready to work.

How the Technique Is Used in a Workshop

The studio's workshops draw on the same method as its classes. An introduction to the Michael Chekhov technique covers atmosphere, psychological gesture, qualities, body centres, radiation and image work, the fundamental elements of the technique and of the character creation process. A workshop takes one part of that and gives it several uninterrupted hours. The method is set out on our page about the Michael Chekhov technique.

Workshop or Term Class

A workshop is a concentrated look at one subject. A term class is where the technique is built up week by week and where each term ends with a recording session with a casting director. If you are deciding where to begin, read about the weekly acting classes in Auckland, and if you have a particular audition to prepare, consider one to one acting coaching instead.

Workshops Around New Zealand

Elena has taken the work beyond Auckland. Introductory workshops in the Michael Chekhov technique were announced at Toi Whakaari and at Te Whaea, the National Dance and Drama Centre, in Wellington in 2012 and 2013, and in May 2025 the Equity Foundation programmed a one day workshop with Elena in Christchurch, Inspired Acting: Unlocking Creativity with the Michael Chekhov Technique. If you would like a workshop for your theatre, school or group, the page for actors outside Auckland explains how to ask.

Booking a Workshop

Choose the workshop on the booking page and send the request. The studio confirms your place by email and sends the details for the day. Workshops are also announced through Women in Film and Television New Zealand and on the studio's Facebook page.