Spring Classes 2024!


Karmo Sanders

The Art of Playwriting
In-person class at First Parish Church in Portland
Tuesdays, 6:30-8:30pm, April 2nd-May 7th
Instructor: Karmo Sanders
Tuition: $130 per student

  • Playwriting is the magical art of building words into worlds. We will begin to build these worlds through writing exercises that will let you step out of the way and allow your characters’ true voices to drive the story by giving them free rein in their dialogue.
  • This class is for those who are just starting or working on something specific.
  • By the end you will have a 10-minute play and possibly beginning of longer piece. We’ll write and read aloud as we go. Let’s play!

KARMO SANDERS co-wrote and performed Radical Radio which opened Off-Off Broadway at the 91st Theater in New York City and toured the Eastern Seaboard for four years. In 2001 earned Masters Degree in Creative Writing from Boston University with focus on Playwrighting under the tutelage of Nobel Prize Winner Derek Walcott. Collaborating with Jerry Sanders she wrote the libretto and co-wrote lyrics for the full length Broadway style musical Gold Rush Girls, which opened in Anchorage, Alaska in 2012 to a six week sold out run. Her Comedy Homer Bound had a sold out run at the Good Theater in Portland, Maine in 2018 and a production at the Waldo Theater fall 2023. She has had numerous 10 minute plays produced in the Boston Theatre Marathon and an article published in the Dramatist Guild Resource Directory. She took third place in MWPA’s Flash Fiction Crime Writers competition. Currently teaching Playwrighting and Acting for Non-Majors at the University of Southern Maine. She also writes and performs Stand Up Comedy with character Birdie Googins who was part of Reality Television series Yankee Jungle on Animal Planet. That show ran for two seasons and was shown Nationally on Discovery Channel.
Karmo is Member of The Dramatists Guild and Maine Writers and Publishers Alliance.


Erica Murphy
Erica Murphy

Clown
In-person class at Mayo Street Arts in Portland
Wednesdays, 6:30-8:30pm, April 10th-May 15th
Instructor: Erica Murphy
Tuition: $130 per student

  • Discover the clown within you and unleash the possibilities of play!
  • Through physical warm-ups, games, and improvisational exercises, we will develop complicité with the audience and heighten the joy of performance in comedic play.
  • Activate your curiosity for the human experience and engage with the elusive nature of laughter.

ERICA MURPHY (she/her) is an educator, actor, and movement specialist based in Portland. In Maine, she has performed and worked with Portland Stage, Good Theater, Dramatic Repertory Company, Mad Horse Theatre Company, Fenix Theatre Company, Ziggurat Theater, Theater at Monmouth, PortFringe, and The Children’s Museum & Theatre of Maine. She believes in the power of embodied work, and has trained with Theatrical Intimacy Education and Intimacy Coordinators of Color. Erica is a certified Feldenkrais practitioner, and a graduate of The Theatre School at DePaul University and the Jacques Lecoq International School of Theater in Paris. She has taught theater at the University of Southern Maine and at Brandeis University.


Rachel Flehinger

Interactive Acting
In-person class at Mayo Street Arts in Portland
Thursdays, 6:30-8:30pm, April 11th-May 16th
Instructor: Rachel Flehinger
Tuition: $130 per student

  • Great for all levels
  • Covers basics of acting including making strong choices, active listening and reacting as well as adjusting to direction and beyond
  • Bring your enthusiasm and inquisitiveness as we explore together!

RACHEL FLEHINGER (she/her) has been teaching acting in New York as well as in Maine for more than 20 years, 15 of them with Acorn. Since beginning teaching, she has had the privilege of seeing students on film, on stage on Broadway and throughout the country, as well as on television. Her passion is helping actors in being authentic and present in their work. Rachel studied acting at George Washington University, and Brooklyn College as well as at The Michael Howard Studio with Larry Singer. She has also studied with renowned teachers such as Anatole Fourmantchouk (Russian Academy of Theatre); Eloise Watt (Riverside Shakespeare Company), Jim Calder, David Matthew Prior and Chuck Jones.


Mark J. Parker

Acting for the Camera
In-person class at Portland Media Center in Portland
Mondays, 6:30-8:00pm; April 29th-May 13th
Instructor: Mark J. Parker
Tuition: $85 per student

  • Both beginners and experienced performers are welcome.
  • Each actor will bring to life two scenes from films and TV shows, plus the group will do improv warm-ups and exercises to stretch your mind, body, volume, and facial expressions.
  • The techniques taught in this workshop will be different from stage acting, as actors will try to ground their acting in natural, truthful performances while hitting their mark for the camera.
  • Mark will also talk about best practices in auditioning, self-tapes, and Zoom auditions.

MARK J. PARKER (he/him) is an award-winning indie filmmaker/producer, acting & media coach, casting director, digital content creator/editor, podcaster, and SAG-AFTRA actor/host. After living and working in New York for 14 years, he moved to Kittery, Maine in 2020. Mark has worked on TV series and films throughout the years, from broadcast series 30 Rock and Ugly Betty to cable series Celebrity Ghost Stories and talk shows Live! With Regis & Kelly and Wendy Williams. He’s cast 8 seasons of the popular ABC hidden camera series What Would You Do? (including the new season currently airing in 2024) and has cast other TV shows, independent films, and digital content and campaigns throughout the country, especially the east coast. Many of the short films he wrote and directed are available to watch online, while his latest, a horror comedy called Casting Kill, is currently on the film festival circuit. You can find his podcast Release Date Rewind wherever you listen to podcasts or watch on YouTube, plus episodes air on Portland Media Center’s channel 5. He graduated from Fordham University and received a certificate in Producing from NYU’s School of Professional Studies. Some of Mark’s acting clients have gone on to sign with a talent agent or manager, audition for film and TV, and book roles on Apple TV+, Saturday Night Live, Sesame Street, ABC, Nickelodeon, and more.


PLEASE NOTE:

–Tuition payments are non-refundable unless we have to cancel the class or the class has to move to an online-only format due to public health considerations.

–Unless specified, all Acorn classes are designed for adult students. If you are or have a teenager interested in classes, please reach out to acornacting@gmail.com to inquire if the class is a good fit prior to registering.


Gift Certificates Available

Give the gift of an Acorn class! Use the links below to purchase a gift certificate for one of our classes.