Preparatory Acting Course

This course is exactly right for you if …

• you are interested in an artistic degree or an artistic profession in the field of performing arts and would like to gain initial insights into professional acting training.
• you are looking for optimal preparation for the entrance examination in acting at an art university or academy.
• you already work as a director, social pedagogue or drama teacher in school or extracurricular settings and would like to further your education in this field.

This is how the acting preparation course is structured:

Fundamentals of acting:
In 55 teaching hours, you will learn the fundamentals of acting through exercises – not only theoretically, but practically and with all your senses. You will learn how expression develops – and the role the relationship between body and space plays in this. Important basic concepts such as action, process and situation will be explained, and you will learn how to use the so-called W-questions as a foundation for sensorial and situational acting. You will train your imagination and spontaneity.

Role study using audition monologues:
You will then apply what you have learned in selected monologues. In at least 23 additional teaching hours, your lecturers will provide intensive support in choosing suitable roles and working on them.

Beate Schwarzbauer 

• Lecturer in Acting and Scene Study at Alanus University of Arts and Social Sciences
• Actress
• Voice artist
• Director
• Mediator

Prof. Georg Verhülsdonk

• Lecturer in speech training and acting at Alanus University of Arts and Social Sciences, Folkwang UdK Bochum and HfMDK Frankfurt
• Chorus speaking coach at theatres and at Cologne Opera

First, complete our registration form. If sufficient places are available, you will then promptly receive confirmation of your participation in the course.

Please then send us a WeTransfer link to a video (maximum 3 minutes) in which you tell us something about yourself. What motivates you to take part in the course? Do you have a favourite text or a favourite role? What interests you most about the performing arts?

Please note: We are not looking for perfection. We want to get to know you this way and prepare for working together. We are aware of the challenges of the medium. Just get started and enjoy performing! A smartphone recording is sufficient for us: what matters is that we can see and understand you clearly. Naturally, the data will be treated confidentially and deleted after review.

No specific prior knowledge is required. The course is aimed at people who enjoy performance and scenic play and who explicitly want to prepare for the entrance examination at a drama school or academy.

For content-related questions and advice, Beate Schwarzbauer can be reached by email and by phone at +49 (0) 173 7349336.

The preparatory course not only offered me great opportunities to develop further in this short time, but ultimately led me to a place at a state drama school. The lecturers were valuable contacts and a great support at all times. They took the time that was needed and strengthened my confidence in my abilities. I will remember the time very fondly and am extremely grateful for the experiences, the humanity and the closeness during the course.« — Helena Vogel

»It was a course full of possibilities and without limits. We lived through every emotion imaginable. […] We were allowed to try everything and be whoever we wanted to be. One of the most beautiful things about the course was definitely that we were allowed to be children again. Seeing the world through the eyes of a child was the key to acting for us. […] We started again to see, hear, smell, feel and taste our surroundings. This also helps me in my everyday life now. […] In my opinion, everyone should have this kind of experience at least once. I learned to understand other people much better through their body language and to use my body fully for expression. That is exactly why this course is not only for people who want to stand on stage or in front of the camera, but rather for everyone who wants to know how to truly live.« — Theresa Poggel

»The preparatory course gave me the foundations and the courage to appear confident at auditions and to trust myself more. Through improvisation exercises, I learned that very little is needed to entertain people. In other words, a UFO does not have to land in an improvisation or a pirate attack me to create tension. Rather, it is enough and becomes interesting when you do not want to prove anything or show anything special. I can recommend that everyone embark on this journey of discovery.« — Fabienne Ten Thije

»Through the preparatory course, I learned different methods for developing roles. These tools help me when I play a role. Most importantly, I learned to trust my body’s reaction.« — Shohei Owanda