Aleš Bergman Dramatic Acting Department

The department strives to create appropriate conditions for the study of acting as a discipline in its entirety. Aware of differing approaches, methods and techniques in acting creation, it places a fundamental emphasis on acting, which is understood as the art of transcending oneself by impersonating other bodies and minds. Psychosomatic exercises, etudes, and stage projects in the first year lead our students to not only search for and discover themselves but also create the prerequisites for creative self-transcendence amidst the tension between the authenticity of the inner process and the playfulness of external conditions. The whole acting education and the first attempts at creativity are put in the context of the actor’s future conscious creation. The second year is aimed at introducing, clarifying and mastering the basic principles of conscious acting, inspired by the themes of world and Czech literature, as well as the students’ own work. The work of the actor in creating a stage character is understood as a creative process in which the actor transcends himself or herself with the dramatic character and then transcends the stage character with one’s self in a process of universal action.