David Weinberg, PhD

The philosophy of teaching I apply revolves around combining the experience of professional practice with major established methods of actor training. The life and writings of the Russian actor, director, and theorist Konstantin Stanislavski (1863-1938) are generally considered to be the first major systematic training method for actors. I believe that the techniques and methods introduced by Stanislavski form a foundation for actor training and are to be regarded, in a certain sense, as a kind of tool box for the actor. I endeavor to create an approach to teaching which utilizes the student’s own innate creativity for both interpretive work with a script as well as new and experimental forms.       

In her book Actor Training (2010 2nd Edition) Alison Hodge details the training methods of not only Stanislavski but also Stella Adler, Eugenio Barba, Anne Bogart, Bertolt Brecht, Peter Brook, Michael Chekhov, Joseph Chaikin, Sanford Meisner, Meyerhold, and others and I believe that it is important for a teacher of acting to have a working knowledge of all of these methods so that they may be applied as and when appropriate for a specific actor. In short, I believe that an actor’s approach to a given role should be directly determined by the specific needs of a particular play, screenplay, or devised work. In addition, I was a protégé of the late Charles Marowitz (1932-2014). Charles was the first American to direct at the Royal Shakespeare Company, wrote a Broadway play (Sherlock’s Last Case 1987), and directed London West End premieres of such plays as Joe Orton’s Loot (Evening Standard Award for Best Play1966). 

I currently teach acting and theater history at the University of Nevada and before this I taught theater courses at the University of London, Kingston University London, two Further Education Colleges (British equivalent of a junior college) as well as workshops for professional actors. I completed a PhD scholarship in drama at Kingston University London in 2015. I received an MA (with Merit) from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and a BFA from the California Institute of the Arts. I was a visiting scholar at Oxford University during my undergraduate studies. 

I have worked as both an actor and director in London's West End and I am a member Actors Equity Association, the Screen Actors Guild, and Actors Equity UK. In London's West End I have directed projects at the Arts Theater, St James Theater, Trafalgar Studios, the Leicester Square Theater, and the Soho Theater as well as Off-West End at the Young Vic Theater, King's Head Theater, Rose Playhouse, Theatro Technis, Baron's Court Theater, Etcetera Theater, RADA and a festival hosted by the RSC in Stratford-upon-Avon. I was the first American to direct at the historic Rose Theater, Bankside where the plays of Shakespeare were first performed.

In Los Angeles, I directed American Buffalo by David Mamet at the Hudson Theater in Hollywood and My Thing of Love by Alexandra Gersten at the Actors Lab Theater (with extended engagement). As an actor I have performed in London’s West End and played major roles in the 50th anniversary production of Cannery Row (Editor’s Choice American Theater Magazine) and the original production of the Tony-Nominated Broadway play Sixteen Wounded. My book, Off-Broadway/Off-West End: American Influence on the Alternative Theater Movement in Britain 1956-1980 was published in September 2017 by Ibidem Press in Europe (Hamburg and London) and is available under the Columbia University Press imprint in the USA. I was a consultant on a film called Meeting Jim which is an official selection of the 2018 Edinburgh International Film Festival and I was in a film called Goodbye Jane which was screened at a film festival in Canterbury, England at the end of last month. 

I charge $40 for each 90 minute lesson. Lessons take place on the UNR campus.

My mother is a teacher and I orginally started teaching by assisting her when I was a teenager.

I have extensive experience teaching acting at both university and professional levels, to students with various levels of training and ability, as well as recent professional experience in London’s West End.

I enjoyed launching my new book and watching an actor I had worked with at the California Shakespeare Festival win an Oscar. 

Find a teacher who you feel comfortable with and who will build you up and give you personal attention instead of tearing you down. 

The first thing I discuss with students is what their vision is for themselves and where they want to be as an actor. We can then develop a set of skills that will help them to achieve those outcomes.