I would like to take this opportunity to express to you how impressed I have been with the ability of Steph Davis to work with and coach actors. I have had the pleasure of attending several acting programs Steph has taught at the Camino Real Playhouse in San Juan Capistrano and have grown tremendously from his direction. Having taken numerous acting classes at different venues over the past ten years, I can say unequivocally that my experiences with Steph have been the most positive and rewarding that I have experienced in an acting classroom.
There are several reasons this has been the case. Steph has a great ability to coach actors to expand their comfort zone and to constructively challenge them in a supportive manner. I and many others in his classes have been very pleasantly surprised at how far he can help an actor stretch his or her abilities in a role well beyond what the actor thought possible. Steph does this in a manner in which the actor is encouraged to take risks while not ever feeling intimidated or threatened.
Steph is extaordinarliy creative and will see possibilities that an actor would not otherwise see. He encourages actors to take approaches which are unexpected and will enhance the theater experience of the audience and make the performance much more believable. He continually challenges and directs the actor to analyze and develope new ways of approaching relationships with other charactors, addressing physical settings and circumstances, developing deep understandings of underlyning and scene motivations, and utilizing and changing tactics. Steph has had extensive experience training as an actor and uses the wide variety of techniques he has learned to help the actors he is directing be much more effective.
I have benefited tremendously from working with Steph and look forward to continuing to witness his accomplishments directing and coaching actors. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you would like to discuss my experience working with Steph.
Very truly yours,
James J. Scheinkman