Stables regular Chris New has been captivated by the craft of acting since childhood. From his early training at RADA to acclaimed performances across the West End, the National Theatre, the RSC, and on the big screen, his passion for the art has never waned. 

Over the past 15 years, Chris has meticulously developed an understanding and approach to acting that completely redefines what it is, how it works, and how to do it. He has defined an approach and accompanying philosophy that seek to release and empower the creativity within us all.  

Join Chris to experience for yourself the clarity of his approach and the precision of his techniques at this weekly class. Actors of all experience levels are warmly welcomed.

Each week will focus on the varying tools that an actor has at their disposal, and begin to give you the skills to put them to use.  The course will conclude with a sharing of work among friends.  

Chris directed our recent Glass Menagerie and Top Girls.  He created The Pilgrim Plays;Dig&Dog Song,Follow the Eyes,Harvest,The Power of Love and Sir, and he co-founded Makers’ House Hastings with Liz Mattey.  In his acting career he made his debut in the West End revival of Bent, starring opposite Alan Cumming, receiving rave reviews and two award nominations from both the Evening Standard and the What’s On Stage Awards. He went on to work with Richard Eyre at the National Theatre, played Viola opposite John Lithgow’s Malvolio for the Royal Shakespeare Company, and portrayed Joe Orton opposite Matt Lucas in the West End production of Prick Up Your Ears. He also played Edward II at the Royal Exchange, led the 25th-anniversary revival of Philip Ridley’s The Pitchfork Disney at the Arcola, and has performed at the Young Vic, Sadler’s Wells, Shakespeare’s Globe, HOME and the Royal Exchange in Manchester, the Soho Theatre, and the Finborough. He transferred Peter Nichols’ follow-up to Privates on Parade, Lingua Franca, to New York, where it received rave reviews. His film debut, Weekend, became an overnight sensation, earning many award nominations, and remains regarded as a modern classic. Chris began teaching with the Royal Shakespeare Company’s education department in 2006 and, in 2013, took up an invitation to run weekly acting classes at the Actors Centre in Covent Garden. In 2020, he moved his teaching practice to Hastings where he has been resident ever since.

An introduction day for the course will be held at Makers’ House Hastings and should be of particular interest to anyone who has either never acted before, never formally trained or who has been away from the acting world for a long time. It will be a focused introduction to many of the ideas and techniques that Chris will use throughout the course. It will be held on Sunday 22nd March 10am-4pm and cost £40. For more info, or to book, visit https://www.makershousehastings.co.uk/allevents/p/how-to-act-an-introduction-with-chris-new-22nd-march

‘Actor training often feels stuck in the past, taught from dusty books published in the middle of the last century. It can feel oblique, inadequate and often leaves us with more questions than answers. It requires an update.’

Triggers + Age Guidance – 16+.