Intermediate and Advanced Acting Classes in Auckland

Three Classes, One Method

At Elena Stejko Actors Studio you take one class a week according to your level. This page covers the three classes that sit above the Monday beginners class. All three are built on the Michael Chekhov technique and taught by Elena Stejko, and all three finish the term with a recording session with a casting director.

Intermediate: Tuesdays, 6.30pm to 9.30pm

For actors who know the basic tools and want to use them on more demanding material. If you have some training, or have completed beginners terms, this is the natural next class.

Advanced: Wednesdays, 6.30pm to 9.30pm

For trained and working actors. It is the place to keep your craft in use between jobs and to stretch what you can do with a character.

Daytime: Tuesdays, 12.30pm to 2.30pm

A two hour class in the middle of the day for people who cannot do evenings. It is open to any level, so it also suits a first term.

What the Work Involves

The course works through the fundamental elements of the Michael Chekhov technique and the character creation process: atmosphere, psychological gesture, qualities and body centres. At this level the tools stop being exercises and become a way of preparing. The studio has described a past term as teaching a clear, step by step process for transformation using psychological gesture, archetype and atmosphere, and another as being all about the close-up. Each term has its own focus.

The aims stay constant:

• A deeper understanding of the script and the casting brief.
• Confidence in your own choices when you prepare a role.
• A wider tool box and more ways to rehearse.
• A creative mind kept awake by the work of building characters.

If you would like the theory behind the practice, our page on how the Michael Chekhov technique works sets out each tool and where it comes from.

The End of Term Recording

Each term concludes with a recording session with a casting director. Every actor receives a copy of their scene afterwards. For an actor who is auditioning, that is footage to show an agent or to cut into a reel, and a chance to see how a term's work reads on screen.

Adding Camera Work

Many screen roles are now cast from a recording the actor makes themselves. If that is where you want to improve, the studio has two classes built around the camera: the Friday self tape class and the Thursday short film class. For preparation aimed at one particular audition or role there is also private acting coaching.

Taught by a Working Actor

Elena Stejko has acted on stage and screen in New Zealand for many years. Her stage work includes Auckland Theatre Company's Romeo and Juliet and Midnight in Moscow, and A Shortcut to Happiness at Circa Theatre, for which she won the Chapman Tripp Award for Actress of the Year in 2012. On screen she is known for the lead in Russian Snark, which NZ On Screen lists with its cast and credits. There is more on the About Elena Stejko page.

Fees and Booking

The intermediate and advanced evening classes are $695 per term and the daytime class is $495 per term, both including GST. Equity New Zealand members receive a 10% discount. Term 5 2026 starts on 19 October 2026. All three are held in person at Studio 3.2, 1 Cleveland Road, Parnell, Auckland, with no more than 12 actors in a class, so places are limited. Send a booking request and the studio confirms your place by email.