Sarah Lucht: “There’s nothing more vitality-inducing than acting”

Sarah Lucht has served on the faculty of the Portland Actors Conservatory since 1998 teaching Acting, Audition Technique, Breath and Energy for the Actor, Meisner, and Master Class weekend intensives. Sarah has thirty years of experience as an actor in stage, film, television and voice-over work. Local stage appearances include Emilia in Othello, Gilda in Design for Living, Vera in Distracted, Woman #3 in String of Pearls (Artists Repertory Theatre), Mrs. Benett in Pride and Prejudice (Quintessence Language and Imagination Theatre) and Bananas in House of Blue Leaves (Profile Theatre Project).

arah Lucht and Ted Roisum star in John Guare's
"House of Blue Leaves" at Profile Theatre in 2008.

As a teacher, Sarah has taught fundamentals of acting and a Shakespeare intensive for teens at Portland Center Stage; playwriting, scene study and audition technique in area high schools, as well as numerous weekend intensives, master classes, workshops and private study focusing on breath work, advanced scene work, Meisner and ensemble building for actors of all levels of experience. Sarah is a faculty member at The Haven Institute in British Columbia where she leads workshops in acting and theatre arts to non-actors to enhance personal and professional performance and experience. She is also Education Director and an instructor for Portland Shakespeare Project and has unique training and expertise in Reichian and bioenergetic breath work. Sarah received her BA in theatre from the University of Oregon with continued studies in Los Angeles, London and British Columbia. Sarah is a member of Actors Equity Association, the Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists.

This Fall, Sarah is teaching Acting: Act I in our Studio Program starting September 27. Here’s a conversation we had with Sarah on life and art at the beginning of the year.

Conservatory Confessions: For the past two years, you’ve had a very demanding schedule of performing at Artists Repertory Theatre in several productions while teaching a full courseload here at PAC. How did you balance these actor / teacher roles?

Sarah: I found that one really informed the other, in a great way. I’ve had the opportunity to evaluate in my teaching, “Does what I teach, help me as an actor?” and in that way, what I bring to my students is road-tested and current. I found it very reinvigorating, both as an actor and teacher.

Conservatory Confessions: What were some of the adjustments you found yourself making?

Sarah: I took myself to task to articulate specifics to demonstrate - it called upon me to provide more structure to my classes.

(from left) Michael Mendelson, Sarah Lucht
and Todd Van Voris star  in Noel Coward's
"Design for Living" at Artists Repertory Theatre.
Photo by Owen Carey

Conservatory Confessions: You teach a lot of non-actors through the Haven Institute in Canada. How do you find work with that population translates or doesn’t to beginning or more serious actors?

Sarah: I find that people who take an acting class, even if they never walk into a theater again, give me such great feedback about being so glad they did it, and how they feel differently afterwards. Non-acting students tell me they are better at communication and expression in the whole of their lives. Most importantly, they find an increased vitality they may never have felt before. There’s nothing more vitality-inducing than acting.

Conservatory Confessions: Why do you think that is?

Sarah: Acting demands presence – that alone makes all our experiences richer, more vivid. Add to that being in contact with another person, and you discover the charge of being intimate and vulnerable with another person. In a way, acting is like practicing intimacy - and that is what people really crave – authentic connection. The end result for a lot of people is an increased will to live – and that’s not an overstatement!

Conservatory Confessions: Are there any pedagogical influences that come out in your teaching?

Sarah: Absolutely. Breath and contact are the foundation of everything I teach. I have a passion for and fascination with the mechanics of breath that I’ve been cultivating for the last 15 years. A lot of it comes from Wilhelm Reich, who was the granddaddy of most of the bioenergetic and bodywork you see being practiced today.

Acting: Act 1 begins September 27 and takes place Monday evenings through December 6 (no class Oct. 11, 25) from 6:30pm-9:30pm. The cost for the class is $350. More info or register.

 

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