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Los Angeles
Seydways Acting Studios: Richard Seyd
Richard Seyd | Head of Seydways Acting Studios.

Richard has been a director and teacher for over 35 years. As his professional directing career grew, he found that more and more professional actors sought his work for individual coaching. From this demand, he opened Seydways Acting Studios in 1991 as a training ground for professional actors in the Bay Area. Over the years as a successful director and teacher, Richard developed a uniquely sensitive, specific, and effective approach to actor training. This approach is summarized in his now patented Trigger Approach and Stretch Work. In 2003, Richard opened his Los Angeles studio, where he continues to teach classes for professional actors in both Los Angeles and San Francisco.

His work as a director includes most recently Noises Off by Michael Frayn at La Mirada Theater in Los Angeles. Other Los Angeles credits include By The Waters Of Babylon by Pulitzer award-winning playwright Robert Schenkkan at the Geffen Playhouse; The Lion In Winter at La Mirada Theatre; and Present Laughter, The Presentment and Noises Off for the Pasadena Playhouse; The Mad Dancers at Mark Taper, Too! Sarah’s Story at LATC along with many other workshops with SCR, Mark Taper and Pasadena Playhouse.

He directed the world-premier of A Reckoning with Jonathan Pryce in London at the SoHo Theatre. Other regional credits include: A Feast of Fools (with Geoff Hoyle), Marines Memorial Theatre and LaJolla Playhouse; Dinner with Friends (Bay Area Critics Circle Award); The Beauty Queen of Leenane (Bay Area Critics Circle Award); Collected Stories (Garland Award from Backstage West); Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (Bay Area Critics Circle Award); and, A View From the Bridge: Berkeley Repertory Theatre. He garnered many other awards for his directing work including Drama-Logue, Backstage West and Bay Area Critics Circle Awards for his direction of Cloud Nine, About Face, Noises Off, Oleanna, A View From the Bridge, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, and A Streetcar Named Desire.

From 1992-1997 he served as Associate Artistic Director of the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco. While at ACT, he directed The Learned Ladies, Dario Fo’s The Pope And The Witch, Pygmalion, Mrs. Warren’s Profession, Oleanna, Rosencrantz And Guildenstern Are Dead, Othello, The Matchmaker, and A Streetcar Named Desire.

In his earlier years of directing (1981-1991) Richard held the position of Associate Producing Director of the Eureka Theatre, where he directed many productions for the company including Cloud Nine, The Wash, Threepenny Opera, and Dario Fo’s About Face. Other directing credits include The Pickle Family Circus (London Tour), King Lear at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, As You Like It for the San Francisco Shakespeare Festival, A Midsummer Night’s Dream for the California Shakespeare Festival, and productions at the Classic Stage Company and the Wonderhorse Theatre’s in New York. He is also the director of an award-winning 35 mm short film entitled Brass Tacks. Currently, Richard is working on the world-premiere of a new rock-musical called The 12 written by Tony-Awarding Winner Robert Schenkkan with music by Neil Berg. This production is scheduled to premiere in April of 2015 at Denver Theatre Center. He is also developing a musical of The Count Of Monte Cristo.

Prior to his directing career, Richard acted as well. His training began at school at Dartington Hall (England). He received his Theatre Training at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School and acted with the affiliated Old Vic Company. He became a founding member of Stage Two – a company based on the works of Jersey Grotowski that was begun by James Roose-Evans. He then received an Advance Teaching Degree in Drama from North-Western Polytechnic of London.

In 1968, he co-founded Red Ladder Theatre, Britain’s first professional, political theatre collective, now over 45 years in existence. With Red Ladder, he acted, directed and produced for the company for seven years. Upon moving to San Francisco in 1975, Richard taught at the Cultural Training Center. It was from here that directing became his main focus as detailed above. Additional teaching experience includes lecturer positions at various colleges including Stanford University, UC Irvine and UC Davis.

CONTACT RICHARD



Student Testimonials:

  • Richard Seyd knows what he’s doing. Like the best of his British counterparts, his tips, approaches and directions push the actor’s character development always in the service of the script. He’s the perfect antidote to indulgence and lack of discipline while being warm, perceptive and very funny. You cannot do better.
    Peter Coyote, Erin Brockovich, Jagged Edge, Brothers and Sisters
  • Richard’s unique approach has changed me, changed the way I act. He’s been instrumental in the development of my film career, becoming a series-regular and booking frequent guest star roles. His audition approach is a sweet science that is actually fun to use.
    Amir Talai, Harold and Kumar: Escape from Guantanamo Bay, Modern Family
  • Working with Richard completely changed the way I approach acting. In all honesty, he made me a true actor. Through his classes and working with his Trigger Approach, Richard has helped me find my own method that allows me to listen, react and relax in the moment - simple but often elusive tasks. His insightful critiques and illuminating Stretch Work have proven invaluable to my continuing career as an actor.
    Lorenzo Pisoni, Last Dance (Broadway), Henry IV (Lincoln Center)
    Much Ado About Nothing (New York Shakespeare Festival)
  • Richard knows very quickly, usually in a class or two, where you typically go in a scene and what you run from. My acting has improved greatly as well as my business sense of the industry and how things work in Hollywood. I am a current student and plan on continuing my study at Seydways Acting Studios as long as I'm acting.
    Douglas Olsson, Painkiller, Dam California, Blade Warrior II
  • Richard's class is the best class I've had in Los Angeles in over 18 years of being a professional actor. Tailored to the individual in every aspect, Richard covers everything from auditions, to scene study, to his crucial and revelatory Stretch Work. Simply, there's no one better than Richard.
    Ted Mattison, American Horror Story, Weeds, CSI
  • I have been studying with Richard Seyd for the last year and a half, and his techniques have revolutionized my acting. From booking more jobs to digging deeper as an actor, I've discovered a new and trustworthy way to absorb lines; I've expanded my range, and I've developed a way of approaching auditions that really works. Richard is also one of the most deeply intuitive, sensitive, and kind teachers I've met.
    Christa Martin, Industrials for Cisco, Intel, Apple and more.
    Hotline (Short with Camryn Manheim) and 20 other independent films.
  • I hate to speak in the negative, but I find that what makes Richard Seyd truly great lies not only in what he does, but what he does NOT do. He doesn't talk down to you, or create an atmosphere of co-dependence - you are forced to take responsibility for your own career. He isn't there to scold you or create a parent/child relationship. He challenges you without pressuring you.
    Hugo P. Martin, Westworld, Real Husbands of Hollywood, Nothing Like the Sun, Project Greenlight Finalist, LOVE: As You Like It
  • Richard is an amazing acting teacher! If you are looking for exponential improvement with your acting craft, working with Richard is transformational. In his class, there is a feeling of acceptance for who you are as a person. Therefore, he doesn't ever bully, frighten, embarrass or shame any of his students. He is also accurate in pinpointing the area(s) an actor is challenged by and gives specific, applicable feedback in order for each individual person to improve. I LOVE Richard!
    Alice Kwong-Van Dusen, Refuge TV, All the Wrong Moves
  • Working with Richard has transformed my work. He teaches how to develop characters with depth and to be in the moment on stage. He is always looking for the growing edge – how to move past mental barriers and unrecognized habits to stretch your range – in a warm and supportive way that allows actors to risk venturing beyond their comfort zone.
    Anne Hallinan, Chamber Plays (Cutting Ball Theater)
    The Coast of Utopia (Shotgun Players), The Mummified Deer (El Teatro Campesino)
  • Richard backs up his individualized instruction with helpful written text. “Auditioning is not a preparation to get the work, it is an essential part of the work,” Richard wrote in notes for the class. It was like a light going off, changing my attitude about how I approached my auditioning. No longer did I feel guilty for the time I was or wasn’t spending in preparation for an audition. I felt that the time spent preparing was valid and useful, regardless of the outcome. The shift in attitude caused a weight to be lifted from my shoulders.
    Neva Hutchinson, The Cataline Conspiracies (Francis Ford Coppola)
    Ishi Last of His Tribe (Jon Voigt), The Master Builder (Libby Appel)
  • I’ve experienced significant artistic growth in Richard’s class. I’ve gotten out of my head and learned to find deeper levels of emotional connection to other actors. I audition more strongly and have much more confidence in my text work as well. I appreciate the individual tailoring of class time to focus on each student’s ever-changing needs, whether that’s coaching on audition material, character work for a rehearsal process, or targeted work on the weaker areas of an actor’s overall instrument. Class with Richard is a safe place to take risks, receive detailed, thoughtful feedback, and become better at the acting process.
    Valerie Weak, CenterREP, San Francisco Shakespeare Festival, Impact Theatre
  • Richard’s overriding interest as a teacher is furthering each individual student’s goals and he uses all his considerable intellect, intuition, experience, acting talent, and vast knowledge of theater in support of that purpose. There’s no frustration about working or not because everyone works every class. I really look forward to each class because I have a clear plan for what I want to examine/grow into, and I know Richard will remember it and help me achieve that every time – including the times I’m bogged down, confused, discouraged or despairing. That’s where he really shines because he really doesn’t present it as a result that I’ve failed. He is always able to show me calmly, intelligently and compassionately how it’s a step along the line of progress. Failure or success, there’s always something to learn. He’s helped me become a better actress, director, producer and person. I’m so glad I found his class.
    Deborah Geffner, All That Jazz, A Chorus Line (Broadway), Grey’s Anatomy
  • I have worked with Richard Seyd for 7 years, and I can’t praise him enough. Richard is incredibly insightful into the minds of his students and the characters they play. He has helped me expand my range and gain confidence to play roles I never would have thought possible in years past. I credit him for the joy and depth with which I can play characters. Having watched my career take off and watched the work of many other students blossom, I can say that Richard is by far one of the best acting teachers available today.
    Lisa-Marie Newton, Assassins, Bat Boy, Creede Repertory


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