Based on the principles of the Meisner Technique, this acting program for high school students, ages 14-17, provides essential skills and techniques to grow your craft.
What will I learn?
Acting Fundamentals: Explore the art of truthful and spontaneous behavior through exercises that develop your acting instrument. Get out of your head!
Movement: Discover the power of movement to enhance your ability to be physically and emotionally present, moment to moment.
Acting On-Camera: Get comfortable in front of a camera and learn to create a professional self-tape.
Audition Preparation: Learn what is expected of you in an audition and how to prepare your material. Q&A with a special guest agent/manager. Private additional coaching available for professional and college auditions.
Why Esper Studio?
Meisner Technique: We are the premier source of training in the Meisner Technique, a proven method that has produced countless successful actors. Learn it right the first time!
Experienced Faculty: Train with accomplished teachers from our world-renowned Professional Actor Training program, dedicated to your growth and development.
Nurturing Environment: Our small class sizes ensure personalized attention and a supportive learning environment. Find your artistic home!
Central Location: Our studio is conveniently located in the heart of New York City, providing easy access for aspiring actors.
Program Details
Postponed until Summer 2027
Weekly classes:Tuesdays - 10am-3:00pm
Wednesdays - 10am-3:00pm
Thursdays - 10am-3:00pm
Tuition: $1,500 (+ $100 Enrollment Fee)
Limited spots available.
Don’t miss this opportunity to ignite your passion for acting and embark on a transformative journey.
How to Apply
Applying to
Esper Studio's Teen Lab
The Teen Lab is open to high school students, ages 14-17. We do not hold auditions, acceptance is based on our interview process.
After submitting the Teen Lab Application, you will be contacted by our admissions team to schedule an interview. You do not need to prepare a monologue for the interview.
An admissions decision will be made following your interview.
Teen Lab Faculty
Karen Chamberlain
Karen Chamberlain teaches Meisner-based Acting Technique at the Esper Studio. She is an Associate Arts Professor at NYU, Tisch School of the Arts, where she teaches in The Meisner Studio and serves as Director of The Future Theatre Artists Workshop, an outreach program for high school students. She has worked as an actor, director and on-set coach for over twenty five years and feels privileged to have been teaching for just as long. Karen taught Advanced Acting at The Playwrights Horizons Theatre School at NYU and was also on the faculty of the BFA Professional Actor Training Program at Rutgers where she taught Voice and Speech, Acting and served as the first on-site Resident Director of The Rutgers Conservatory at Shakespeare’s Globe.
Additional teaching credits include the NYU Summer HS Meisner Intensive, Performers Theatre Workshop in Maplewood, NJ, the Idyllwild School of Music and the Arts in CA, and the University of The Arts in Philadelphia. Karen’s most recent Acting credits include regular appearances on Comedy Central’s “Inside Amy Schumer” and “Life and Beth” on Hulu. As a coach, she was most recently on set for “Crashing,” an HBO comedy drama series, and “Master of None” for Netflix. Karen holds an MFA in Acting from Rutgers and was trained as an actress and a teacher by William Esper.
Deb Jackel
Deb Jackel has been on faculty at the Esper Studio since 2000, where she has taught Meisner-based Acting Technique, Audition Technique, Cold Reading, and in 2025, led the development of the Studio’s Career Launch Program. Deb brings extensive experience with the business of acting to her teaching. Prior to training as a teacher with William Esper, Deb spent years in the New York talent agency world, representing actors at agencies including Don Buchwald and Associates, Ambrosio/Mortimer and Associates, and A3 Artists Agency. She was also a manager at her own boutique management company, Jackel Talent Management. In 2025, when Esper Studio introduced its Career Launch Program, Deb drew upon her robust knowledge of the entertainment industry and professional relationships to shape the Studio’s curriculum for this exciting new offering. Within the program, Deb serves as Artistic Advisor to the actors, preparing them for their culminating Industry Presentation, liaises between the Studio, students, and industry professionals, and teaches “Acting for Auditions and Industry Readiness.” Her passion for helping actors transition from classroom training to real-world acting and auditioning is at the heart of her work in this role. At the university level, Deb worked in the BFA Acting program at her alma mater Rutgers’ Mason Gross School of the Arts, where she taught first year Meisner Technique, Advanced Meisner Fundamentals, Scene Study, and Meisner-based Audition Technique. She also co-directed and produced the graduating actor showcase and served as an artistic advisor, guiding the graduates as they transitioned into the industry. Education: BFA Acting, Rutgers University’s Mason Gross School of the Arts; Meisner Teacher Training, William Esper
Caitlin Rigney
Caitlin Rigney is a movement specialist, choreographer and actor. She has been teaching physical technique to actors since 2014. She studied at the professional acting conservatory at Mason Gross School of the Arts and graduated with her BFA in 2012. Ms. Rigney has been on faculty at Rutgers and currently teaches Movement at the Esper Studio. In addition to teaching, Caitlin is a movement coach for a variety of working actors in New York, LA, and the UK. She has worked with actors in projects such as Secret Invasion (Disney +), Primo (IMDb TV), Lady in the Lake (Apple TV), Roswell, NM (CW) and The Republic of Sarah (CW). In working with a variety of artists of all levels, Caitlin has a special ability to help them release tension, expand capacity for connection, and cultivate a deeper understanding of their physicality. In addition to private coaching and teaching, Caitlin is a director and choreographer, working in live performance in the Tri-State area.
