The FLANDERS ACTING STUDIO's first class took place on a Tuesday evening in March, 2007. 5 actors showed up for class.
The following week 4 of the actor's returned and the Studio was born!
We started in the basement of a townhouse in the St. Gilles district of Brussels, Belgium and went through that summer and early fall, until the space began to feel too dark and cold for the approaching Belgian winter.
In October 2007 a new space was found just around the corner in what is now the Space Artincelle on the Rue de la Victoire in Brussels. The once art gallery space, containing a raised stage, was transformed into a performance area by the addition of curtains, a lighting, sound and video projection system and a very necessary "actor's door entrance".
The Tuesday evening class became the studio's "Ongoing Class" (we called it 'Ongoing' instead of the 'Master' class) as an additional, introductory class was added. This class became so popular that within another year a second Intro Class was added to feed the Ongoing class with experienced students.
During the summer of 2010 we decided that there was too much demand for our services to depend on renting time necessary for classes. it was time to expand and find a space that was the uniquely the studio's. That space was found on the Rue Walcourt in Brussel's Anderlecht district. Finally, the Flanders Acting Studio had its own space!
The studio grew in size and popularity. 4 ongoing weekly classes handled over 40 actors with two Intro classes and 2 Ongoing classes. In the Spring of 2018, we formed BEAT, the Belgian English Actor's Theatre, in order to produce our first full-length theatrical production of OUR TOWN. The 5 productions were a huge success and completely sold out.
During the summer of 2018, John Flanders decided that he had taken the Flanders Acting Studio as far as he could, short of developing it into a professional theatre. Los Angeles was also beaconing John with a new feature film project and the decision was made to move to Los Angeles and continue his involvement with the studio through private coaching.
John sold the studio to his colleague, Christopher Morrison, with the stipulation of maintaining the studio's name and continuing its professional level of training. Christopher successfully directed the studio for two years, until he was forced to relocate to paris.
Although the studio no longer has a physical space, we nonetheless continue to train and coach actors through the miracle of the internet and private coaching.
