Shakespeare & Company, world class actor training
Lenox, Mass — Shakespeare & Company is in high season these days when it comes to world class actor training. Its Lenox campus is abuzz with a bustling roster of training programs, which are filling three state-of-the-art rehearsal studios in the new Production and Performing Arts Center with actors from around the world.With a not-to-be-missed, week-long workshop on Shakespeare’s Rhetoric coming next week (led by a stunning array of Master Teachers), a series of Weekend Intensives set for cities across the United States and in Canada, participant slots filling up for the January Month-Long Intensive, the second year of The Conservatory at Shakespeare & Company progressing toward a production of Twelfth Night in December, and the launch of the groundbreaking Director/Actors Cycle set for the new year, it is indeed a busy season for Shakespeare & Company’s internationally acclaimed Center for Actor Training.
Shakespeare’s Rhetoric: Giving You The Tools to Master the Text is set for the Lenox campus from November 3 through 8 and will be led by the Company’s Master Teachers, including Founder and Artistic Director Tina Packer, Director of Training Dennis Krausnick, Associate Artistic Director Michael Hammond and Associate Director of Training Dave Demke. The distinct clarity of the spoken text is a hallmark of the Company aesthetic, and this workshop provides an immersion in the methodology at the heart of this effect. Actors will develop crucial tools to master the text and approach Shakespeare’s plays with greater familiarity and understanding, ready to explore and embody any role with a fuller comprehension. To inquire about any last-minute spaces that may be available, or to learn about pre-registering for a future incarnation of this workshop, contact Training Programs Associate Scott Renzoni at. (413) 637-1199 x114 or Training@shakespeare.org.
A series of Weekend Intensives are offered both in Lenox and across the country, designed as either a compact introduction to, or an excellent refresher course on, the methodology explored in greater detail during the annual Month-Long Intensive. Krausnick has just completed a successful Weekend Intensive in San Francisco, with others upcoming in Baltimore (11/7-9, led by longtime faculty member and Company artist Andrew Borthwick-Leslie) and Minneapolis-St. Paul (12/5-7, led by Demke). The Berkshires Weekend Intensive, held October 17-19, was a roaring success, with the expansive new facilities at the Production and Performing Arts Center allowing 19 actors to participate. Weekend Intensives provide an introduction to the aesthetic developed by Shakespeare & Company over the past 31 years, an exploration of the actor’s individual voice and experiences, and a vigorous path through voice and body work which includes emphasis on personal connection with the text and the richness inherent in the very structure of the verse. More information on this and all offerings at Shakespeare & Company’s Center for Actor Training is available at www.shakespeare.org.
Meanwhile, there are still spots open for the January Month-Long Intensive, the signature program of Shakespeare & Company’s Center for Actor Training. This four-week workshop is often exhilarating, sometimes exhausting, and always rewarding. Actors from all over the world have used the breakthroughs achieved in the workshop to take their careers to the next level. For more information, contact Training Programs Associate Scott Renzoni at. (413) 637-1199 x114 or Training@shakespeare.org.
The 2009 class of The Conservatory at Shakespeare & Company soon will have the chance to present the first Shakespeare production in S&Co.’s newest performance space. Twelfth Night will be performed on December 12 and 13 at the Elayne P. Bernstein Theatre. More information and specially priced tickets are available by calling (413) 637-4453 or by visiting www.shakespeare.org. Applications are now being accepted for the 2009 Conservatory. Prospective students are encouraged to visit our property during the Twelfth Night weekend for an opportunity to meet with current students and faculty, to tour our facilities, and to begin the application process. Contact Training Programs Associate Scott Renzoni at. (413) 637-1199 x114 or Training@shakespeare.org for more details.
An exciting new offering coming in 2009 is the Directors/Actors Cycle (February 9 through March 22). Personally conceived and designed by Packer, this groundbreaking program will bring together six directors and 12 actors for a six-week exploration of one Shakespeare play. The directors will receive close, individual attention throughout the process as they examine the challenges and potential inherent in bringing Shakespeare's plays to the stage. The actors will achieve an enhanced understanding of the techniques at the heart of Shakespeare & Company’s internationally heralded actor training methodology
