Weekend Intensives

program Dates

Schedule per city listed below

Tuition Fees

$385 USD

Designed for professional actors and theater students who seek an introduction to Shakespeare & Company’s training methods, as well as alumni who wish to refresh and reconnect with the work.

Shakespeare & Company’s Weekend Intensive integrates voice, movement, and monologue work. Participants explore ways to unlock the emotional and intellectual content inherent in Shakespeare’s language, yielding a direct relationship between actor and text. Rigorous attention is paid to identifying and offering skills specific to the needs of the participants throughout the course of the weekend.

Weekend Intensives are most often held in New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, the San Francisco Bay Area, Boston, Seattle, and at Shakespeare & Company in Lenox, Mass. Application deadlines are typically one week prior to the start of the workshop; applicants may be accepted after the deadline as space allows.

Don’t see your city listed? Contact Us to talk about bringing a workshop to your theater company, university, or city!

Upcoming Weekend Intensives

San Jose, Calif. – October 4 – 6, 2024

Lenox, Mass. – October 25 – 27, 2024

New York, N.Y. – November 8 – 10, 2024

Chicago, Ill. – November 15 – 17, 2024

Click here to apply.

The Weekend Intensive Format

Friday (6 pm –10 pm)* is an introduction to Shakespeare & Company’s aesthetic, as well as an opportunity for the actors to shift gears and focus on their work through a series of exercises involving voice, body, and memory work.

Saturday (10 am – 8 pm)* focuses on the actor’s individual instrument and experiences as applied to a monologue that the actor has prepared for the class. Faculty may invite participants to apply voice and/or movement work as well as introduce aspects of structure of the verse to their speeches.

Sunday (10 am – 4 pm)* continues with dynamic voice and body work, furthering the actor’s connection with Shakespeare’s text through both individual and group work.

Adequate time for meal breaks is given, though participants are responsible for their own meals. The workshops are limited to 14 participants, and the minimum age requirement is 18 years old.

*Schedule for individual weekend may be slightly adjusted to accommodate travel and/or commutes.

Discounts

Actors who have completed our January Month-long Intensive, Summer Shakespeare Intensive (formerly the Summer Training Institute), or Conservatory programs are eligible for 15% Alumni discount on Weekend Intensive tuition. Members of acting unions and of the Shakespeare Theatre Association (STA) are eligible for 10% discount on tuition. Student discount ($350) is applicable for those currently enrolled as an undergraduate or graduate student. BIPOC discount ($325) is available for those who identify as Black, Indigenous, or People of Color.

Discounts may not be combined.

PLEASE NOTE: For all in-person workshops, all participants and workshop staff are required to have completed a COVID-19 vaccine regimen. For all programs held on the Shakespeare & Company campus in Lenox, Mass., this includes being up to date on the most recent COVID-19 vaccine dose(s) for which one is eligible.