(Lenox, MA) – Shakespeare & Company’s Center for Actor Training is now accepting applications for Master Workshops taking place this fall and winter. The upcoming workshops will be held in different cities across the United States and Canada, including Boston, Los Angeles, New York, Portland, San Francisco, and Toronto.
“In discovering Shakespeare and Company’s Center for Actor Training, I found a creative home,” said Training alumna Jami Witt, “I continue to return to keep my voice and body tuned, my mind enlightened, and my heart inspired.”
Led by Director of Training Dennis Krausnick with support from senior Shakespeare & Company faculty, the workshops, also known as “intensives,” are designed to meet the needs of actors who seek an introduction to Shakespeare & Company’s training methods or an opportunity to re-awaken and revitalize their relationship to Shakespeare’s text. Workshops run in about a dozen cities annually and focus on specific acting tools required for Shakespearean performance. The format is a condensed version of the Company’s more extensive Month-Long Intensive, which runs during the winter at the theatre company’s campus in Lenox, MA.
“Every actor’s secret desire is an extraordinary chance to dip a toe into the Shakespeare text and let the fear evaporate into pleasure,” said Krausnick. “The Master Workshops offer actors, both new to the program as well as program alumni, to experience the Shakespeare & Company Training without having to travel a great distance from home, but not lose the in-depth learning that we offer in our other training intensives.”
Workshops begin with an evening class that includes an introduction to Shakespeare & Company’s aesthetic, and an opportunity for the actors to shift gears and focus on their work through a series of exercises involving voice, body and memory work. Day two focuses on the actor’s individual voice and experiences, which are incorporated into a monologue that the actor has prepared. Day three moves more vigorously through voice and bodywork, with the actors reconnecting with Shakespeare’s text, revisiting their monologues in First Folio format, and exploring how the structure of the verse might influence character and performance.
The workshop dates are as follows:
Portland, OR: October 23-25, 2016
Los Angeles: November 11-13, 2016 & March 17-19, 2017
Toronto: November 18-20, 2016
Boston: December 9-11, 2016
San Francisco : February 24-26, 2017
Washington, DC: Dates TBA
New York City: Dates TBA
Typically, classes run Friday from 7pm – 10pm, Saturday from 10am – 10pm, and Sunday from 10am – 4pm. Workshops are limited to 14 participants, and the cost for each participant is $300. For applications or more information on the Master Workshops, please contact the Training Office at 413-637-1199 x114, email tr******@sh********.org or visit shakespeare.org/training.
About Shakespeare & Company
Located in the Berkshires of Western Massachusetts, Shakespeare & Company is one of the largest Shakespeare Festivals in the country. Founded in 1978, the organization attracts tens of thousands of patrons annually. The Company is also home to an internationally renowned Center for Actor Training, as well as a nationally renowned and an award-winning Education Program. More information is available at www.shakespeare.org.