ACTING FOR SHAKESPEARE (ages 12-19) *SOLD OUT register to get on waitlist*
July 8 – August 4
1pm – 5pm (Mon-Fri) — with extended hours for late night rehearsals Wednesday July 31 & Thursday August 1.
Performances August 2 & 3 starting at 8pm
Workshop fee: $720 (local) / $800 (non-local) — See pricing notes in registration for details.
Instructor: Lillian Meredith & Stephen Bennett with Mary Wenner assisting.
Play: As You Like It
Students will learn how to understand, interpret, and ultimately perform Shakespeare’s text. Instructor Lillian Meredith combines in-depth text analysis and verse study with more contemporary approaches like Viewpoints and Michael Chekhov character development techniques to help students develop a deep understanding of the play and introduce them to the craft of acting. Over four weeks, the students will rehearse this summer’s play, memorizing their lines, taking ownership over their roles, and developing themselves as actors and members of an ensemble, all while learning what goes into putting on a full production of a Shakespeare play. The workshop culminates in two outdoor performances that showcase the students’ work.
Scholarships are available: Please don’t hesitate to apply if you need it. Scholarship forms are available here.
Actors are expected to help with Sunday Strike on Sunday, August 4th.
Lillian Meredith is a director, teacher, and theater artist who has led Shakespeare in the Valley for the past eight years. Professional credits include Rattlestick Playwrights Theatre, Theatre for a New Audience, Ars Nova, Actors Theatre of Louisville, and Boise Contemporary Theater, among others. She is the founder and Artistic Director of The Motor Company, where she produces site-responsive, free theater for public spaces around New York, a former directing intern with Actors Theatre of Louisville, and a member of the Lincoln Center Directors Lab, the Soho Rep Writer/Director Lab, and the inaugural Clubbed Thumb Directing Fellowship. Proud alumna: Brooklyn College (MFA), Vassar College (BA), the National Theater Institute, and Shakespeare in the Valley (1999-2001). www.lillianmeredith.com
Stephen Bennett is a composer and writer based in Brooklyn. He spent his early years in New York City as an actor, before figuring out that he really loves writing music for actors onstage. When not upstate, he teaches math and runs the drama program at Bishop Loughlin Memorial High School in Fort Greene, Brooklyn. Stephen holds an MFA from NYU’s Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program.
Mary Wenner [assistant director] is an actor based in the San Diego area. Much of her time is spent working as a teaching assistant for the acting program at John Paul the Great Catholic University; she’s normally found either stage managing and/or assistant directing the university’s productions and guessing when each student will win their Oscar/Tony/BAFTA/etc. Proud alumna of JPCatholic (BA) and WKC’s Shakespeare in the Valley (2017-2019)