This course will help students to gain the skills to read the acting signals that Shakespeare built into his plays and show them how to make interpretative choices. Through practical workshops and rehearsals they will explore how to bring Shakespeare's heightened language to life.

This course offers a practical and creative introduction to methods of performing from First Folio texts (the 1623 published collection of Shakespeare's plays) in a fun, hard-working and supportive environment. By using the ‘acting clues’ contained within the First Folio texts, let Shakespeare be your director. We will explore the circumstances under which professional actors worked in Shakespeare’s day and by the end of the week you will be able to perform a short ‘cue script’ scene with fellow actors with no previous group rehearsal, just as the King’s players did.

This course is aimed at anyone who is interested in acting, voice, speech and improvisation. You should be keen to bring Shakespeare’s text to life with sensitivity and confidence, truth, fun and creativity. This is a very practical course working in groups, pairs and individually.