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Shakespeare And Co Ma Actor Training

2022 Summer Shakespeare Intensive

Modeled after our internationally acclaimed Month-long Intensive, the Summer Shakespeare Intensive (formerly the Summer Training Institute) provides young actors the opportunity to immerse themselves in Shakespeare six days a week for four weeks during our summer performance season. The Summer Shakespeare Intensive is geared towards undergraduate theater students, recent graduates, and early career acting professionals, but it is open to open to a wide-ranging audience of theatre performers and practitioners.

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Daily Classes Focus On:

  • Full complement of Shakespeare text work
  • The full progression of Linklater voice work taught by designated Linklater teachers
  • Movement and Dance
  • Study and Practice in The Elizabeth World Picture
  • Play/Clown/Wit and Word Play
  • Hand-to-hand Stage Fight
  • Exploration of the actor/audience relationship
  • Monologue, sonnet and scene work
  • Readings in Elizabethan stagecraft and theater-going practices

A Typical Day:

9:00am to 12:30pm - Voice and Movement classes

12:30pm to 1:45pm - Lunch

2:00pm to 5:15pm - Text/Scene work or Fight, Clown or Elizabethan Dance class

5:15pm to 6:45pm - Dinner

6:45pm to 9:30pm Text or other class (some evenings will be off)

The above is intended to give an idea of a day rather than a specific commitment to an inflexible schedule. There will be changes; occasionally there will be time free for learning lines and some nights off. There will be one day off each week, typically Mondays. All scene work will culminate in a final showing of the scenes open to company members, family and friends of the participants.

Program Dates

May 31 to June 26, 2022

ARRIVAL DAY: Monday, May 30

DEPARTURE DAY: Monday, June 27

Tuition

$5,950 USD

Early payment discount: Pay the full tuition by April 1 and save $750.

A limited number of scholarships are available for People of the Global Majority/BIPOC artists from the Dennis Krausnick Fellowship Fund. Need based scholarships are also sometimes available. Contact training@shakespeare.org for more information.

Scholarships for actors of color are also available from the Johnny Lee Davenport Fellowship. The application deadline is April 23, 2022. Click here for more information and to apply.

Please note: Multiple discounts and scholarships cannot be combined.

Housing and Meals

  • Tuition cost includes double occupancy housing at a local hotel and most meals. Every day, breakfast will be provided at the hotel, and for days when classes meet, lunch and dinner will be provided in the dining hall on campus. No meals will be provided on campus on the off day.
  • The hotel is located walking distance from restaurants, a grocery store, and laundromat.
  • The rooms will come equipped with a mini-refrigerator and microwave.
  • Transportation from the hotels to campus will be provided.
  • A limited number of single rooms are available first come-first serve for an additional $975.

COVID Safety Guidelines

Shakespeare & Company is a fully vaccinated campus, from our full-time employees, seasonal staff, artists, volunteers, and program participants. To ensure the health of our Shakespeare & Company community, all Center for Actor Training participants must be vaccinated against COVID-19 (including a booster shot). All participants and workshop staff will also be tested weekly during the Summer Shakespeare Intensive. Masks may be required for certain classes and events.

As conditions of the global pandemic are ever-evolving, these guidelines are subject to change and will be updated accordingly. These guidelines are consistent with and/or exceed current Board of Health and State Orders at this time, and we may continue to establish stricter policies based on local conditions and Actors’ Equity Association guidelines. We thank you for your patience, communication, and cooperation.

We are looking forward to welcoming you to campus this summer!

From the Alumni

Teresa Spencer

Teresa Spencer

The most important thing I’ve taken from the Conservatory has been a sense of professionalism. I used to consistently walk into auditions feeling the terror of unpreparedness: even if I’d rehearsed my monologue or sides forwards and backwards, I would arrive at an audition and suddenly feel overtaken with a sense of not knowing what the hell I was doing, moreThe most important thing I’ve taken from the Conservatory has been a sense of professionalism. I used to consistently walk into auditions feeling the terror of unpreparedness: even if I’d rehearsed my monologue or sides forwards and backwards, I would arrive at an audition and suddenly feel overtaken with a sense of not knowing what the hell I was doing, and I’m sure that this came through in my demeanor and performance. Since doing the Conservatory, I’ve noticed a marked difference in my confidence. I know my way around my craft, and this changes everything about an audition situation. My pieces are well chosen and well prepared; I know how to center my breath and body; I walk in feeling relaxed and happy to be there. I feel like I belong in the room, and this significant shift in perspective has made an enormous difference for me professionally. I’m getting twice as many callbacks and jobs (yes, jobs!) as I used to. Since returning from the Conservatory, some of the accomplishments I’ve been most proud of have been a callback for Viola in Twelfth Night at an Equity theatre in Baltimore, the title role in a children’s show with Classika Theater (which I’m rehearsing right now), and an invitation to train for a month with a dance theatre company in Virginia. I’ll also be going back to Massachusetts in July to rehearse and perform two one-acts in the KO Festival. I think the best way to summarize what I learned at the Conservatory is that I went from thinking, ‘I want to be an actor,’ to knowing, ‘I am an actor.’ I feel confident in my abilities, and this changes everything about the way that I pursue work. I have a physical and vocal warm-up that works well for me and that I use to prepare for auditions, rehearsals, and performances. I know now how to prepare and how to keep text fresh and alive once I’ve “nailed it” once. All of this has made the process of auditioning so much less of a mystery… I’d recommend the Conservatory to any young actor who’s serious and passionate.

Lulu Fogarty

Lulu Fogarty

My experience at the 2007 Summer Training Institute was absolutely priceless….I learned to bring a sense of play to everything I do. Play might be the most important tool for an actor but it’s surprising how quickly we forget to play because we try to be ‘right.’ There is no such thing as ‘right.’ To me, this is what the moreMy experience at the 2007 Summer Training Institute was absolutely priceless….I learned to bring a sense of play to everything I do. Play might be the most important tool for an actor but it’s surprising how quickly we forget to play because we try to be ‘right.’ There is no such thing as ‘right.’ To me, this is what the training at STI is all about. These lessons??"play, trust, and be ‘wrong’??"are the most important tools an actor can ever have….Words cannot express how lucky I feel to have gotten the opportunity to train at S&Co and become part of this community.

Jenna Hoff

Jenna Hoff

All of the vocal and physical training we did enabled me to see how much freedom and availability are possible, which raised my expectations of myself. But for the first time I felt that I had the tools to move forward with those expectations. I can hone, clarify and broaden my Shakespeare monologues (and other pieces, too!), and I gained moreAll of the vocal and physical training we did enabled me to see how much freedom and availability are possible, which raised my expectations of myself. But for the first time I felt that I had the tools to move forward with those expectations. I can hone, clarify and broaden my Shakespeare monologues (and other pieces, too!), and I gained so much confidence, which is perhaps the most important thing. People have asked me where I ‘got so good at Shakespeare’ and I happily recommend the training programs at S&Co because I honestly think that they are some of the best training available in this country

Crown

Shakespeare & Company is a professional live theatre company in the heart of the Berkshires, presenting a vibrant summer performance season featuring the works of Shakespeare in repertory with classic and contemporary plays. The Company offers one of the most extensive actor training programs by a regional theatre in the country, and is also home to an award-winning and nationally recognized theatre-in-education program.

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