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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.

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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
  • Elizabethan Dance
  • Clown
  • Hand-to-hand Stage Fight
  • Exploration of the actor/audience relationship
  • Monologue, sonnet and scene work
  • Readings in Elizabethan stagecraft and theater-going practices

In Addition, Participants Will:

  • Attend Master Classes.
  • Have the opportunity to engage Company members in an inquiry on training and rehearsal methods.
  • Attend Shakespeare & Company productions for free.

A Typical Day:

9:00 – 10:30 Linklater Voice
10:45 – 12:15 Movement
12:30 – 1:45 Lunch
1:45 – 3:15 Text/Scene Work
3:30 – 5:00 Fight, Clown, or Elizabethan Dance
5:00 – 7:00 Dinner
7:00 – 10:00 Text or other class, or attend theatre performance

The above is intended to give an idea of a day rather a specific commitment to an inflexible schedule. There will be changes; occasionally there will be time free for learning lines and occasionally a night 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

Due to the COVID-19 crisis, we are canceling the 2020 Summer Shakespeare Intensive. The dates for the 2021 will be June 1-27, 2021. We are currently accepting applications!

Tuition

Regular Tuition: $5,500 USD

Tuition cost includes double occupany housing and most meals. Some single rooms may be available for an additional fee.

Multiple discounts and scholarships cannot be combined.

The Summer Shakespeare Intensive is open to undergraduate theatre students, recent graduates, and early career acting professionals.

Shakespeare & Company’s Weekend Intensives serve as excellent introductions to our training, and what you will gain from participating in the Summer Shakespeare Intensive.

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

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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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