Learn how to create dynamic and engaging learning experiences of Shakespeare in the classroom and on stage with one of the country's preeminent Shakespeare teachers, Kevin G. Coleman - past project director for both the NEA and NEH, two-time Tony Award-nominee for Excellence in Theater Education, and a founding member of Shakespeare & Company.
Shakespeare & Company’s long-developed and refined techniques awaken the imaginative, physical, and emotional dimensions of the text. Designed by Director of Education Kevin G. Coleman, and supported by other Master Teachers, Actors, and Directors, participants learn appropriate strategies to help students engage with the texts in deeper and more personal ways. Brought back to the classroom and rehearsal rooms, these approaches provide teachers opportunities to differentiate their instruction, enabling a more passionate, personal, and comprehensive experience of the characters and understanding of the plays for their students. Participants in this program earn Professional Development Points under the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.
Weeklong Professional Development Workshops
Teaching and Directing Shakespeare: Hamlet
July 21 – 26, 2025
In this foundational Weeklong Workshop, teachers will learn and practice strategies to engage with the language in deeper and more personal ways, delving into the imaginative, physical, and emotional dimensions of Shakespeare’s rhetorical devices, characters, and themes.
Weeklong Workshops Offer:
- A deep dive into a single play, allowing participants to learn and practice our foundational techniques to implement in their daily classroom instruction.
- Support in creating an atmosphere of playfulness, safety, and celebration rather than competition.
- Reinforcing your school and/or organization’s social-emotional learning programs by creating rituals of checking in and reinforcement.
- Opportunities to create inviting and accessible opportunities for students to speak and play Shakespeare.
- Techniques that take the poetry off the page into a realm of deeper, personal connections.
- An organic and engaging way of presenting the rhetoric in Shakespeare that is liberating and exciting; more about Shakespeare’s theatricality, less about scansion.
- Responsible ways of exploring the violent parts of the plays, and appropriate ways of presenting it.
- Ways of approaching and presenting status in Shakespeare: kings and queens, lovers, villains, clowns, and fools, as well as the supernatural elements.
Weeklong Participants Have Access To:
- 40 Professional Development Points from Monday – Saturday afternoon.
- Handouts of the strategies and rationale for each activity.
- Continued support via e-mail and/or video conferencing if needed throughout the school year.
- A Discount to bring next year’s 2026 Northeast Regional Tour of Shakespeare’s Production of Hamlet.
- A Discount for future Professional Development Weekend Workshops/electives.
- Tickets to the main stage shows at Shakespeare & Company.
Tuition, Housing, and Transportation
- A non-refundable Application fee of $50 is required to secure your place.
- Weeklong Workshop Tuition is $900
- Weekend Workshops Tuition is $375
- Refund Policy: a 50% refund is available if the participant notifies Professional Development Manager, Kirstin Daniel, in writing three full weeks before the start date of the program. We are unable to give refunds within three full weeks of the start date of the program.
- Housing: limited local housing is available upon request through the generosity of our Company of Volunteers. If you choose to find your own accommodations, please consider looking early, as the Berkshires are a popular summer destination.
- Transportation: if you need assistance with arrival and departure via bus, train, or plane, please reach out to us. We do not have personal vehicles available for use, however, we will assist with securing daily transportation to and from campus for the duration of your stay.
Please contact Professional Development Manager Kirstin Daniel at kdaniel@shakespeare.org with any questions regarding our programming.
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