Drama

The drama program gives students the opportunity to develop solid traditional acting skills while exploring the unique challenges of Shakespeare. With 15 years of professional experience as a Shakespearean actor and as the designer of courses that rehearse Shakespeareís Italian plays in the streets of Italy, the instructor is uniquely qualified to provide a rich summer study abroad experience. Each student will finish the program with a polished audition piece for entry-level college auditions, and heightened acting abilities suitable for a broad range of material: classical to contemporary musical theatre.

The acting class introduces the techniques and skills needed for the performance of Shakespeare in the modern theatre. Daily exercises explore the particular demands of modern realism in tandem with the challenges of Shakespearean blank verse. Performance assignments challenge students to capture the expressive potential and vigor of Shakespeare's language in the context of a dramatic exchange between characters pursuing objectives and actions. Explorations of sense memory, 4th side visualizations, and various kinds of personalization, empower students to live in his world while developing a heightened sensitivity to the power of language, with special attention given to rhetorical figures, the music of poetic language, and scansion. Finished work includes a polished monologue and a 2-3 person scene for advanced students.