Shakespeare & Company's Center For Actor Training Offers Two New York City Sessions This Fall

Shakespeare & Company's Center for Actor Training is offering two, New York City-based sessions this September and October - a Weekend Intensive followed directly by a new class focused on scene work and Play.

Led by Sheila Bandyopadhyay and Andrew Borthwick-Leslie, the NYC Weekend Intensive will be held Friday, Sept. 29 through Sunday, Oct. 1, designed for professional actors and theater students who seek an introduction to Shakespeare & Company's training methods, as well as alumni who wish to refresh and reconnect with the work. The Intensive includes both individual and group exercises integrating voice, movement, and monologue work aimed at furthering the actor's connection with Shakespeare's text.

Tuition is $385; actors who have completed the Month-long Intensive, Summer Shakespeare Intensive (formerly the Summer Training Institute), or Conservatory programs are eligible for 15% discounts, and members of acting unions and of the Shakespeare Theatre Association (STA) are eligible for 10% discounts on tuition for Weekend Intensives.

On Monday, Oct. 2, a six-week, in-person course titled The Game of Shakespeare: Explore Scene Work Through Play begins. This class addresses what it means to be playful in a Shakespeare role; how we can increase our ability to have a meaningful yet fun relationship to ourselves and our acting partners, and ways to enhance the personal connection to Shakespeare's text through play while exploring a scene.

Drawing on the collective experience in physical theater of instructors Sheila Bandyopadhyay and Michael F. Toomey, this class focuses on process and finding the game of the scene. Participants will be introduced to exercises that support embodied language and physical impulse. Sessions are held 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Mondays through November 6, Tuition is $425; scholarships are available for People of the Global Majority/BIPOC artists; alumni, STA, and union discounts are also available, as well as a $60 discount available to those who also sign up for the NYC Weekend Intensive.

For more information or to apply, visit shakespeare.org.