Stella Adler Studio Seeks Students for Free Summer Shakespeare Program

The Stella Adler Outreach Division, a program of the Stella Adler Studio of Acting, has announced that interviews are now being held for a free summer theater program.

Students who receive free or reduced lunch are eligible for the program. Priority consideration is given to those who do not have access to theater programs at school or in their communities.

Students must call ASAP to schedule an interview. This year's program runs from July 10th to August 12th. Interviews begin on Monday, April 24th. The deadline to apply is Monday, May 22nd.

The Stella Adler Studio's Outreach Division has trained over 5,000 New Yorkers in free programs since 2004. Outreach aims to empower participating students through craft. The Summer Shakespeare program is a five-week summer intensive for low-income New York teens. Twenty-four students are selected to train five days a week in voice, movement and scene study with a total of 50 hours of class time in total. The program culminates with a production of an abbreviated Shakespeare play. In recent years students have performed "Julius Caesar," "Othello," "The Comedy of Errors," "A Midsummer Night's Dream," "Twelfth Night" and others.

"The Outreach Division's Summer Shakespeare program demonstrates everything I believe about the profound power of Shakespeare as integral to the training of the actor in general and the education and growth of the young people who come to us through the program in particular," says Tom Oppenheim, Stella Adler Studio Artistic Director. "At first the students are shy and maybe even scared. But when their minds, hearts and imaginations are tapped using the language of Shakespeare, they not only bring the plays to life in a most vivid way, but begin to show even the most sophisticated theatergoers new nuance in these classic plays. By the end of the program, twenty-four New York City teens will count an accomplishment that some of the most seasoned actors long for - mastering the words of the English language's greatest writer."

Prospective students may call the studio at 212-689-0087 to schedule an interview appointment for the "Outreach Summer Shakespeare Program." There will be two rounds of callbacks: early decision and regular decision. If a student is invited to a callback, early decision callbacks will be held on May 15th from 3-5:30pm. Regular decision callbacks will be held on June 7th from 3-5:30pm. Students only need to attend one callback session and present a one-minute Shakespeare monologue.

The Stella Adler Outreach Division helps to fulfill the Studio's mission to create an environment that nurtures theater artists who value humanity as their first priority by diversifying the student body and creating an environment for all students to become actors like Stella Adler and those in the Group Theater - actors who are socially and consciously aware and whose awareness contributes to their ability to act passionately.

More information is available online at www.stellaadler.com/outreach/summer-shakespeare.

Established in 1949 by Stella Adler, the Stella Adler Studio of Acting was founded upon Adler's belief in the supreme seriousness of her art, and has, for the last five decades, enriched every part of the American theater and film arts. Adler's philosophies kept many well-known members of the theater coming back for her intelligent and passionate advice and the school has since trained many of the brilliant actors of our time, including Marlon Brando, Robert DeNiro, Elaine Stritch, Benicio Del Toro and Salma Hayek. The Stella Adler Studio of Acting is a not-for-profit organization, which trains over 500 actors annually and also presents world-class lectures, poetry readings, jazz, classical music, theater, and dance theater events.