Chicago Teacher is Honoring the 400th Anniversary Of Shakespeare's First Folio

This year is the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's First Folio. Every year, hundreds of professional productions of William Shakespeare's plays happen around the world. Innumerable copies of the plays published by The Folger Shakespeare Library, Bloomsbury, SparkNotes, Barnes and Noble, and more are sold. Every edition of a Shakespeare play, sonnet, or poem comes from the first published collection of Shakespeare's plays, Mr. William Shakespeare's Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies. More commonly known as The First Folio, this book containing the majority Shakespeare's canon was published in 1623, seven years after the playwrights death. Amongst Shakespearean actors and scholars it is a touchstone (a word coined by Shakespeare) and is considered to be the purest form of the texts, untouched by contemporary editors.

Several directors throughout history have used the First Folio's textual clues in their technique, most notably the late John Barton of The Royal Shakespeare Company. But the process of using the archaic- looking type-set and (sometimes bewildering) punctuation and spellings to guide the actor's character choices is certainly not a mainstream approach. Making this technique approachable, exciting, and utterly enlightening is Chicago's own esteemed equity actor and teacher, Susan Hart.

Hart, of Andersonville, has been training actors of all levels since she began teaching in 2006. She taught for five years at the acclaimed Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, as well as at Loyola University, Notre Dame University Summer Shakespeare, and Act One Conservatory. She has served as text coach for Chicago Shakespeare, Strawdog Theatre and Summer Shakespeare at Notre Dame, and her directing credits include Macbeth at City Lit Theatre and Falstaff's Dream at Notre Dame.

Hart previously co-taught with fellow celebrated actor Jeffrey Carlson, who passed away suddenly in July of this year. Carlson and Hart taught together until 2019, when Susan began her own independent training program, Susan Hart Shakespeare. Her newest menu of classes has just been announced, providing opportunities for students of all levels to learn First Folio technique in this special 400th anniversary year. Hart offers several weekly beginning and intermediate Shakespeare monologue courses each month, as well as rotating scene-study classes. This September's schedule includes her popular One-Play-Focus workshop for advanced students to explore Shakespeare's Richard III. Also programmed is an exclusive and highly- sought-after acting intensive on the works of Russian playwright Anton Chekhov. Hart has a mix of virtual, hybrid, and in-person classes to choose from.

"The magic of Susan's classes come from the intimate group setting," says actor and director Helen Knudsen. "In many courses, actors rehearse privately and then receive notes from the teacher, like a masterclass. Susan's classes feeling electric and inclusive because she actively involves the rest of the class in each actor's coaching and invites feedback, all the while explaining in detail the tools she uses to squeeze the best out of each actor. She has an unmatched talent for demystifying classical text, and sparks a curiosity and love of language in all of her students. Susan doesn't just train the actor in performance, she trains the ear, the voice, the mind, and the heart."

Says another former student, Kate McDuffie, "As a theatre educator of students with learning differences and disabilities, Susan's classes have been incredibly valuable resource to me, and ultimately, my own students. Because of Susan, I am now able to use my understanding of the patterns and the humanity in Shakespeare's text to empower my students to take ownership of the language themselves. I cannot recommend her courses enough to both theatre and English educators who want to do more for their own students by seeking a deeper understanding of Shakespeare through the actor's lens."

Susan Hart has been a leading lady in Chicago Equity Theatre for over 25 years. Her numerous credits at Chicago Shakespeare Theatre include Henry IV Parts 1 and 2, which subsequently played at The Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford-Upon-Avon (the MOST magical gig of Hart's career, as American actors are generally not allowed to be RSC actors!), Romeo and Juliet, King Lear, The Merry Wives of Windsor, Macbeth, A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Winter's Tale, Pericles, Cymbeline, Merchant of Venice, Measure for Measure, Anthony and Cleopatra, among many others; Goodman Theatre: House and Garden, The Rose Tattoo, Oedipus Complex, and A Christmas Carol; Writers Theatre: Misalliance, The Seagull, Loot, Our Town, Benefactors, The Glass Menagerie, As Bees in Honey Drown; Northlight Theater: The Gamester. She had the thrill of a lifetime playing Gertrude in Hamlet in director Michael Kahn's production at the Shakespeare Theatre in D.C. Regional credits include Summer Shakespeare at Notre Dame, Milwaukee Shakespeare and Baltimore Stage. Hart has worked with directors Frank Galati, Robert Falls, Michael Kahn, Barbara Gaines, Kate Whorisky, Mark Lamos, Michael Bogdanov, Michael Halberstam, William Brown and Gary Griffin to name a few. Teaching credits include Chicago Shakespeare Theatre Classical Training Project, Loyola University, Notre Dame University Summer Shakespeare, and Act One Conservatory. She has served as text coach for Chicago Shakespeare, Strawdog Theatre and Summer Shakespeare at Notre Dame. Directing credits include Macbeth at City Lit Theatre, and Falstaff's Dream at Notre Dame.

September Class Menu:

Monologue One - Beginner (virtual), Tuesdays Sep 5 - Oct 3, 6:30 - 9:30 pm
Monologue One - Beginner (hybrid, The Edge Theatre), Wednesdays Sep 6 - Oct 4, 6:30 - 9:30 pm

Monologue Two - Intermediate (hybrid, The Edge Theatre), Thursdays Sep 7 - Oct 5, 6:30 - 9:30 pm

One Play Focus: Richard III - Advanced (in-person, The Edge Theatre), Sundays Sep 10 - Oct 22, 1:30 - 4:30 pm
Chekhov - Advanced (virtual), Mondays Sep 18 - Oct 23, 6:30 - 9:30 pm
Private Coaching - All Levels (virtual or in-person), upon request

For more information, visit https://www.susanhartshakespeare.com/

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