NCSF Offers Hands On Shakespeare Workshops Beginning 4/25

The North Carolina Shakespeare Festival will be offering Hands On Shakespeare Teacher Workshops for middle and secondary English and Drama teachers as part of it Outreach Education program. The workshops are scheduled for April 25, July 25 and October 24 at The Festival's new High Point facility, Spirit Center, located at 807 W. Ward Ave., High Point.

"Hands On Shakespeare is designed to enhance teachers' performance and presentation skills with Shakespeare texts", says Pedro Silva, The Festival's Managing and Artistic Director. "The concept is that as teachers become more knowledgeable about and comfortable with Shakespeare's performativity, they can better impart this quality to their students and, hopefully, more fully engage them in the exploration and study of the plays."

The workshops are introductory in nature, designed for teachers eager to better handle the plays' language and theatrical potential. Each of the workshops is identical in content and focus, though each will use a different play as the key tool to develop teachers' performance skills, as follows: April 25 - Macbeth; July 25 - A Midsummer Night's Dream; October 24 - Romeo & Juliet.

Workshops will run from 12:00 - 6:00 each scheduled Saturday. The price for a workshop is $99 and includes all materials and refreshments. The Festival recommends teachers inquire at their schools about funding support and CEU teacher certification workshop
credit. Space is limited.

All workshops will be headed by Martha Mendenhall, The Festival's Outreach Education Artistic Associate. Martha has over twenty years experience teaching students and educators and working with young people on Shakespeare productions.

Call The Festival at 336-841-2273, x226 to register or for more information or email joan.andrews@ncshakes.org. Registration forms may also be downloaded from NCSF's website, www.ncshakes.org, by viewing Hands On Shakespeare on the site's Outreach and Education heading. The registration deadline for workshops is 2 weeks prior to each workshop date.

The Festival was founded in High Point in 1977 as a professional theatre company. Over the years it has become recognized statewide for the professional quality of its productions, for its particular focus on the greatest and most popular of all playwrights, Shakespeare, and for its statewide service to schools via its touring programs and popular 10:00 SchoolFest matinees.

Since 1977, it has produced over 150 major productions of plays by Shakespeare and other world class playwrights. Nearly 2 million seats have been filled at its home venue, The High Point Theatre, and at colleges, civic centers, public and private schools statewide. Through its school touring programs, the company has performed in every North Carolina County, visiting hundreds of middle and secondary schools, many on numerous occasions.

"The Festival takes pride in its service as a cultural and artistic resource," says Ken Hughes, Chairman of its Board of Trustees. "Our board views NCSF as more than a theatre company; we view it as an institution of civilization that enriches life, broadens citizens' sensibilities, preserves cultural and historical pathways and, overall, builds community. It's great entertainment, too, and employs citizens we've spent lots of money to educate and train as theatre artists and technicians at our colleges and universities."

The Festival's 2009 MainStage season will feature Macbeth and A Midsummer Night's Dream performing at The High Point Theatre September 5 through October 4. Tickets go on sale July, 6; call The High Point Theatre Ticket Office 12:00-5:00, M-F at 336-887-3001 or visit: highpointtheatre.com.

NCSF PO Box 6066, High Point, NC 27260 WWW.NCSHAKES.ORG
Administrative Offices: Spirit Center, 807 W. Ward Ave., High Point, NC 27260

 

 

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