Shakespeare Course

Term Classes 6 Weeks

Here is the Shakespeare course you have been waiting for.

“All the world’s a stage…” [As You Like it, Act II Scene VII]

Shakespeare is a name that either strikes unadulterated fear or excitement in the hearts of actors. The World’s most famous and prolific playwright still has plays being performed all around the world today.

It is essential for all actors to have a thorough understanding of Shakespeare’s work and iambic pentameter. Not only does it increase your opportunity to work, but it also helps with your understanding of rhythm in every single text you work with – modern or classic.

This Shakespeare course will teach you to embrace Shakespeare. It will help you understand the rules of his texts. It will also embrace wholeheartedly the universal themes which have kept people performing his works for centuries.

Rob will teach you, as Hamlet says in his speech to the players, to “speak the speech… as I pronounced it to you, trippingly on the tongue”. His mode of teaching is revolutionary, dropping each word into your body so that you understand Shakespeare from the inside-out. 

You will then be able to apply this method of learning to all scripts, not just classic texts, to have a deep and powerful connection to your words.

This Shakespeare course is well suited to actors who would like to learn or brush up on the rules of iambic pentameter, be extended in their skills and learn a new way of understanding and processing text.

This Shakespeare Course will cover the following:

• Introduction to basic formal structures implicit in Shakespeare’s verse
• Specific attention to how the formal structures guide and shape the evolvement of character.
• Scansion: The process of analysing a poem’s metre.
• The many Variants of Iambic Pentameter
• Introduction to the process of ‘dropping in’ text rather than ‘memorising’ it – how this allows the actor to inhabit a role rather than ‘presenting’ it
• How to effectively inhabit the present moment and genuinely engage with your scene partner.
• Working deeply on diaphragmatic breathing
• Work on a variety of Texts including Sonets, Scenes and a Monologue

What you walk away with:

• A  Shakespeare Monologue you can perform with confidence, passion and Intelligence
• Scan Shakespearean text with total awareness and application of all its structural elements.
• Transform the written into the spoken word without ‘memorising’.
• An enhanced understanding of Shakespeare’s rhythm and texture
• Potently experience how understanding Shakespeare text, broadens, reinforces and invigorates your essential acting skills and relationship with any text.

TEACHER:

Rob Meldrum is an incredibly well-versed teacher in Shakespeare. He has not only taught Voice and Shakespeare for 8 years at the VCA but has also performed Shakespeare with major Australian theatre companies MTC, State Theatre Company of SA & Bell Shakespeare to name a few. Click here for more credits.

This Shakespeare course is NOT for the Beginner actor in training. All participants must be above Beginner level Training and or the equivalent level of Brave Studios Actors Workshop.