2-DAY CLASSICAL ACTING WORKSHOP
DEEP DIVE: AS YOU LIKE IT
THE WOOING SCENE
Saturday & Sunday, November 23 & 24, 2019
12:00 PM - 6:00 PM
Location: MTC
Instructors: Maria Aitken, Peter Francis James, Susan Finch and Nathan Winkelstein
Through Red Bull Theater's unique Deep Dive Scene Studies, we maximize each actor’s growth by having all participants investigate the same scene selection. Instead of attempting to plumb the depths of multiple different scenes in quick intervals, our methodology begins with collective table and voice work before establishing scene partners for on your feet exploration and presentation. Each iteration of the scene informs the next, leading to a richer understanding of the characters, the scene and the language of one of Shakespeare’s iconic scenes. The skills you learn through this workshop can be applied to any scene that comes your way.
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This intensive will explore Act 4: Scene 1 of AS YOU LIKE IT.
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‘Come, Woo me, Woo me!’’
For four hundred years Shakespeare’s hilarious exploration of love at first sight has had us rolling in the aisles. Come dive into one of the most famous wooing scenes in all dramatic literature and learn how to make some of Shakespeare’s most famous language come to rollicking life from table work with Red Bull Theater Associate Producer NATHAN WINKELSTEIN, voice work with acclaimed vocal consultant SUSAN FINCH, and scene work with Obie, Drama Desk, and Lucille Lortel Award-winning actor PETER FRANCIS JAMES , and director MARIA AITKEN (Tony and Olivier Award-winning The 39 Steps). Whether you’re interested in brushing up your Shakespeare chops for your next production, or simply in having a good time this is the intensive for you.
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Essential Question:
How do actors use Shakespeare’s text along with their physical instruments to fully explore the potential of a scene? How can we utilize those same skills to be more effective actors, listeners, and creative communicators?
Course Objectives:
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Increase the flexibility of your physical and vocal instrument
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Develop a greater awareness of your body and voice
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Explore techniques for delivering language from Shakespeare’s plays with nuance and truth
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Explore how Shakespeare utilizes prose or verse to create complex characters
Enduring Understandings:
Shakespearean Plays are universal and have stood the test of time. A flexible, confident voice and body are essential for effective presentation of a character on the stage. A deep understanding of Shakespeare’s prose and verse, his use of rhythms and rhetoric is essential to finding the timing, honesty and humor in his plays.
Instructors:
MARIA AITKEN directed the Olivier and Tony Award-winning production of Alfred Hitchcock’s The 39 Steps and the Tony Award-nominated Man and Boy (West End and Broadway). Other directing credits include The Importance of Being Earnest (Old Globe, San Diego); Lady Bracknell’s Confinement (Vineyard Theatre); As You Like It (Shakespeare Theatre Company); Sherlock’s Last Case, Bedroom Farce, The Seagull, The Cocktail Hour, Betrayal, Private Lives, and Educating Rita (Huntington Theatre Company); Tartuffe and Heartbreak House (Delaware REP); The Cocktail Hour (Guthrie), The Gift (Geffen Playhouse/Melbourne Theatre, Australia) and Quartermaine’s Terms (Williamstown Theatre Festival). As an actress at the Royal Shakespeare Company, National Theatre, and in the West End, roles included Hay Fever, Blithe Spirit, Bedroom Farce, Travesties, Waste, Private Lives, and The Vortex, among others. Film credits include A Fish Called Wanda (BAFTA nomination). Ms. Aitken is a visiting teacher at the British American Drama Academy, The Juilliard School, Yale School of Drama, New York University, The Actors Center in New York, and the Academy for Classical Acting. Books: A Girdle Round the Earth and Style: Acting in High Comedy. Trustee, Noël Coward Foundation.
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PETER FRANCIS JAMES – Broadway: Present Laughter, The Merchant of Venice, On Golden Pond, Drowning Crow, Judgment at Nuremberg. The Public: Stuff Happens (OBIE & Lucille Lortel Awards), Much Ado, Venus, Horatio in Kevin Kline’s Hamlet, Long Day’s Journey... CSC: The Maids (OBIE
Award). Signature Theater: The Lady From Dubuque, (Lortel Nomination). U.K: The Lady From Dubuque (w/Maggie Smith), Cymbeline (RSC/TFANA).. Film/TV: The Humbling, Song One, The Losers, The Rebound, The Messenger / “Bull”, Boardwalk Empire, “The Mysteries of Laura”, “Oz”, “Royal Pains”, “Gossip Girl”, “Kings”, The Rosa Parks Story, “Simple Justice”, ”The Ruby Bridges Story”, all three “Law & Order” series. Narration: over 60 books. He has taught Shakespeare at Yale School of Drama since 2000, & BADA at Oxford since 2006. Training: RADA.
SUSAN FINCH has been teaching voice and speech for over twenty-five years. She currently teaches at The Juilliard School, where she is an alumna of their Drama Division. She also teaches at NYU’s Atlantic Theater Acting School, where, as Head of the Speech Department for twenty-five years, she created their undergraduate speech-training curriculum. Recent coaching includes The Public Theater's Richard III Mobile Unit and Shakespeare On The Sound's Much Ado About Nothing.
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NATHAN WINKELSTEIN has been Associate Producer with Red Bull Theater for three years, serving as Producing Director of The Revelation Reading Series, Education Director of Shakespeare in Schools and the Masterclass offerings, and literary and casting associate for Red Bull. Nathan is also the NYC Casting Associate for American Shakespeare Center. He has acted or directed for numerous companies around the country and in the UK, including Bedlam., Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey, Shakespeare Theater Company, W.H.A.T., LCT, The Folger, The Tobacco Factory, American Shakespeare Center and others. Nathan is on faculty at Maggie Flanigan Studios and has taught Shakespeare classes for Red Bull, STC, LCT, WHAT, TGS and Shakespeare Forum; . Nathan received his BA in Theater from the University at Buffalo and his MFA in Classical Acting from the prestigious Bristol Old Vic Theatre School in the UK. Nathan is a proud member of Actors Equity.
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Schedule:
Saturday
12:00 - 2:00: Table Work with Nathan Winkelstein
2:00 - 3:00: Meal Break
3:00 - 6:00: Scene Work with Peter Francis James
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Sunday
10:00 - 12:00: Open Rehearsal Space
12:00 - 2:00: Voice Work with Susan Finch
2:00 - 3:00: Meal Break
3:00 - 6:00: Scene Work Maria Aitken
Preparation:
Roles will be assigned a week before the class. Prepare it as best you are able. Memorization is encouraged but not required..
Materials:
A journal is recommended to record notes and observations. Comfortable clothing that you can move and breathe freely in and a water bottle is strongly encouraged.
Concerns? Questions?
Contact Nathan Winkelstein.
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