“Speak the speech as I pronounced it to you, trippingly on the tongue.”
For four hundred years, Shakespeare’s immortal words have had us rolling in the aisles, crying into our drinks, or contemplating life's great mysteries. Learn how to make Shakespeare’s immortal scene’s jump off the page and invoke delight or dole with JACOB MING-TRENT. Act now to take advantage of this exciting opportunity.
Essential Question:
How do you approach Shakespeare’s text with knowledge and confidence, utilizing the clues and tools in the verse to find the dynamic truth of your character and situation? What aspects of an actor’s preparation are most essential when approaching Shakespearian performance? How do you engage openly and honestly with your scene partner?
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Course Objectives:
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Demystify Shakespeare’s words
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Learn how to use Shakespeare’s verse, text, and rhetoric to find clues about your character
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Learn how to rehearse and work a Shakespeare scene with a partner
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Discover (or remember) the joy and passion in performing Shakespeare
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Enduring Understandings:
Actors will learn that Shakespeare’s language is not an archaic fortress that requires a knowledge of the rules to enter but rather an intensely honest heightened text with a multitude of tools that can aid and assist an actor on their journey to the truth. In this class, actors will learn how to demystify Shakespeare and his verse and find the internal truth of the character. By the end of the class, actors will have confidence they can step on to a Classical stage and deliver dynamic truth to both the audience and their scene partner.
Instructor:
JACOB MING TRENT Broadway: Hands on a Hardbody, Shrek the Musical. Off-Broadway credits include Red Bull Theater: How Shakespeare Saved My Life, Medea Re-Versed, The Alchemist (Lucille Lortel Award nomination); Public Theater: Merry Wives, Father Comes Home from the Wars, Parts 1, 2, and 3 (Lucille Lortel Award), Cymbeline, Twelfth Night, The Tempest; Lincoln Center Theater: On the Levee; Theatre for a New Audience: The Merchant of Venice, A Midsummer Night’s Dream; The Acting Company: The Two Gentlemen of Verona; Folger Theatre: A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Film: Superfly, The Forty-Year Old Version; R#J; The Possession of Hannah Grace. Television: "Watchmen," "White Famous," "Ray Donavan," "Feed the Beast," "Only Murders in the Building," "New Amsterdam," "God Friended Me."
​Schedule:
Tuesday, October 14 | Class 1: ‘SUIT THE ACTION TO THE WORD’
Class will begin our journey with introductions and group text, voice and body work. After the class concludes Jacob will pair up actors and provide the scenes they will work on. In the following weeks you will work with your partner as much as you are able, either in person or online, to explore the text and scene together
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Tuesday, October 21 | Class 2: ‘WORDS WORDS WORDS’
Students will begin their first pass at their scenes*
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*While not required we STRONGLY suggest you attend all classes, including the ones you may not be actively working with Jacob in
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Tuesday, October 28 | Class 3: ‘SPEAK THE SPEECH’
Students will continue their first pass at their scenes
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Tuesday, November 4 | Class 4: ‘HOLD, AS ‘TWERE THE MIRROR UP TO NATURE’
Students will begin their second pass at their scenes*
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*Ideally you would be off book by this second pass
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Tuesday, November 11 | Class 5: ‘THE READINESS IS ALL’
Students will continue their second pass.
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Tuesday, November 18 | Class 6: ‘THE PLAY’S THE THING’
Students will do a final presentation of their scene and receive final feedback with Jacob.
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Preparation:
In the between the first class and the second class you should connect with your scene partner and work on your scenes both together and on your own to the best of your ability.​
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Dress:
You should wear clothes that are easy to move around in. We suggest you bring a water bottle and a notebook.
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Concerns? Questions?
Contact Dominique Nadeau.
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All of our teachers are committed to these classes. As working performers, unexpected conflicts may arise. If this were to happen, Red Bull would strive to provide an equally qualified replacement to ensure the quality of your experience. We thank you in advance for this understanding.