Education Programs
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Bringing Shakespeare to Life!
Access Shakespeare | Free Will | Shakespeare Students on Stage | EnAct!
The Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival proudly announces its thirteenth season of Education and Community Outreach Programs, led by our company of professional actors, directors, teaching artists, and scholars.
Each of our programs creates dynamic, engaging, memorable environments for students and communal learning.
For a schedule of pricing please download our Education Programs Brochure for 2008.
School Programs:
Make Shakespearean theater come alive for students and teachers.
A touring show for junior high, high school, college
and beyond, this is the opportunity to introduce your students to some of Shakespeare’s most popular plays through
Daniel Morgan Shelley and Diana Perez
Romeo and Juliet 2007
Photo: Bill Irwin
live performance. Our touring troupe of professional actors bring a dynamic, fully staged production to your school. Our productions allow the audience to view the plays through a vibrant
21st century lens that knocks the cobwebs off Shakespeare’s great plays, yet does not dumb down Shakespeare’s language.
Our 2008 Auditorium touring show will be Hamlet!
"The world is out of joint. Oh, cursed spite that ever I was born to set it right."
- Hamlet
"Prince Hamlet has returned home from college to attend the funeral of his father and finds himself witness to his mother’s sudden marriage to his Uncle Claudius, who has become the king of Denmark. Hamlet is visited by the ghost of his dead father, who accuses Claudius of murdering him. With this news Hamlet is thrown into a whirlwind of confusion while trying to prove that his uncle is indeed a murderer and avenge his father’s death.
"This program was outstanding! The students were able to experience Shakespeare as a living story. It's the best thing I've done with my students in English class."
- Irvington Middle School, Irving, NY
Professional teaching artists/actors bring their experience and exceptional skill to your classroom as they immerse students in one of Shakespeare's plays over several visits (five day minimum residency). Students will discover the nuances of an actor’s work by engaging in character development, character relationships, language exploration, improvisation, textual analysis and historical research.
"Shakespeare comes alive in the very creative hands of this dynamic group. The (teaching artists) were responsive to the students and were exciting to watch. We think we are privileged to have this wonderful group visit with us year after year!" - Lakeland High School, Shrub Oak, NY
Shakespeare Students-On-Stage Workshop 2006
Photo: Bill Irwin
Professional teaching artists/actors will engage students in participatory theater activities to explore Shakespeare's stories, characters and language. The goal of each workshop is for students to work directly and dramatically with the text to gain a deeper understanding of the play from an actor's perspective.
This program focuses on the many different components that make up the study of theater arts. By bringing professional actors, playwrights and directors into the classroom we offer teachers an opportunity to focus and create their own course of theatrical study for their students. Some of the subjects we cover are advanced Shakespearean acting, movement and voice for the stage, stage combat, auditioning techniques, and contemporary acting to name a few.