Atlanta Shakespeare Company/American Shakespeare Tavern

Free Play Day Previews Classes for Kids

The Atlanta Shakespeare Company (ASC) Education Department will be offering Saturday acting classes for ages 4–13 this fall in the new Shakespeare Academy, located right next door to the Shakespeare Tavern Playhouse.

As an introductory experience, the academy will be hosting a Free Play Day on Saturday, September 9, from 10 a.m.–noon. Attendees will participate in warm-ups and theater games and finish the day performing a famous scene from a Shakespeare play.

In the classes, young actors, kindergarten through eighth grade, will have the chance to be taught and directed by a team of professional actor/teaching artists each Saturday, September 16–October 21, 2017. Each class will culminate in a final showcase for invited friends and family.

The classes are divided into the following age groups and topics:

Shakespeare's Groundlings (kindergarten and first grade): Shakespeare Superheroes Sidekicks-style acting class—Through creative play, arts and crafts, music, dance and, of course, Shakespeare's language, our youngest actors will present their own, unique version of Shakespeare's Macbeth, with a script focusing on friendship through the characters of Macbeth and Banquo. All Groundlings' teaching artists have received specialized training in Shakespeare instruction for 4–6-year-olds from the Francisco Shakespeare Festival. Classes are 9–10:30 a.m.; tuition, $135 per student.

Shakespeare's Clowns (grades 2–5): Basics of Shakespearean Acting—Students will explore the three tools of an actor and learn to bring Shakespeare's characters, language, and situations to life for an audience. Students will study and create scenes and monologues from some of Shakespeare's most famous plays to be performed in a showcase on the final day of classes, all under the direction of Adam King, the ASC's elementary and homeschool programs coordinator and member of the resident acting company. Classes are 11 a.m.–1 p.m.; tuition, $180 per student.

The Nobles (grades 6–8): Basics of Shakespearean Acting—Young actors will learn to harness their bodies, voices, and imaginations to bring Shakespeare's characters, language, and situations from off of the page and onto the stage. Students will study and create scenes and monologues from some of Shakespeare's most famous plays to be performed in a showcase on the final day of classes, all under the direction of a member of the professional acting company. Classes are 1:30–3:30 p.m.; tuition, $180 per student.
For more information and to register, visit www.shakespearetavern.com/index.php?/education/saturday_acting_classes. To RSVP to the Free Play Day, please email Adam King at adamking@shakespearetavern.com by Wednesday, September 6.

August 22, 2017

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