The Shakespeare Centre Presents

TOWARDS PERFORMANCE

A special Intensive (three classes per week for two weeks) to explore techniques in building a Shakespearean performance.

Last call for “A FOOL’S PARADISE” at The Shakespeare Centre in July! 

We have a special treat lined up for the July 19th class! Between that night’s scene work, Christopher Gaze will pay the class a visit to briefly share some of his insights re the playing of Shakespeare’s fools – always entertaining, charismatic and informative, we are so  excited to welcome him as our special guest that night.

Many thank yous to immediatetheatre.com and Walkingfish for the prize tickets and the prize performances!  I watched everything, and Jo came for set A, on Sun.  It was a rockin' good time.  Especially enjoyed set A: The Vibrant Tuesday, Still Life, and Anal.  Especially proud of our students Casey Manderson and Diana Sandberg. Special mention must go to Caroline Liffmann and Tanya Podlozniuk for Tantamount Behaviors which brought the house down.  Thanks all!

 Greetings all!
 
First some congratulations are in order to a number of our students.
 
Teryl Rothery (one of The Shakespeare Centre's first students) has landed the role of Katherine in "The Taming of the Shrew" and Lois in "Kiss Me Kate" at Jeff Hyslop's festival in Courtenay (what's it called, anyone?). Congratulations Teryl! She is now hard at work prepping for her upcoming Stratford audition, with some coaching assistance from Donald, and we wish her the absolute best of luck with it!
 
Jason Emanuel has been nominated for a Jessie for his sumptuous portrayal of Aaron in the Mad Duck Equity Co-op’s production of  "Titus Andronicus"!  Way to go Jason! 
 
Sarah Lind won a Leo award as Best Supporting Actress for her performance in "A Simple Curve".  You rock Sarah! 
 
And finally, Katrina Dunn, who ran an intensive with us called “Hell Hath no Fury…” has received an outstanding director Jessie nomination for "Prodigal Son" (Touchstone/Pacific). Congratulations Katrina!!  And while we're at it, congratulations Touchstone (and Katrina) for two outstanding production nominations ("Prodigal Son"-co-pro with Pacific- and "Little Mercy's First Murder" -also directed by K.D.)!
 

 AND NOW WITHOUT FURTHER ADO…
 HERE’S WASSUP FOR JUNE AT THE SHAKESPEARE CENTRE 
 
Who are the Heroes and Heroines in Shakespeare?
 

Timon of Athens? (an extravagantly generous nobleman who transforms into one of the most spectacular misanthropes in all of drama)

In the Buddhist world (among others), honours and achievements are experienced with a grain of salt (or is that rice?)  Having said that, I am very proud of a couple of friend/associates today.  Teryl Rothery (The Shakespeare Centre's first and possibly finest student) has landed the role of Katherine in "The Taming of the Shrew" and Lois in "Kiss Me Kate" at Jeff Hyslop's festival in Courtenay (what's it Called, anyone?).  Congratulations Teryl!!  She's also hard at work on an audition for this country's premiere Shakepeare festival at Stratford (what's it called again?).  Go Teryl! 

None of the 'pros' seem to be writing reviews of  the world premiere of "A Bright Particular Star", at Pacific Theatre till June 3 (end of season fatigue?), so I'll try my amateur hand.

Somewhere way back in my training I read this comment, which was a Russian director's response when asked what was most important for actors to work on. I never forgot it, and today in Vancouver I couldn't agree more. When I work with my students or go to the theatre or watch tv, the thing that concerns me most often is lack of voice.  By that I mean: I can't hear or understand; the voice lacks the power and flexibility to carry the emotions and thoughts required by the text; the voice is simply uninteresting or even irritating.  What's to be done?  Quite a few students and other actors mention having taken The Voice Intensive here.  Sounds good, is good, but the work has to be ongoing, lifelong, daily.  I get the impression sometimes that many local actors think their voices are "fine" and that there's no need to upset the natural apple cart with a lot of artificial exercises.  Just truth, naturalness, and "doing it" will suffice.  I think this is a mistake.  Every time I sit in The Playhouse, The Stanley, PTC, Roundhouse, wherever, and can't hear or understand, I think it's a mistake.  Now, I have physical coming up and I'll get my hearing checked, but I don't think that's the problem.  Symptomatic of the problem is the fact that a major festival like Bard on the Beach has no voice coach. Say what?  Want to be in the same league as Stratford or the RSC?  Get a voice coach, and an Alexander teacher while you're at it.  You can't afford not to.  The larger of the two Bard theatres screams out, "Get me a voice coach!"  Sometimes I think the domination of film and tv in this town has something to do with the lack of voice.  But, on screen, give me Ben Kingsley, Brent Carver, Judy Dench, Seana McKenna, or Colm Feore over pretty but squeaky anytime.  So what's the solution?  Voice, voice, and more voice. There are good voice teachers in town (Trish Allen for one).  Sadly, Patsy Rodenburg (the best) only comes as close as L.A. so far.  But she has books and a video out, available at Biz.  But first, we need an acknowledgement that things aren't fine when we're not sharing our whole truth, and the truth of the writers, with the audience!

Greetings all!

This month’s classes will take place 7 – 10 PM, Wednesday nights May 10, 17, 24 and 31st.

Last month we explored the lighter side of Shakespeare with “A Quartet of Comedies”– so…

this month we’re going DARK!  May is for mayhem, so it’s time to get down and dirty with Shakespeare’s

 
BAD BOYS AND WICKED WOMEN! 

Iago, Goneril, Tamora, Richard lll, Edmund, Regan, Bertram, Lady Macbeth, The Duke of Cornwall, Aaron, Dionyza, Angelo, Cassius – take your pick. And remember, most of these characters can be ‘gender bent’.

 
Is a human villain possible? In this era of mindless shoot 'em ups, where the villains are caricatures of human ambition or despotism, it can be said that Shakespeare's greatest creation was the nuanced humanity and timelessness of his villains. For a little fun, check out this website to find out the kind of villain you might like to play!
http://www.forma3.com/hosted/villains/
 
You’ll see that there are as many types of villainy as personalities and that’s what this month is all about – come join us for a little descent into the less noble, but oh so human aspects of our natures.
 
Deadline for registration – Thursday May 4 – all details below. 
WELCOME TO
THE SHAKESPEARE CENTRE
 
 
ONGOING PROFESSIONAL TRAINING IN SHAKESPEAREAN TEXT AND SCENE STUDY
 

 THE INSTRUCTOR
 
Donald Adams has been an actor and teacher for over twenty five years. He has performed Shakespearean roles across Canada and the U.S. for the Stratford Festival, The Canadian Stage, The Playhouse, The Citadel, The Arts Club and Bard on the Beach. Donald has taught acting at The Stratford Festival, The Maggie Bassett Studio, University of Waterloo and Sir Wilfred Laurier University, as well as six seasons on the faculty of The Young Shakespearean Training Program at Bard on the Beach. A two time Jessie award winning actor, Donald’s credits are too numerous to list but he was particularly honoured to play the title role in Bard on the Beach’s production of “Macbeth”. He is also proud to have co-produced and co-directed the critically acclaimed “Shakespeare Centre’s One Year Birthday Celebration” at Christ Church Cathedral, as well as premiering  “The Capulet Family Album” at The Firehall Arts Centre’s Spring Buds Festival May 21-22, which he directed and dramaturged. This past summer, Donald taught at Bard on the Beach’s Young Shakespeareans’ workshops and  recently starred in Touchstone Theatre’s  “Little Mercy’s First Murder” – voted one of the top ten plays of 2005 by numerous critics. Having just filmed a lead role in Pale Christian Thomas’s independent feature film, “Quest for Samurai”, he most recently appeared in Touchstone/Pacific Theatre’s co-production of  “The Prodigal Son”, and is looking forward to playing the title role in “The Agamemnon” to be directed by Torquil Campbell.
 

WHO: EXPERIENCED ACTORS ONLY PLEASE – LANGARA, UBC, SIMON FRASER AND OTHER STUDENTS WELCOME - APPLICATIONS DUE BY MAY 4 FOR MAY SESSIONS AND SUBJECT TO INSTRUCTOR APPROVAL – 10 STUDENTS MAX

 
WHEN: 7:00– 10:00 PM WEDNESDAYS, MAY 10, 17, 24 AND 31ST.
 
WHERE: TBA
 

HOW MUCH: - $200/MO

NON-REFUNDABLE DEPOSIT OF $125 DUE UPON ACCEPTANCE INTO CLASS IN ORDER TO HOLD SPACE – REMAINING BALANCE DUE FIRST NIGHT OF CLASS. IN THE EVENT THAT A PARTICIPANT MUST CANCEL, DEPOSIT CAN BE APPLIED TO A FUTURE CLASS.

 
CONTACT JO BATES AT 604-739-7829 OR jobates@excite.com FOR ENROLLMENT INFORMATION.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Greetings all!
 

Here’s what we’re offering up for April – guaranteed to be tons of fun!

 
A Quartet of Comedies for Spring

(Just the thing to chase away those rainy winter blahs)

 
As You Like It
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Much Ado About Nothing
Twelfth Night
 

Featuring such memorable characters as Beatrice and Benedick, Touchstone and Audrey, Bottom and Titania, Toby and Aguecheek, and many more!

HI ALL!

PLEASE NOTE THAT THE NEW CLASS NIGHT FOR 'HAMLET' IS TUESDAY NIGHTS FROM 7 - 10 PM MARCH 7, 14, 21 AND 28

 THANKS!

JO