Playing Shakespeare

A student performs in a production. They are wearing a blue satin robe and holding a make-up brush.

An short course student performing in a production

On this exciting and practical two week course, you will explore Shakespeare’s work and how to bring it to life in performance. Immerse yourself in Shakespeare plays, explore the history of his work, what it means to you now and how your personal re-imagining holds a ‘mirror up to nature’.

Working with Central’s experienced teachers, you will gain the skills to read the acting signals that Shakespeare built into his plays and discover how to make interpretative choices. You will work with translating, improvising and embodying to bring heightened language to life in performance. This course will make Shakespeare’s work clear and accessible, enliven your spirit and stretch your soul.

On the course, you will work with a group of Shakespeare students and have the opportunity to attend a Shakespeare play in the heart of London. Previous productions have taken place at Shakespeare’s Globe, the Hampstead Theatre and The Actor’s Church.

Course Content

In the first week of the course you will begin to develop the tools necessary to tackle Shakespearean text, working on your performance skills with access to Central’s talented voice and movement coaches. By the end of the week you should expect to understand how verse structure works and know how to break down Shakespeare’s language into more easily understandable chunks. You will explore Shakespeare texts and characters through a variety of practical exercises in order to discover how to bring heightened language to life in performance.

Working alongside the rest of the group, guided skillfully by your teachers, you will develop a deeper understanding of the text and develop the skills to analyse and critique your performance to keep getting better.

The final week will culminate in an informal showing which will help to tie together everything you have learnt over the course and share the progress you have made with your classmates.

Each student is required to prepare a Shakespearean monologue before beginning the course. Details will be sent to students the before the course begins.

Course Dates

Monday 8 July - Friday 18 July

2 weeks, Mon - Fri, 10am - 5pm | Book your place

Booking Information

Our courses are available on a first come, first served basis in order of payment.

To secure a place, please take the following steps:

Read through our Terms and Conditions before booking
Click on ‘Book your place’ above. Please make sure you are booking for the correct course and option (i.e. Mon/Wed or Tue/Thu if more than one option is available)
Click ‘Select’ and follow the steps through to the completion of booking
If your preferred dates are sold out, you can click ‘Join Waiting List’ and we will let you know if a place becomes available

This course is for anyone over the age of 18 with an interest in performing the work of Shakespeare. Whether you are completely new to his work or have loved Shakespeare for many years, this course is a great way to take that next step.

Days	Various. The course is delivered over 2 weeks.
Times	All times listed are either GMT or GMT +1 (depending on the time of year). If you’re joining from overseas, please use a timezone convertor before booking to establish what the local time will be for you.
Age	The minimum age is 18 on the first day of the course. There is no upper age limit.
Max. class size	14 students
Course Delivery	All of the Summer Short Courses take place onsite at our Swiss Cottage campus in London.
International students	We welcome International Students to our courses, however please ensure you are on the correct visa. As our Summer Short Courses are classed as part-time, non-accredited short courses they are not eligible for a Tier 4 Student Visa however you may be eligible for a Short Term Study Visa.
Language requirements	Applicants must be confident speaking and reading English to a conversational level (IELTS score of 7.0 or equivalent). You may be expected to read texts/scripts that have advanced vocabulary.
Attendance	Due to the structure and the collaborative nature of the courses, full attendance is requested.
Refunds	We are able to offer a full refund up until 14 days before the course begins. After this, the course will become fully non-refundable.
Cancellations	Central reserves the right to cancel this course if we do not meet the minimum number of participants. In this instance, a full refund will be made to you. We are unable to refund any other costs you may have incurred.

What our students say...

“As someone who had little experience in acting Shakespeare this course really helped me ‘demystify’ Shakespeare and approach his work - and classic work in general - more confidently, knowing that there isn’t just one way to do it and you can be as inventive as you want.”

Ana, 2019

“The course really opened up the simplicity of the human experience that is within the beautiful but complex language which had always been inaccessible to me.”

Natasha, 2019