Classes
Learn. Create. Laugh. Perform.
Imagination and creativity flourish in the Studio with fun and enriching courses for youth and adults. Each program is led by Chesapeake Shakespeare Company teaching artists. Age-appropriate activities encourage imagination and develop performing skills, using the rich language of Shakespeare’s plays. Classes are geared towards personal and/or professional growth. All programs are non-competitive: No auditions required. All courses include programs for actors and non-actors.
In-Person Classes
Acting I: Beginning Acting
An introduction to the fundamental principles of acting through ensemble building activities and theatre games. Then, through the utilization of classical text, developed skills will be applied to the performative nature of talking and listening; acting and reacting to partners on stage and in the audience.
Open to participants age 18 and over.
Dates: Tuesdays, September 13 – October 18, 2022
Times: 6:30pm - 8:30pm
Location: The Studio at CSC, 206 E. Redwood Street, Baltimore, MD 21202
Tuition: $245
Stage Combat: Rapier and Dagger
Professional Stage Combat training in Rapier & Dagger Combat with Certified Teacher Casey Kaleba. Those interested in testing with the Society of American Fight Directors will need to register for BOTH sessions and pay an additional, non-refundable adjudication fee. Students who pass will receive the Society of American Fight Director's recognition in Rapier & Dagger.
Casey Kaleba is a Certified Teacher with the Society of American Fight Directors, and has staged violence for more than four hundred productions in opera, regional, and educational theatre. His work has been seen at the Guthrie Theatre, Spoleto Festival USA, Washington National Opera, Olney Theatre Center, Folger Theatre, Constellation Theatre, and Signature Theatre. He has taught stage combat for the Shakespeare Theatre Company, Round House Theatre, and Rorschach Theatre as well as graduate and undergraduate programs along the east coast and as a guest artist in Chicago, Des Moines, Banff, Toronto, and Gothenburg. Casey serves as an audition choreographer for Marvel Universe Live and smashes fruit on the crew for the YouTube series Men at Arms: Reforged.
Open to participants age 18 and over.
Prerequisites: Stage Combat: Rapier and Dagger I (or, with permission, comparable previous SAFD instruction) is a prerequisite for Stage Combat: Rapier and Dagger II.
Dates/Times: Choose one or both sessions below.
Other Date/Time Information: Optional SAFD adjudication Sunday 11/20/2022, 10am-1pm
Location: The Studio at CSC, 206 E. Redwood Street, Baltimore, MD 21202
Tuition: $185 per session
Additional Fee Information: $50 adjudication fee payable to instructor/SAFD
Questions? Please contact Chesapeake Shakespeare Company's Education Manager, Troy Jennings, at jennings@chesapeakeshakespeare.com or 410-244-8571 x114.
Veterans Ensemble: Basic Training
The Studio at Chesapeake Shakespeare Company presents an educational program workshop that will be FREE for US veterans. Participants should be men and women, ages 20-85, who are veterans of the United States armed forces. Combat experience not required. Working with CSC Teaching Artists, the ensemble will explore Shakespeare’s text for personal connections. This ten-week program will culminate in a performance for friends, family, and invited guests. No experience required!
Open only to U.S. military servicemembers (active duty, reserve, veteran)
Dates: Saturdays, September 17 – November 12, 2022
Times: 10:00 a.m.– 12:00 p.m.
Location: The Studio at Chesapeake Shakespeare Company, 206 E. Redwood St., Baltimore, MD 21202
Instructor: Alex Hewett
Tuition: FREE
Questions? Please contact Ron Heneghan, Director of Education, Chesapeake Shakespeare Company at heneghan@chesapeakeshakespeare.com or 410-244-8571 x113.
Virtual Classes
Critical Analysis for Adults: Twelfth Night
Dig into the source material with experts and other critical thinkers! The perfect way to develop your critical eye and capture the nuance of Shakespeare's masterworks. Classical play theory will be used to analyze Shakespeare's Twelfth Night . Tuition includes a free ticket to see Chesapeake Shakespeare Company's production of Twelfth Night, running September 30 – October 23.
Open to participants age 18 and over.
Dates: Mondays, September 12 – September 26, 2022
Times: 6:30pm-7:45pm
Other Date/Time Information: Follow up class on 10/17/22 to discuss CSC's production of Twelfth Night.
Location: Online via Zoom
Tuition: $125
Designers' Forum
Get the most Bard for your buck! Register for all five sessions and save 25%!
Meet costume, scenic, lighting and sound designers that have worked with CSC over the years. Gain insight into the designer’s process of creating the world of the play, engaging an audience, setting the mood/period, utilizing the space, and working with other designers and directors.
Open to participants age 18 and over.
Dates: Wednesdays, October 5 – November 2, 2022
Times: 6:00–8:00 p.m.
Location: Online via Zoom
Tuition: $25 per session or $100 for all five
Questions? Please contact Chesapeake Shakespeare Company's Education Manager, Troy Jennings, at jennings@chesapeakeshakespeare.com or 410-244-8571 x114.
Learn the fundamental processes of using Shakespeare's language to inspire design concepts for sets, costumes, props, lighting, and sound.
Dates: Saturdays, October 1 – October 22, 2022
Times: 2:30pm - 4:30pm
Location: The Studio at CSC, 206 E. Redwood Street, Baltimore, MD 21202
Tuition: $99 ($69 tuition + $30 materials fee)
Chesapeake Shakespeare Company Teaching Artists provide a non-competitive environment in which students grow, learn, and laugh together. There are no auditions.
CORPS members will conceptualize, design and perform 60-minute versions of Shakespeare's great plays. The performance will take place in our beautiful Downtown Theater. Students will gain valuable experience in performance, textual analysis, language, history, and ensemble building as they rehearse and perform.
This fall's class will be based on A Midsummer Night’s Dream .
Open to students in grades 3 and up.
Dates: Fridays, September 30 - December 9, 2022
No class on Thanksgiving, November 25, 2022.
Times: 12:00pm-3:30pm
Other Date/Time Information: On Friday, 12/9/22 at 1:30 pm, students will present a public performance for family and friends in the CSC Theater (adjacent to The Studio).
Location: The Studio at CSC, 206 E. Redwood Street, Baltimore, MD 21202 and the CSC Theater, 7 South Calvert Street, Baltimore, MD 21202.
Tuition: $245
Chesapeake Shakespeare Company Teaching Artists provide a non-competitive environment in which students grow, learn, and laugh together. There are no auditions.
Health and Safety: *PLEASE NOTE* Masks may be worn if preferred. For in-person classes, we ask participants to stay home if they are experiencing any signs or symptoms of COVID-19 or any other illness or if they have been exposed to someone who has had signs or symptoms of COVID-19. Please see CDC guidelines for specific COVID-19 symptoms.
* Subject to availability, some exclusions may apply