Acting: Exploring Shakespeare

There are no entry requirements for this course.

The course is designed so that motivated students will benefit from the training. We expect you to undertake a certain amount of self-directed study and preparation out with class times.

Students should be open, honest, generous, respectful, hard-working and willing to work as part of a team.

Week One : Storytelling, Style and Shakespearean Performance

In this session we’ll focus on the story of the chosen play, the different approaches we could take as theatre-makers to present that story, and begin to think about the specific challenges of performing Shakespeare.

Week Two : Working On A Monologue

In this session we’ll look at the different things we might encounter when we first begin to analyse a monologue.

Week Three: Working On A Scene

In this session we’ll look at the different things we might encounter when we first begin to work on a scene.

Week Four: Working On A Character

In this session we’ll introduce some physical approaches to exploring character.

Week Five: Original Practices (The Elizabethan Playhouses)

In this session we’ll look at the Elizabethan Playhouses and their modern reconstructions, discovering what we can learn from them that strengthens our own practice in the 21st century.

Week Six: Working On Your Monologue

In this session we’ll focus on a monologue of your choice as we begin to prepare it for performance in week ten.

Week Seven: Using Your Voice

In this session we’ll explore techniques of key Shakespearean voice teachers and apply them to your monologues.

Week Eight: Using the First Folio

In this session we’ll look at the 1623 First Folio and discover the ways it can inform, deepen and strengthen our work as actors.

Week Nine: Using the Audience

In this session we’ll explore opportunities that Shakespeare’s text offers to engage with the audience.

Week Ten: Sharing Your Monologue

In this session we’ll share the monologues that you have been preparing through the course with your fellow workshop participants.

This course explores established and innovative methodologies in the three main disciplines of acting, movement and voice. These will be studied in relation to the analysis, rehearsal and performance of works by Shakespeare. You will also take part in workshops which explore building a character, character relationships and journeys, and the power of the soliloquy.

The style of engagement within this course is open, supportive and fun, yet it is also challenging and hard work. Self-directed preparation of a monologue will be an expectation during your time with us. Commitment, focus, energy and professionalism will be expected at all times by the tutor.

• Plan and prepare to attend all classes
• Dress comfortably in clothes which are suitable for the activity you are taking part in.
• Bring a notepad and pen/pencil in case you wish to make notes.
• Please bring a bottle of water to stay hydrated during your class.

This course is suitable for students aged 16+, with no or little experience. Students should be keen to learn and plan to attend all classes.

Credit-rated short courses are designed in accordance with the Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF).

By studying a credit-rated short course, students can benchmark their learning against national standards, and credits may be used towards further education programmes at many institutions throughout the world.

The course is 20 hours of study and is worth 10 SCQF credits and 5 ECTS credits. This course is set at SCQF level 6.

There is an additional fee of £100 to take part in the credit-rated portion of the course. Please ensure you have already signed up to the course via the Book Now button on the web page. Once you have completed that, please sign up for the credit-rated option, by completing this booking form:

Credit-rated Booking Form

By studying a credit-rated course, you will need to be matriculated to RCS*, we require some additional information from credit-rated students for this reason. Please read through the section below thoroughly before you submit. If you have any questions about what is required, please email credit-rated@rcs.ac.uk and we can help you.

* Please note although Credit-Rated Short Courses students require matriculation to get their accreditation, you will not be a full time matriculated student of RCS. Credit-Rated Short Courses do not qualify for student visas due to the short term nature of the course. You will also not qualify for a student email address or student card.

Please read the following eligible evidence dependant on your nationality and immigration status:

Scottish/Welsh/English/Northern Irish (Please provide 1 of the following)
– Passport
– UK Driving Licence
– Other Photo ID

Irish (Please provide all of the following)
– Passport

Europeans with Settled or Pre-Settled Status (Please provide all of the following)
– Passport
– Online Immigration Status (via Sharecode)

Europeans (post-Brexit) (Please provide all of the following)
– Passport
– Proof of Entry to the UK
– Online Immigration Status (via Sharecode)

Non-Europeans who can use the e-gates (Nationals of the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, Singapore and Japan) (Please provide all of the following)
– Passport
– Proof of Entry to the UK
– Vignette
– Biometric Residence Permit (BRP)

Online Credit Rated courses:
– if studying an online credit-rated course from your own country (outside of UK) you are only required to submit your passport.
– if studying an online credit-rated course within the UK, but do not hold a UK passport, please follow the guidance from above.

The Credit Rated or Admissions team may require further information or proof from individuals, and may be in contact with you to provide further evidence.

Providing a ShareCode
If you are providing a ShareCode as part of your evidence please visit https://www.gov.uk/view-prove-immigration-status and follow the instructions to access your code, and provide it in the Experience section of the Booking Form.

Alasdair Hunter

Alasdair Hunter is a Scottish theatre director. He directs classic plays and plays by writers who are very much alive. He is Founding Artistic Director of shakespeare.scot – a global Shakespeare company rooted in Scotland. He is also a member of The Shakespeare Ensemble (www.theshakespeareensemble.com) and an Associate Member of the Shakespeare Theatre Association. He is a Connections Director for the National Theatre (London), and also regularly teaches at UK drama schools.

Alasdair is a graduate of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and the University of Glasgow, and also trained at Shakespeare’s Globe. His work has been seen in UK theatres including the Tron Theatre, Traverse Theatre, Hampstead Theatre, and Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, as well as across the Midwest USA including Chicago and St Louis.

Alasdair was President of Glasgow’s Queen Margaret Union in 2008/09 and a board member of Macrobert Arts Centre from 2009 to 2012. He made classical work, often of a guerilla nature, under the Wilderness of Tigers label between 2007 and 2017.

This course will run in-person on Tuesday evenings for 10-weeks from 8 October – 10 December 2024, 6:30pm – 8:30pm.

The course fee is £230 which is the equivalent to £23 per session, and can be paid in full or in instalments before the course end date.