Born in Stratford upon Avon in 1564, William Shakespeare was to become the most important playwright and practitioner of theatre the world has ever seen.

Many people seem to want to decry the Bard as the originator of his works, but their arguments are spurious at best; there is plenty of evidence to support Shakespeare's authorship of the plays and sonnets, from court records to his known origins, if one cares to look.

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His father, John, was a successful glovemaker of the time and dealer in wools and leathers, and was a property owner, as well as being Mayor of Stratford for a time. His mother, Mary (nee Arden) was also from money, with her father being a prominent farmer. Shakespeare the boy attended a good school, where he learned his letters as well as Latin. He would certainly have studied the classics, from which we can see some of his plays were influenced, and he undoubtedly travelled to London with his father on occasion, in his role as mayor and for commerce.

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As was usual for the gentry, he probably left school at 14, and little is known of his life between then and when he married Anne Hathaway at the age of 18. Her father was also a well-to-do farmer, and William and Anne were to live in a cottage in Shottery.

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They had just three children: Susana in 1583, and twins Hamnet and Judith in 1585. Hamnet died in childhood and this devastated William. It is thought that Hamlet was a venting of his grief, in its original draft, but he returned to it later and tailored it into one of the most influential plays of all time.

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1585 to 1502 are referred to as Shakespeare's "Lost Years", as there is no record of his movements at the time. Some say he travelled around Europe, spending time and studying in Italy amongst other places; some speculate that he was spying in Spain for the Crown, and others that he spent time as a father, and teaching his children. What we do know is that in 1502 he was in London as Robert Greene, a rival playwright, made comment of him in his pamphlet "A Groats-worth of Witte."

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From then on his path through life is well documented, and you can find a nice synopsis of his career in London to his death at the RSC site: https://www.rsc.org.uk/shakespeares-life-and-times

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However, our focus is on Shakespeare's works and how to realise them on stage or screen.

And at this point it is incumbent on us to recognise that the Bard was not just a wordsmith - in his texts we can find a cornucopia of information about his ideas regarding performance styles and characters; I believe it is fair to say that William Shakespeare was the predecessor of Constantin Stanislavski's ideas regarding performance art and realism on stage.

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In our workshops we will look at particular scripts and identify the characters through what Shakespeare tells us.

We will look at  the use of language, rhythm, styles and metre to identify the best delivery of the lines

We will examine exactly what Shakespeare wanted in a performance, and how he went against the style of the times.

We will also look at accessing the Bard's work through Stanislavski's "system" and vice versa.

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For details of upcoming workshops, or to enquire about particular scripts and organise training for indivduals or your own groups click here 

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There is no such thing as the Stanislavski Method! 

Going back t the start is often the best option

Feel free to contact us with any personal requirements or questions.