Southwest Shakespeare Company's 2020 Summer Conservatory goes Online!

For its 5th annual summer program, Southwest Shakespeare Company is offering its classes online via Zoom!

These fun and educational VIRTUAL group activities are open to students ages 10 - 17.

All classes are for one hour a day, Mondays through Fridays. Students can enroll in as many as they like! Each three-week class has a tuition of $225.

SESSION 1: JUNE 8 TO JUNE 26

SESSION 2: JULY 6 TO JULY 24

9:00 - 10:00 AM: Stage Combat with Rachelle Dart (Ages 12 - 17)

Class Description: As a performer, physical storytelling and taking care of your collaborators are top necessities! What better way to practice these skills than through fighting? In this three week course students will explore the principles of stage combat and safely walk away with a foundational knowledge of unarmed, knife, found objects, and sword basics with some extra stage combat tricks! 

Instructor Bio: Rachelle Dart holds Bachelors of Theatre from Arizona State University and is an Advanced Actor Combatant with The Society of American Fight Directors. She is passionate about safe stage violence and has taught workshops for ages 5-75 and has choreographed fights for shows including Othello, Richard II, A Midsummer Night's Dream, and Shakespeare Land of the Dead.

11:00 - 12:00: Acting Shakespeare 101 with Benjamin Harris and Melissa Toomey (Ages 12 - 17)

Class Description: Whether you are completely new to Shakespeare or an experienced young classical actor, this class will give you the essentials of how to break down Shakespeare’s verse and approach it like the professionals do! Work on some of Shakespeare’s greatest scenes and monologues in this essential introduction to speaking the speech.

Instructor Bios: Benjamin Harris holds degrees in both Classical Theatre and Business from Southern Utah University. He has performed all over the Valley (most recently at Medieval Times in Scottsdale) and has worked as a teaching artist with Southwest Shakespeare Company, Childsplay, and Missoula Children’s Theatre.

Melissa Toomey teaches voice, movement, and Shakespeare in the acting program at Arizona School for the Arts. She also performs locally with Southwest Shakespeare Company, Flagstaff Shakespeare Festival, and as the Queen of Medieval Times in Scottsdale.

1:00 - 2:00: Much Ado About Nothing (Session 1) and Julius Caesar (Session 2) with Clay Sanderson (Ages 12 - 17)

Class Description: All levels of ability are welcome, and every student is guaranteed a role in our two live Zoom readings, getting a chance to rehearse and perform a great Shakespeare play! During Session 1, we will relish in the “skirmish of wit” in the classic comedy Much Ado About Nothing with a live virtual performance the evening of June 26, and in Session 2 we will “cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war” in the timeless tragedy Julius Caesar with a live virtual performance the evening of July 24.

Instructor Bio: Clay Sanderson has appeared in eleven productions with Southwest Shakespeare Company, most notably in An Iliad, The Merchant of Venice, and Twelfth Night, and has also performed in Mary Poppins and Kinky Boots at The Phoenix Theatre Company as well as many shows in Chicago, where he began his career. He holds an MFA in Acting from The Theatre School at DePaul University and is the drama teacher at Tempe Preparatory Academy.

2:00 - 3:00: Introduction to Acting with Kelly Nicole (Ages 10 - 14)

Class Description: This class is designed for younger actors who may be relatively new to acting and theatre. Students as young as 10 are welcome to enroll. Students will expand their imagination as they learn the ABC’s of performing while exploring their own potential as budding actors through improvisation games, character building, and text work.

Instructor Bio: Kelly Nicole works as a teaching artist at East Valley Children’s Theatre and has appeared as an actor at Southwest Shakespeare Company, Hale Centre Theatre, and in many independent films. She is also the owner of Pretty Princess Parties, which has delighted children across the Valley.

For more information or to register:

Please contact Director of Community Engagement Clay Sanderson at csanderson@swshakespeare.org