Players' Shakespeare Studio

How to Do Shakespeare

Feb. 2 – Mar. 23, 2021

Tuesdays, 7-9:30pm
Cost: $120

How does an actor speak Shakespeare’s heightened language without feeling clumsy and sounding artificial? In this eight-week class you will learn how to make Shakespeare’s words your friend and use them to create a vivid character. The classes are taught online via Zoom and combine training in technique, along with practical application in monologue and working together on a Shakespeare play. You will learn:

The iambic rhythm and why it is useful
How to spot and use rhetorical devices
When to breathe and how to phrase
How to navigate those long speeches
How to scan a line of verse
Detecting Shakespeare’s internal directions
The caesura
Structure and rhythm
And much more

This course will serve as a great starter kit for the beginning actor or as a useful refresher course for those more experienced.

The cost for this eight-week course is $120. Space is limited to 12 students.

Shakespeare Scene Study

Feb. 4 – Mar. 25, 2021

Thursdays, 7-9:30pm
Cost: $120

Through exercises and scene work, actors will learn to fully bring alive Shakespeare’s characters. In addition, actors will be reminded how to use Shakespeare’s words and internal directions to achieve their objectives.

The cost for this eight-week course is $120. Space is limited to 12 students.

Audition (Shakespeare monologue) or invite required to enroll in class. For an interview with Mr. Cuskern and to inquire about an audition, please email dominic@galleryplayers.com.

DOMINIC CUSKERN appeared on Broadway in Inherit the Wind starring George C. Scott. He played Labisse in the Broadway National Tour of the musical Victor/Victoria. He created the role of Ganesha, the Hindu god, in Terrence McNally’s A Perfect Ganesh, which starred Zoe Caldwell at MTC. He was a member of the Resident Acting Company at the Pearl Theatre in New York City. His favorite Shakespeare roles include Prospero, Shylock, and Malvolio. Mr. Cuskern was born in England where he obtained his B.A at Leeds University. He received his master’s degree from Columbia University. He is currently the president of the Board of Directors at Gallery Players and program director for Players’ Shakespeare.

Players' Shakespeare On Stage