We focus on the process of expanding our vocal, physical and imaginative range...and the result is work that is deeper, more powerful yet specific and nuanced. WHY & HOW I TEACH:
Why I teach Shakespeare and my approach to the acting of it grew organically from my own experience performing and directing his plays. I have gotten very good at listening to his “music” and helping others to be sensiti
ve to it as well. I don’t claim to know all there is to know about the Bard. In fact, I challenge myself right along with my students. But I do know how to help actors grow from whatever point they come to meet this work. Performing Shakespeare is a technical journey for them, certainly. But it’s also a deeply personal one. Always. Over and over, I am reminded by my students that Shakespeare’s words unlock our minds and unite our hearts. I first encountered Shakespeare at CalArts, when I was cast as Lady MacDuff in MacBeth. I was excited to be acting, but I had no idea what I was doing. I found Shakespeare’s verse to be stifling and the words felt awkward in my voice and body. Frankly, I didn’t like it. (There, its out! ☺) But I knew if I wanted to be a real actress, I had to be able to do this Shakespeare. I actually remember the moment it happened: I was rehearsing Juliet, and all of a sudden, it felt like the words were playing me. It was like riding a wave, and I experienced Shakespeare’s verse to be coming from deep inside me, and it felt completely freeing. The restriction I felt was gone in that moment. This freedom only lasted a moment, but body, voice, mind and heart were in sync and it was so fun and I knew it was possible! I was elated. But as good as it felt, I was also aware that this material would bust my chops if I didn’t learn how to lean into it and expand, vocally, physically and emotionally. Over the years, I played many of Shakespeare’s women, and came to realize over and again that the language, its structure and its rhythms are in fact the character. Everything the actor needs to know lies within the words penned by the greatest writer in the English language who will not let us down. And if we can learn to make the argument of each character clear, we allow the language to do what it was designed to do. The genius of William Shakespeare is that when we get out of his way, the humanity of his characters unite with our own and come to life as if by magic, through the pulse of his verse and the very beating of our hearts. So very cool. My work with Shakespeare gave me a tangible way into other classic playwrights such as Shaw, Chekhov, Ibsen, Moliere, Sheridan, Anouilh, etc. as well as modern classic playwrights like Arthur Miller and Tennessee Williams. Shakespeare made me alert to the text, and I am grateful for that because it taught me how to be responsive to contemporary writers like Tom Stoppard, Yasmina Reza, and others. I think our job as actors is to tell the story. Shakespeare has been a master teacher to me, guiding me to read, understand and interpret each “note” that the playwright has written. And all that brought me to my passion for teaching….. Shakespeare understood classical rhetoric and knew precisely what he was doing with language. In addition, he deeply understood humanity in all its complexities and detail. He was also writing in a specific poetic form, that grew i complexity and nuance as he wrote more and more. In class, we laugh a lot and don’t take ourselves too seriously. Yet we seriously apply ourselves to the work. We learn to become alert to the text through the meter (iambic pentameter vs. prose), rhetorical devices, and Elizabethan structure of language, all to uncover the juicy hints Shakespeare has planted for us. I also use a lot of physical exercises to offer a variety of pathways into the text. Everyone works differently, and it’s helpful to have an array of options at your fingertips. I am blessed that the people who gravitate to my classes become staunch supporters of one another. They are kind, excited to grow, and just flat out interesting people.
