Our Photos
Chuck Iwuji's class
Listening and Responding
Business Class
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Actor Chuk Iwuji shows students in a "Listening and Responding" Business class a film clip from the Merchant Ivory production of Remains of the Day. After discussing the use of a prop as a metaphor, Chuck selects a pair of students and sets the stage for the class to perform the party scene from Romeo and Juliet.
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He picks another pair of students and has them try the scene a different way. "These two are very smart. They use language, they use their wit as another form of communication, another means of seduction." He encourages the students to grab on to clues and hints in the text.
Peter Linford's Class
Introduction to Theater
FTT Class
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Actor Peter Lindford teaches from the floor, where he can see the students, as they try staging a scene from Oscar Wilde’s Importance of Being Ernest. The mostly freshmen class looks on with amusement as their peers try their hand at acting.
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"This time play it big," Peter instructs the next pair of eager students. "It’s thrilling for us when you do!" The students giddily oblige him and the class really enjoys the experience.
Victoria Duarri's class
Acting: Process Class
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Actress Victoria Duarri does an invigorating series of warm up exercises with her class before they begin reading. She has the class up on their feet, stretching, singing and moving with one another in ways they normally would not behave in the traditional classroom.
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It’s fast, challenging fun and the students can not wait to keep up with her high energy movements.
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Victoria leads the class through a scene from Romeo and Juliet where they learn how to fill out their characters with gusto.
David Acton's Class
Shakespeare's Comedies
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Having moved aside desks and chairs, Actor David Acton, arranges the class into a circle on the floor and reads through Act II Scene I of Romeo and Juliet with the students. Everyone takes a line and tries to read to through without stopping.
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The class then reads Benvolio's lines together to be sure they understand how iambic pentameter works. David spends a good amount of time explaining the use of prose and verse and then rises to his feet and tells them to "put some umph" into it when they read their lines.
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With David playing a role, the class works through the mechanics of the scene, and has a great time trying to stage the knife fight between Romeo and Tivolt.
Francesca Ryan's class
Graduate Student
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Actress Francesca Ryan performs a one-hander, a staged reading of select literature, for a group of graduate students. The class is hushed as they listen to Francesca breath life into many different classical texts.
The Performance
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It’s hard to imagine that all the actors need to perform is a bare stage, a ladder, and some scarves, but; those are the tools they use to create three very compelling and rewarding performances of Romeo and Juliet.
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Our cast of five actors brings their tremendous theatrical gifts to each performance, exuding the same enthusiasm and energy they brought to the classroom to the stage.
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Often playing more than one role, the actors work adeptly to bring Shakespeare’s many larger than life characters to the audience.