"But can you teach all this you speak of?" (Pericles, Prince of Tyre, IV.VI)

Study Guides

ASC Study Guides provide you with a comprehensive approach to exploring the plays in your classroom. From the basics of getting your students out of their seats and thinking like early modern actors, to exploring historical context, staging challenges, and the intricacies of Shakespeare’s wordplay, to the challenge of assessment, ASC Study Guides give you a start-to-finish model for Shakespeare education.

Teacher Seminars

Each semester, the American Shakespeare Center devotes a seminar to the classroom applications of plays from our repertoire. Professor Ralph Alan Cohen, the education staff, and our troupe of professional actors provide teachers with a host of materials and techniques for bringing Shakespeare to life for their students.

School Matinees

Specially scheduled morning performances provide teachers and students the opportunity to experience the thrill of the Renaissance stage. All school matinees include a post-show discussion with actors from the show at no additional charge.  For further information about bringing your students to see a show at the Blackfriars Playhouse, please contact our Group Sales Manager at 540-885-5588, ext. 24.

Workshops

ASC creates a variety of workshops for all age groups.  In addition to our pre-made workshops, such as our popular "Curing ShakesFear" series, we will tailor-make workshops to fit the specific needs of your school, corporate environment, or community group. While we provide brief descriptions of some of the most commonly requested workshops, please let us know how we can best accommodate your unique needs. 

Little Academes

These tailor-made packages are designed specifically for your college group, and combine workshops taught by ASC actors, staff, and guest lecturers with the experience of our current season at the Blackfriars Playhouse to immerse students in the theory and practice of Shakespeare's original staging conditions. For more information, please call our Little Academe Coordinator at 540-885-5588 x24, and we will contact you to discuss your needs

Podcasts

ASC creates free play-specific podcasts for each of our productions.  Each podcast is an engaging discussion with Founding Executive Director, Dr, Ralph Alan Cohen and members of the cast.  The discussions average around 40 minutes and are an excellent resource for a behind-the-scenes look at what happens to create each production that appears on the ASC stage.  Click here for direct access to ASC's Podcast/Blog Website. 

No Kidding Shakespeare Camp

After years of hearing from teachers and other adult Shakespeare lovers that they would like a YCTC like experience, the ASC Education Department is giving our public what they want.  In a week long Shakespeare Summer Camp, adults will stay in dorms at Mary Baldwin College, work with master teachers and lecturers in the Blackfriars Playhouse and put together their own culminating project.

The camp is well-suited to both teachers (and can receive credit for inservice hours) and parents of YCTC campers, enthusiastic audience members, or former UVA Summer on the Lawn participants.  Participants will hear lectures, see plays, participate in workshops and master classes, and, finally, play on the stage of the Blackfriars Playhouse.

Recognition

Congratulations to Sandy Boynton of Schenectady County Community College, the 2012 Words in Action Award Winner.

Each year, the American Shakespeare Center gives the Words in Action Award to deserving teachers to honor their commitment in bringing Shakespeare to life for their students. Sandy Boynton has been a friend of the ASC for many years. She was part of our 2004 NEH Institute, and she has been bringing students to the Blackfriars Playhouse every year since 2007. She has made Shakespeare's stagecraft the backbone of her teaching philosophy, truly espousing the ideas of bringing his works to life, in action, up off the page and onto the stage. Her students are some of the brightest and most engaged that we see in any Little Academe season, always willing to step forward with new ideas, to dive into the text, and to try anything and everything on the stage. It takes a great teacher to foster such an incredible degree of aptitude and creativity, particularly with the challenges she has faced in an underprivileged, low-income community.

• Teacher Seminars
• Professor Cohen's 39 Picky Rules of Writing
• Shakespeare Study Guides
• Workshops

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