Comprehensive Workshops
Witness the text come to life in powerful, dramatic rehearsed readings of key scenes. Students are invited to participate in discussions about plot, characters and key themes.
In most workshops we provide alternative readings, supported by the text, of at least some scenes. Physical collaborative experimentation with text and discussion is how artists discover meaning. Seeing this process can help students construct powerful responses about what they see in a text and how to express their own ideas about literature. To aide student comprehension, some schools prefer to focus on the "author's intention" or a clearly defined reading of the text.
We strongly believe meaning is in the eye of the beholder. If you are teaching a specific interpretation, we want to support that but you must let us know in advance, so we can prepare how to best convey that message to students. The ideas in the following workshop descriptions are, what we believe to be, valid interpretations of these texts, discovered by working on them over many years. They are, by no means, what we have to teach your students.
12th Night
Riotous tomfoolery, chaotic disguise and deceitful machinations abound in Twelfth Night. Shenanigans that start out foolish resolve in serious consequences, highlighting the reality of the manipulation of human beings. As the key scenes of the play unfold, we discuss the effective impact of comedy on an audience, and its use as a vessel for serious themes and ideas.
Shakespeare's exploration of gender is perhaps more relevant now than it ever has been. Through the device of Viola assuming the role of Cesario, gender presentation is explored more as costume rather than birthright. Through Orsino's subsequent attraction and confusion, sexuality is explored in its uncertainty and fluidity. Twelfth Night presents a fascinating early depiction of the gender and attraction conversations we are having today.
Bookings
Prices
$22 per student
$2200 min booking fee
Prices do not include GST
Running Times
2 hour workshops
The Crucible
This play, partially based on the historical witch trials in Salam Massachusetts in 1692-93, is well known for being an allegory for the US government's action against "subversives" during the McCarthy era. Proctor's journey, at least in part, foretold Miller later being called before The House of Representatives' Committee on Un-American Activities. Miller, like Proctor, refused to name others to avoid punishment.
However, the play also is worthy of study more broadly. 0ur workshop investigates and critiques the question of, if John Proctor, both in the play and historically really is a hero, and the portrayal of female characters in the text.
Bookings
Prices
$22 per student
$2200 min booking fee
Prices do not include GST
Running Times
2 hour Sessions
Twelve Angry Men
When a single juror stands up against peer pressure and votes "Not Guilty" in a seemingly open and shut case it becomes clear why jurors need to deliberate and discuss the case before them. The defendant is the faceless other; all we know is that they are poor and yet the process reveals how both the jurors and the audience project their prejudices onto that person.
In addition to unpacking the narrative, the workshop investigates the construction of characters and other dramatic elements, to present a reading of the play as a study in the power of language and one's ability to create persuasive arguments.
Bookings
Prices
$22 per student
$2200 min booking fee
Prices do not include GST
Running Times
2 hour Sessions
Medea
A woman in crisis is given an impossible choice, a god is insulted on earth and their vengeance shall be terrible to behold. If ancient Greek gods are reflections of human nature, then what do we learn about ourselves in viewing Medea and her story?
The revenge killing of her children strikes at symbols deeply rooted in our culture. Medea is a feminist hero - cutting off patriarchal power at its source; Jason's heirs? She is a demon witch and personification of the havoc wreaked by uncontrolled emotions? Only you can decide!
Bookings
Prices
$22 per student
$2200 min booking fee
Prices do not include GST
Running Times
2 hour Sessions