ARTFARM's Shakespeare Acting Laboratory starts February 12

Middletown-based theater company ARTFARM is offering an eight week Shakespeare Acting Laboratory with Artistic Director and co-founder Marcella Trowbridge starting February 12. The Laboratory, intended for adult performers 18 and over, will be an intensive exploration of Shakespeare from the actors’ point of view.

The course will meet Tuesday evenings, 7 – 9 pm, from February 12 through April 2, culminating in a “Shakespeare Share” on April 2.

Known as both an exceptional performer of Shakespeare and a peerless acting coach, Marcella will lead participants in comprehensive training involving text analysis, emotional literacy, voice and breath, physical skills, improvisation and play. Actors will work alone and together on couplets, monologues and scenes.

ARTFARM has been presenting live professional Shakespeare performances in Middletown since 2006 through “Shakespeare in the Grove”, produced annually outdoors on the campus of Middlesex Community College. During that time, Marcella has appeared as Hermia in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Lady Macbeth in Macbeth and Katarina in The Taming of the Shrew, as well as directing Twelfth Night and Shakespeare’s Argument. Prior to co-founding ARTFARM, she accumulated extensive performing credits on both U.S. coasts, including Adriana in A Comedy of Errors, Isabella in Measure for Measure and Paulina in A Winter’s Tale.

Photo by Matthew Kabel of Marcella a
Katharina in "The Taming of the Shrew"

Marcella was a founding member of NY’s Greenwood Theater Company, was educated at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, was a member of the Los Angeles’ Twelfth Night Repertory Company, was a featured player for several seasons at Key West’s Red Barn Theater and spent nearly a decade in artistic leadership at Oddfellows Playhouse in Central CT.   

ARTFARM’s Shakespeare Acting Laboratory is a part of “Shakespeare on Campus”, a six month collaboration between ARTFARM and Middlesex Community College designed to bring Shakespeare to both the campus and the general public. The course is an “ARTFARM at MxCC” event, but it is not part of MxCC’s course offerings. “Shakespeare on Campus” will culminate in the Shakespeare in the Grove production of “Much Ado About Nothing” July 18 – 28, featuring Marcella in the role of Beatrice. "Shakespeare on Campus” is partially funded by the Connecticut Office of the Arts. 

The Shakespeare Acting Laboratory will be held in Room 808, Chapman Hall, on the Middlesex Community College campus, 100 Training Hill Road, Middletown, CT.  Tuition for the eight week course is $250. Some work to study/play is available. Please inquire, if aid is needed.

For information, or to register, contact ARTFARM at (860) 346-4390 or info@art-farm.org.