ARTFARM's Shakespeare Acting Laboratory: Scene Study

ARTFARM Artistic Director Marcella Trowbridge has a special knack for opening actors up to Shakespeare’s verse, and for using Shakespeare to help actors discover a deeper level of work. Participants in ARTFARM’s Shakespeare Acting Laboratory: Scene Study, which starts January 22, will get the opportunity to work with her in an intensive, small-group setting.

Shakespeare Acting Laboratory is open to experienced and aspiring actors age eighteen and over. The eight week class will meet Wednesdays, 7 – 9:30 pm from January 22 through March 12, culminating in an informal public presentation of Shakespeare scene work on March 12.

Last winter's Acting Laboratory students worked on Shakespeare monologs, but this year the focus will be on two and three person scenes from the Shakespeare canon. 

Known as both an exceptional performer of Shakespeare and a challenging acting coach, Marcella will lead participants in a focused exploration of Shakespeare from the actors’ point of view. The work will involve text analysis, developing emotional literacy and accessibility, voice and breath, physical training, improvisation and play. Students will progress from couplets to short monologs to scene work.

Marcella is the co-founder of ARTFARM and a classically trained actress who has appeared in New York, Los Angeles and Key West. Local audiences have seen her in many roles in ARTFARM’s Shakespeare in the Grove, including Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing, Katharina in Taming of the Shrew, Hermia in A Midsummer Night's Dream, and Lady Macbeth. 

Class participants will be invited to audition for this summer's Shakespeare in the Grove production of King Lear. Auditions will be held March 6 and 7.

Tuition for the Shakespeare Acting Laboratory is $250. The course will be held in Chapman Hall on the campus of Middlesex Community College in Middletown, but is an independent course offered by ARTFARM and not part of the College's course offerings. For more information, or to register, contact info@art-farm.org, call (860) 346-4390, or go to www.art-farm.org. Enrollment is limited to twelve.
Photo above by John Giammatteo shows Marcella Trowbridge as Lady Macbeth in ARTFARM's Shakespeare in the Grove.