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Upcoming Performances
July 15, 2023
July 22 – August 27, 2023
August 01 – September 10, 2023Menu
Riotous Youth
Program Dates
January 3 to 29, 2023
Arrival: Monday, January 2 Departure: Monday, January 30
Tuition Fees
$975 USD
Early payment discount: Pay the full tuition by October 15 and save $600.
These fun and inspiring 1-, 2- and 3-week summer theater programs introduce students ages 6 to 17 to Shakespeare’s language, his stories, characters, and themes using imaginative and playful methods. Riotous Company is a more advanced 3-week program for high school students.
Scroll down to see Summer Program Dates and Information.
To Enroll your student into our Summer 2023 Riotous Youth Program, follow the RED APPLY NOW button to the right.
To Make a Balance Due Payment for an enrolled student, follow the RED MAKE A PAYMENT button to the right.
“Riotous Youth is one of the best summer camps in the region. My kids love ‘the awesome teachers who make it really fun and include everyone’. As a parent, I love that they teach the kids to really understand the Shakespeare play performed, and perhaps most importantly, I love seeing the clear confidence boost my kids gain by the end of camp.” -Riotous Youth Parent, Summer 2017
2023 Riotous Youth
2-Week Program for Ages 7–15
July 3 – August 14
The Riotous Youth program is designed to introduce young actors to the language, stories, characters, and ideas in Shakespeare’s plays in imaginative and playful ways. Classes incorporating voice, movement, and acting enable students to explore Shakespeare’s text emotionally, physically, and intellectually. Students will then create a performance piece based on their experience of the play, which they will share with family, friends, and Company members on the final day of the session.
*In order to participate in Riotous Youth your child must have at least one year of full day school.
Riotous Youth Schedule
A Midsummer Night’s Dream: July 3–14
Session A: 7–9 years
Session B: 10–12 years – SESSION FULL, WAIT LIST ONLY
Session C: 13–15 years
Hamlet: July 17–28
Session D: 7–9 years – SESSION FULL, WAIT LIST ONLY
Session E:10–12 years – SESSION FULL, WAIT LIST ONLY
Session F: 13–15 years – SESSION FULL, WAIT LIST ONLY
As You Like It: July 31–August 11
Session G: 7-9 years – SESSION FULL, WAIT LIST ONLY
Session H:10-12 years – SESSION FULL, WAIT LIST ONLY
Session I: 13-15 years
TUITION
2 Week Riotous Youth Session: $800
The Game's Afoot!
1-Week Program for Ages 7–12
August 14–18
August 14–18
A fast-paced one week exploration of Shakespeare’s Characters as they clash their way through raucous friendships and royal responsibilities. Using text and characters from Henry V.
TUITION
1-Week Riotous Youth Session: $425
Riotous Company
July 31–August 18
for High School Students
This 3-week advanced program is designed to provide an opportunity for young actors to take the next step in their training. Actors who are heading into 9th-12th grade who have participated in Riotous Youth for at least two sessions, or have equivalent experience in other Shakespeare & Company Education Programs, are eligible to apply.
Classes may include: ensemble building, voice, movement, clown, fight, and acting. At the end of the three weeks they will perform scenes chosen specifically for them from a number of Shakespeare’s plays.
TUITION
Riotous Company: $975
Financial Aid
Financial assistance is available. Please contact mmarchione@shakespeare.org to find out more.
Riotous Youth Information & Required Forms
Medical Emergency Form
General Release Form
Due to limited availability this summer, multiple sessions and / or siblings need to be enrolled separately. Thank you for your patience!
General Release Form
Due to limited availability this summer, multiple sessions and / or siblings need to be enrolled separately. Thank you for your patience!
Contact Information
Please contact Megan Marchione at mmarchione@shakespeare.org or call (413) 637-1199 ext. 172 with any questions.
Course Gallery
About the Tour
.01 Linklater Voice
The full progression of Kristin Linklater’s approach to voice training for actors is taught during the four weeks by Designated Linklater voice teachers. In addition to daily classes in Linklater, voice teachers regularly join in text classes and offer specialized classes to help participants integrate the voice work into their scenes.
.02 Movement
The movement progression includes Pure Movement (Swings), Alexander Technique, physical expressivity, and dance. Participants will be guided through exercises to promote awareness of (and release from) habitual body tension, sensitivity to impulse, dynamic physical presence and stamina, delight in moving with passion and precision, and ensemble.
.03 Text Work
Basics introduces the actor to a text approach which demands an open and personal commitment to thought, word, and gesture. Basics evolves into scene work, first through Dropping In (an approach to experiencing the text on a word-by-word basis) and into text analysis and detailed scene work. Classes in Sonnet and Structure of the Verse round out the text progression, allowing actors to merge their personal connection with the form of Shakespeare’s language.
.04 Actor/Audience Relationship
The participant is invited to explore the Elizabethan world of Actor/Audience Relationship—a theatrical reality without a fourth wall, in which the immediate energy of the audience fuels the actor to reveal a deeper level of truth and experience, which in turns enkindles the audience’s ability to receive Shakespeare’s language.
.05 Clown & Stage Fight
The participant is invited to explore the Elizabethan world of Actor/Audience Relationship—a theatrical reality without a fourth wall, in which the immediate energy of the audience fuels the actor to reveal a deeper level of truth and experience, which in turns enkindles the audience’s ability to receive Shakespeare’s language.
Tuition
Full course tuition is
$4,875 USD
- Early payment discount: Pay the full tuition by October 15 and save $600.
A limited number of scholarships are available for People of the Global Majority/BIPOC artists from the Dennis Krausnick Fellowship Fund. Application and audition video due by October 15. Contact us for more information.
You will learn:
- A deeper connection of the body and voice when acting on stage
- Confidence to be fully present on stage when speaking Shakespeare's language
- An understanding of the forms and structures that support the actor’s emotional, visceral and cognitive imagination
- The skills necessary to authentically deliver Shakespeare’s language with accuracy, specificity, and clarity of thought
- A renewed trust in yourself as a theatre artist
