Shakespeare!
An 8 week advanced course on improvising plays in the style of Shakespeare!
With James Irving from Impromptu Shakespeare and Dreamweaver Quartet. Impromptu Shakespeare improvise an entirely new and improvised Shakespeare play every show. Impromptu Shakespeare are currently touring the UK including the Edinburgh Fringe this summer.
William Shakespeare: the bard, England’s national poet, the world’s greatest dramatist. Surely you can’t just ‘make up’ Shakespeare? You absolutely can and it’s beautiful and hilarious in equal measure.
Together as a team you’ll be exploring topics like style, language, narrative, Shakespearean characters, word-play, sonnets, iambic pentameter, poetry, metaphor, tragedy, comedy and more.
We’ll be exploring Shakespeare’s plays and characters and using them to inspire new scenes and stories to help you uncover your inner Bard.
Most of all – it is going to be loads of fun improvising in the style of Shakespeare!
An advanced course suitable for people with previous long-form experience.
next available dates:
Dates: Every Thursday for 8 weeks from Thursday 15th September 2022. SOLD OUT
Time: 7pm – 9pm each week.
Teacher: James Irving.
Price: £225. Either payable all at once or £100 at time of booking and £125 when the course starts.
Venue: Theatre Delicatessen Studios, 107 Leadenhall Street, EC3A 4AF.
Tubes: Bank, Liverpool Street, Fenchurch Street, Aldgate.
An advanced course suitable for people with previous long-form experience.
James Irving
James is a member of Impromptu Shakespeare who improvise an entirely new and improvised Shakespeare play every show. Impromptu Shakespeare are currently touring the UK including the Edinburgh Fringe this summer.
“They pull a seemingly authentic Bard play out of thin air!”
Fringe Review
“I’m still not sure how they did what they did. The play was so slick and hilarious, I forgot for moments that it was improvised.”
Pocket Size Theatre
“Ingenious and very funny.”
Will Gompertz – BBC Arts Editor
James Irving trained at Royal Central School of Speech and Drama and is a principal Baritone for Grim’s Dyke Opera.
He improvises in The Bumper Blyton Improvised Adventure, sings with musical ensembles Dreamweaver Quartet and The Concept and creates short absurdist plays and podcasts in duo James & I. He’s a founding member of Classic Andy and guests with international group Improbiotics Ltd.
faqs
Who is this suitable for?
People who have done long-form improv before and want to explore how to improvised in the style of Shakespeare.
How much improv or acting should I have done before doing this course?
Ideally at least our level 4 course or a similar amount of long-form improv somewhere else. This course is not suitable for people totally new to improv or acting.
What comes after this course?
We have a variety of other advanced improv courses that would be suitable with themes like Story, Musicals, Harold, Deconstruction and more.
What’s the class size?
Limited to 15 people.
Is there an end of course show?
No. We want to focus on Shakespeare and we've found the pressure of doing a show on top could be too much. However if you want to form a show group from the course we will be happy to accommodate this and have slots available at our Saturday pre-party shows for new groups.
Can I transfer to this course from an online booking or a different course?
Yes. We don't have the tech on our website for you to do this automatically, but email [email protected] if you would like to do this and we will move your booking and payment over and refund you any difference.
What if I’m running late?
We’ll be starting each session at 7pm. This is an advanced course and we’re trying to form a team, so please don’t book this course if you are likely to be late on a regular basis.
What if I can't make all of the sessions?
This is an advanced course so please don't book if you are likely to miss more than one session over the course.