Our classes for youth are paused for Fall 2023 while the Education team develops some new school-based offerings (including classroom workshops, residency projects, and touring performances). Watch this space, we are preparing new options ahead for 2024!
Please contact us to tell us about the kinds of opportunities you’re seeking and to make sure you are on our announcement list for mail and/or email about future programs. Email: ArtsDiscovery@peopleslight.org
Our rehearsal rooms and professional teaching artists provide a supportive environment where we build curiosity and community! New projects, collaborators, and viewpoints bring inspiration and energy into each week.
“So, what play are you doing in class?”
It’s not quite that simple! The majority of our classes incorporate multiple tools for creating theatre; they always include performance skills, but may also expand into student playwriting, directing and devising, movement stories, or other ways to create and communicate. Rather than only training actors who memorize and follow a director’s instruction, we seek to inspire whole-body theatre-makers who are empowered to practice many aspects of expressing themselves and sharing stories with others.
Our regular classes are grouped by age, and include a variety of exercises and projects to develop story-building, character work, improvisation, voice, movement, focus, and ensemble. Different methods inspire different artists, and we invite students to use many approaches within each class to stretch and discover new skills.
Not sure if a class is the right fit? We’re always happy to discuss your interests and answer questions. Email ArtsDiscovery@peopleslight.org or call 610-647-1900 x 187.
Fall 2023
Eight Monday evenings: October 2-November 20
6:30-9pm
Registration $450
Early Registration $410 if enrolled by Wednesday, Sept 6.
Registration deadline: September 22
Director and teacher Charles Conwell will lead a small class (10 participant maximum) through a rehearsal process for soliloquies and scenes. Class will include attention to verse and textual analysis as it informs the process of exploring and investing in a role. While this class will welcome students at many levels, we recommend that all participants have had some prior experience with acting – though not necessarily with Shakespeare –to participate fully. (Not sure if class is a fit? Feel free to contact us to discuss!) Students will be asked to memorize their assigned excerpts in order to move deeper into their performance tools.
All participants are asked to come to first class having either read or watched Hamlet in preparation. Filmed versions suggested for discussion include:
Mel Gibson (Chester County Library System), David Tennant (CCLS), Kenneth Branagh (CCLS and YouTube), Christopher Plummer (CCLS and YouTube), Andrew Scott (YouTube), or Richard Burton (YouTube)
People’s Light’s current health and safety protocols for Theatre School include:
- Masks are currently optional for students and staff.
- Students may bring water bottles to class, but no other food or drink is permitted in class.
- Staff and student participants are asked to self-screen for COVID symptoms prior to attending.
- Our safety protocols and others are reviewed regularly as guidelines and local data continue to change.
Please email us at ArtsDiscovery@peopleslight.org, or call 610.647.1900 ext. 137.
To see our refund policy, CLICK HERE.
