Education Unlimited - academic summer camps and pre-college summer programs

Ashland Shakespeare Seminar: A Midsummer Over-Night’s Dream

At the Ashland Shakespeare Seminar, high school students have an exclusive opportunity to discuss performances of plays by one of the world’s greatest playwrights at the world-famous Oregon Shakespeare Festival. For aspiring high school writers, actors, and students who just love great art and literature, this seminar allows participants to live and study together in the town of Ashland, Oregon, famous for its artistic community. Before a backdrop of picturesque rolling hills, first-class instructors in Drama and Literature guide students in critical reading, artistic performance, and textual analysis. Students will attend professional performances almost nightly; they will meet directors and discuss choices ranging from casting to costume design; and they will create lifelong memories with friends who share their passion for the dramatic arts.

Watch World-class Theater Over the course of six days, students will see four plays: three by Shakespeare and one modern classic. This year, the Oregon Shakespeare Festival will produce A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Othello, The Comedy of Errors, and modern Pclassics such as Arthur Miller’s A View From the Bridge and Thornton Wilder’s Our Town. Several post-show talks with performers and directors will provide students an opportunity to see the combination of analytical and imaginative thought that goes into making successful theater. In addition to live performances, videos of other stage performances and film adaptations will help students consider the kind of critical and aesthetic thinking that goes into the creative process.

Read and Analyze Great Works Daily classes consist of dissecting plays, discussing Elizabethan theater practices, and considering the artistic and technical choices of directors. Analyzing both texts and specific moments in performances, we will consider important questions that go straight to the heart of representation and performance, such as: How do different design choices affect the meaning of a play? How does theatrical performance make us feel emotions, think through ideas, or perceive the world around us differently? What is the difference between seeing a story performed live and seeing a filmed version? What is the point of theater - entertainment, enlightenment, or, as Hamlet says, holding “a mirror up to nature?” Students will explore these questions through a series of inspiring creative exercises.

Learn the Art of Performance and Artistic Direction In addition to acting exercises designed to help students understand the rhythm and power of Shakespeare’s language, students will also have the chance to propose ideas for their own productions and design sets and costumes. Aspiring writers and actors - as well as philosophers, fashion designers, teachers, and directors - will find their time here invaluable and unforgettable.

Make the Most of Your Summer This program is highly recommended as an added week to either the California Actors Workshop or the Emerging Writer’s Institute. For an additional fee, and if student interest warrants, chaperoned transportation will most likely be offered from the California Actors Workshop to the Ashland Shakespeare Seminar. Contact our office for information about this transportation option.