All seminars and events are free with advance registration. We welcome donations to help us continue to spread the love of Shakespeare throughout the community, with more programs for all ages. Please consider donating any amount now!

 Summer 2023

SHAKESPEARE ALOUD

Course description: Reading Shakespeare aloud is a very different experience than reading his plays silently in the mind. Shakespeare’s plays were made to be spoken, and this course aims for attendees to experience the plays aurally in new and exciting ways. This class has been very popular and is in its fourth year.

No experience required. Experts are welcome!

Twelfth Night or What You Will 

Tuesdays: June 13th, 20th, 27th 

5-6:30 pm

Location: Northampton Center for the Arts, 33 Hawley Street, Northampton MA

Actors’ company: Golden Age Shakespeare

Joseph Cardozo is an actor and musician based in Los Angeles, CA. He has performed on stages all
over the U.S. and has appeared in numerous films, commercials, and shorts. Favorite acting roles include Othello (Othello), Don Pedro (Much Ado About Nothing), Banquo (Macbeth), Miles (She Kills Monsters), and Baba Mati Singh
(The Fabulous Lipitones).

Hilary Dennis is a NY-based actor and producer. In 2019, she co-founded Elsewhere Shakespeare, a punk Shakespeare theatre company, and has co-produced and acted in Hamlet (Hamlet), King Lear (Cordelia/Fool), and an experimental tour of Twelfth Night (Viola). As an independent producer, she has raised over $30,000 to support her productions of Macbeth (Northampton Center for the Arts, MA) and Hamlet (La MaMa ETC, NYC). Her work strips away spectacle and focuses on the connection between actors, audience and the text. She has performed Shakespeare for the United Nations and used to be an organic farmer.

SHAKESPEARE IN TRANSLATION 

Conversational college-level French is required. The class will be conducted entirely in French. A bilingual text of Twelfth Night/La nuit des rois, ou Ce que vous voudrez, translated by Jean-Michel Déprats, will be provided to attendees. 

Course description: This class seeks to expose attendees to Shakespeare’s texts in translation. We will read selected passages closely as a group, addressing questions about the role of translation in disseminating Shakespeare’s works. How do we experience the text in another language? What is gained or lost in translation? How do translators choose their words? How can humor be translated? 

For those taking this class, it is strongly recommended to also attend Shakespeare Aloud on Mondays (if time permits).

Thursdays: June 15th, 22rd, 29th  and July 6th.

4-5:15 pm 

Online: Zoom 

SHAKESPEARE’S COMEDIES ON FILM 

Course Description: This course provides visual literacy by offering a range of Shakespearean productions for discussion. This summer, we will explore the difficulties of translating Shakespeare’s comedies from stage to film. We will watch The Globe production of Twelfth Night, comparing and contrasting it with film productions over the past hundred years. Questions we will tackle: What is gained and what is lost in this “translation” process as a text moves from one medium to another? How is humor translated from stage to screen?

“Twelfth Night” (1910) dir. Charles Kent-Silent film.

“Twelfth Night” (1933) dir. Orson Welles 

“Twelfth Night” (1988) dir. Kenneth Branagh

“Twelfth Night” (1996) dir. Trevor Nunn

“She’s the Man” (2006) dir. Andy Fickman

“Twelfth Night” (2018) dir. Adam Smethurst

Mondays: July 17th, 24th, 31stAugust 4th 

5-6:30 pm

Location: