Arne Zaslove leads workshops designed to help actors and directors (from student to professional) mine the riches of Shakespeare's text.

"The inventive Arne Zaslove is at it again, forming a unilateral partnership with Shakespeare and launching a sort of cultural exchange program between his time and ours."
-- Journal-American

   A Midsummer Night's Dream

Divining Shakespeare Presentation (3 hours)

Zaslove introduces principles of scansion, sound and imagery in Shakespeare, then demonstrates by coaching student actors in performing some of the great passages from beloved plays.

Divining Shakespeare Workshop

Zaslove spends 90 minutes presenting the nuts and bolts of how Shakespeare constructed a speech. Then 2 hours are devoted to coaching participating actors in their prepared speeches or scenes. This coaching session can be planned to follow immediately after presentation, for a half-day workshop. Or it can be scheduled a week or more later to allow time for actors to use the tools presented to them in rehearsal, before receiving coaching.

• Learn how the rhythm of the heartbeat pulses through Shakespeare's verse


• Experience how Shakespeare links sounds and images to evoke emotion in actor and audience alike


• Observe how the "magical" characters rise above everyday speech into rhyming verse, incantation and finally song


• Eavesdrop on the rehearsal process, watch how the director's coaching helps the actor build to a polished performance


• Come away with the tools to mine the riches in Shakespeare's language

Those for whom the Bard is still a stranger will begin an acquaintance on friendly and comfortable terms. Those who already know and love him will deepen their passion through learning some of the master's secrets.

We are lucky that the world's greatest playwright and poet wrote in English. And the ever-renewing popularity of Shakespeare on film proves that the Bard is a man for our time. Arne Zaslove has been proving it for years with long-running hit productions: of a '50s rock 'n' roll Midsummer Night's Dream, a Cole Porter and Gershwin-soaked Twelfth Night, a wild west Macbeth, a Coney Island Comedy of Errors, Othello set at a U.S. Marine base and many more. Each of these productions has made Shakespeare accessible to audiences of all ages - without changing a word of the original text.

Divining Shakespeare is not an academic workshop. It is an insider's look at how theatre professionals plumb the depths of Shakespeare's language. It is a chance to savor, be entertained, and learn to divine the mysteries of the world's greatest playwright.

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