Eight to ten weeks inside one play. A sustained, detailed engagement with a single Shakespeare text for working actors and serious trainees. Small group, capped places, coached by Emily through the full arc of the play.
The cohort works through one play from beginning to end. The structure follows five strands of work that run across the full duration, not a fixed weekly syllabus. Emily shapes the emphasis week by week based on the play and the group.
Context, structure, and the questions the play is asking. What kind of world Shakespeare built, what rules it runs on, and what that means for the actors inside it.
Following the logic of each scene: what characters want, how they pursue it, and where the argument turns. Finding the playable action underneath the language.
Building specific, grounded characters from the text. How relationships shift across the play, and how to track those shifts in performance rather than in theory.
Working with metre, structure, and rhetorical strategy as tools for acting, not rules to obey. How verse supports emotional truth and how to let it do its work.
Making the text land for a contemporary audience. How to bring clarity, specificity, and emotional directness to canonical material without flattening what makes it Shakespeare.
This is not a survey of Shakespeare's greatest hits. It is weeks inside one text, with a coach who knows the play and knows how to make it work for modern actors. You leave with a detailed, practical understanding of a canonical play and the confidence to bring that depth into an audition room, a rehearsal, or a production.
Every session in this cohort is built around the same approach Emily uses across all her work: a modern, actor-first way of working with Shakespeare that helps performers make the text playable, specific, and alive in the room. The depth of the Deep-Dive gives more time to apply the method to a full play rather than individual speeches.
The play is announced ahead of each intake. It may align with a current RSC or Globe season so the work has live relevance, or it may be chosen for its depth and teaching value. Play selection to be confirmed by Emily
No. Prior familiarity helps but is not required. What matters is that you are ready to engage with a full text at depth over several weeks. This is not an introductory Shakespeare course.
The Classical Audition Cohort is six weeks focused on preparing audition speeches. The Deep-Dive is longer, covers an entire play, and is built for actors who want sustained canonical engagement rather than audition-specific outcomes.
No. The cohort builds cumulatively through the play. Late entry would disrupt the arc of the work.
Sessions are live and not recorded. Consistent attendance is expected. Let Emily know in advance if you will miss a session. Absence policy to be confirmed by Emily
Yes. You will be reading and working on the play between sessions. The group time is for coached scene work and analysis, not first encounters with the text.
Places are limited and offered by application. Join the waitlist to be notified when the next play and dates are announced.
Apply for the next cohort Back to Train with Emily