Practical Shakespeare work for directors: how to read the text, how to run the room, and how to make confident choices under rehearsal pressure. A small, advanced cohort led by Emily as a working writer-director with Globe faculty experience.
The cohort is built around the practical problems directors face with Shakespeare: reading the text, making editorial choices, running text work with actors, and directing scenes with confidence. Four strands of work run across the programme.
How to read Shakespeare's verse, prose, and structure with a director's eye. What the text tells you about pacing, staging, character, and the shape of a scene before you enter the rehearsal room.
Navigating Folio, Quarto, and modern editions. How to make cuts, resolve textual questions, and arrive at a script that serves your production without losing what makes the play work.
Practical exercises and approaches for the rehearsal room. How to help actors find the action in the language, work with metre without making it mechanical, and build confidence with classical text.
How to make choices that honour the text and connect with a contemporary audience. Clarity, specificity, and emotional directness in production, whether on stage or screen.
Final pricing will be confirmed when the next intake is announced. The range reflects the small group size, the advanced level, and the duration of the programme.
The Director's Cohort applies the same method Emily uses across all her work, but from the other side of the table. The focus shifts from performing the text to directing it: how to read what Shakespeare built into the language, and how to help actors find it in the room.
Not necessarily. The cohort is for directors who are about to tackle Shakespeare or who want to deepen their practical confidence with the text. Some experience directing is expected, but prior Shakespeare-specific experience is not required.
Yes, provided you have some directing experience and are serious about the work. The cohort is small and advanced, but "advanced" refers to the level of engagement, not a career-stage requirement.
The Globe Studio runs in-person professional development for directors. This cohort is online, led by an individual practitioner (Emily), focused specifically on practical text work for the rehearsal room, and structured as a sustained multi-week engagement rather than a short intensive.
Dates will be announced when the next intake is confirmed. Register interest below to be notified first.
Register your interest and Emily will be in touch when the next intake is announced.
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