The inaugural season of Shakespeare Academy @ Stratford, held at the White House on the Shakespeare Theatre grounds, was “fantastic” and “magical,” according to Director Colleen Sullivan.
Fifteen college students under the direction of four directors/teachers produced 12 performances of Shakespeare’s Hamlet and Cymbeline plus two Friday showings of the students’ other various talents — from July 1 through mid-August.
The Shakespeare Academy was created by Susan and Chris Rooney of Stratford, whose non-profit Mighty Quinn Foundation honors their son Quinn, a theater enthusiast who died of cancer at age 19.
The academy students studied Shakespeare, trained collaboratively in theater production and performed.
The White House venue, owned by the town of Stratford, had its first tenant in many years and was used for the study and training space, as well as for with offices and basic facilities. Most of the students slept at either the Rooneys’ home or at another house that was rented.
“Living and working together” in theater study and production “is very rare,” Sullivan said.
Hamlet was performed on the outdoor property with audiences up to 100, according to Chris Rooney, and Cymbeline was performed indoors with seating limited to 28. Rooney is asking the town for permission to use the lobby of the Shakespeare Theatre during next summer’s academy. He estimates there would be room there for up to about 70 viewers.
The White House was cleaned up, renovated and painted with combined efforts from Stratford Public Works and from Mighty Quinn. The house being a “fixer-upper” was one reason the town licensed the space to the academy for $1.
Sullivan called the space “scrappy,” which she liked. “There was not a lot of stuff” and no sound amplification, she said, which kept the focus of the work on the actors and the words.
The space “showed how Shakespeare can be done in a pure and simple way, which is beautiful to see,” Sullivan said. “It’s about the actors in the room.”
She said the space was “beautiful,” “comfortable” and “felt like a home.”
An Academy student backstage before entering a scene. Colleen Sullivan photo.
The collaborative “ensemble” approach of the academy called for the students and teachers to “work and solve problems together and to trust each other,” Sullivan said. “It is not easy to do.”
The students, who came from across the country, arrived with lines already memorized, which Sullivan said was so helpful because “there was so much to do, and a tremendous amount of homework.”
Chris Rooney called having the students pre-learn lines “a brilliant move” by Sullivan.
Sullivan and Rooney are looking ahead to season two for the academy. “It was a beautiful, magical experience,” Sullivan said. “As a teacher it was satisfying and moving; as a director it was creatively stimulating.”
Shakespeare Academy @ Stratford students practice Hamlet last month at the White House. Colleen Sullivan photo.
