"I have touched the highest point of all my greatness"
- King Henry VIII
This Summer, Tennessee Shakespeare Company
launched it’s inaugural Young Company.
For serious actors ages 18-24, this two-week intensive thrust participants into the world of Tennessee Shakespeare Company's classical playing of Shakespeare. TSC actor-teachers led players through a rigorous process to enhance their essential acting techniques while inspiring personal ownership of Shakespeare's text.The professional level training included sessions in Elizabethan Dance and Movement, Unarmed and Quarterstaff Stage Combat, Voice Technique, Text Work, Soliloquy, and Scene Play, all incorporating the same methods used by TSC professionals.
Here's what some of our players wanted to share about their experience:
“It’s two weeks of getting to know yourself through Shakespeare. It’s finding your strengths and building them, it’s finding your weakness and making it your strength. It’s having fun with people who are passionate about their craft. It’s heart work.”
- Edna Dinwiddie, 22 years old
“I learned Shakespeare is all about play and all about me. It’s not scary and serious like people tend to think it is, and it’s not about perfectly portraying classic characters based on a set standard, but about how you bring YOU to that classic character.”
– Lena Wallace, 21 years old
“The attention that every actor received and the size were perfect for this. Each of us was challenged at our current level and received what we needed most.”
– Jason Gerhard, 23 years old
“I was amazed at how close the stories are to my own life. I feel like I’ve made years of progress in two weeks.”
–Jason Hansen, 24 years old
“A training intensive that revolutionized my skills as a player and changed me as a person as well.”
– Rachel Krueger, 20 years old
“The most beneficial acting experience of my life; I have gained more in two weeks than I have in 3 years in college.”
– Adam Maldanado, 21 years old
For more information about our training programs, please contact TSC's Education Manger Slade Kyle at
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
or 901-759-0604.
Specialty license plate sales in Tennessee support ArtsMemphis through the Tennessee Arts Commission. To Join Tennesseans for the Arts and advocate for the arts click here.
