This workshop is geared toward giving you the tools and concepts you need to read and understand the work of William Shakespeare.

If you’ve ever felt like the language in Shakespeare’s plays has gone totally over your head, this is the class for you. We will focus on three main components—verse, antithesis, argument—that are crucial to unlocking Shakespeare’s work, giving you the confidence you need to read and enjoy these plays on your own.

The class will revolve around the reading of Richard III. Week one will include a crash course in all things Shakespeare. Each subsequent week will be devoted to an act of the play, giving us ample time to work through the text.

In order to successfully grasp the language and concepts without all the pressure, this class will require your participation. Think of it as a hybrid English seminar and theatre workshop, with intellectual and practical approaches to the text.

Each student will be required to secure a copy of Richard III. Feel free to use any edition of the text; a variety of translations are welcome, and all make for useful discourse around meaning and language. Traci will be teaching from a Pelican Shakespeare edition.