Build on the skills developed in Class BASH'd, perfecting your audition technique and applying new skills to scene-work and cold reads.
In weekend one, you will bring in a prepared monologue, which will be polished and made audition-ready. From there, we'll move-on to one of the most daunting parts of an audition: cold reading classical text. We'll explore techniques and tips for approaching a cold-read, offering new-found confidence in this tricky skill.

In weekend two, we'll move-on to the rehearsal process, applying our previously explored skills to scene-work. Each actor will be cast in a scene and will rehearse and be directed in that scene, both privately and with the full group.

At the end of the weekend, each actor will have the skills needed to nail the audition and feel prepared and confident during the rehearsal process.

(Full schedule outline is below)

* This class is geared towards actors who have previously taken Class BASH'd, or have extensive experience performing classical theatre.

Dates:
November 6, 7, 13, 14
1pm to 5pm EST each day, online.

Cost:
Sliding scale - $150, $100, $75, or $50
Once you're accepted into the class, you'll be able to choose a price point that works for you.

We're also offering a number of free spots in the class, priority will be given to IBPOC (Indigenous, Black, and People of Colour), transgender, non-binary, two-spirit, genderqueer, and otherwise gender-divergent actors.

To register, complete the online application form. After your application is accepted, you'll be sent payment information, if applicable.

Fill out the form below for both paid and free spots in the class:
Class Schedule Outline (approximate):

Day One:
  • Present your prepared monologue and receive notes and redirects (monologue should be off-book and have initial work completed - can be a monologue previously worked in Class BASH'd or something else)
  • Receive sides from a play, and do cold-reads (after a short chat with your scene partner), in the style of an audition, receiving feedback and redirects
Day Two:
  • Lesson: Scene Techniques (types of scenes; types of language; breaking down status; breaking down scene into units and how it differs from monologue units)
  • As a group, we'll work through some large scenes, applying our new techniques and language
  • Everyone will be assigned their scene for next weekend
  • Read through everyone's scenes as a group, offering context and answering questions
Day Three:
  • Work with your partner on your scene, breaking it down and preparing it based on the techniques previously explored (James and Julia will visit and offer ideas/answer questions)
  • Present the scene, receiving feedback
  • Work each scene, as a group, with ideas and feedback from the full class
Day Four:
  • Return to private work with your scene partner, building on the notes and ideas from yesterday
  • Share your scene, with feedback from James, Julia, and the class
  • Receive a new cold-read scene and prepare with a new partner
  • Share your first go at your new cold-read scene, using everything you learned over the last two weeks.
About James Wallis:
​
James is the Co-Founder and Co-Artistic Director of Shakespeare BASH’d. For BASH’d, James has played the title roles in Hamlet, Richard III, Petruchio in The Taming of the Shrew, and Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing. With BASH’d, James directed twelve productions and staged readings, including Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth, Othello, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Also, James has been the co-instructor for their audition/acting workshop called Class BASH’d, the co-instructor of The Play’s the Thing: Shakespeare for Everyone, and the co-instructor of BASH’d Book Buds, an early modern play reading group.
 
James has spent four seasons at the Stratford Festival. He was a member of the Michael Langham Workshop for Classical Directing in 2016/2017 assistant directing Macbeth with director Antoni Cimolino (2016), the world premiere of Bunny by Hannah Moscovitch, directed by Sarah Stanley (2016), Romeo and Juliet (2017) and Julius Caesar (2018) directed by Scott Wentworth. Also, James was the text coach and assistant director of the production The Winter’s Tale in the Birmingham Conservatory for Classical Acting, directed by Jonathan Goad (2018). This summer he co-curated and co-directed Play On! A Shakespeare Inspired Mix-Tape at the Stratford Festival.
 
His other directing credits include: As You Like It (Theatre by the Bay), reasons to be pretty (Labute Cycle), Shakespeare in Hospitals (Spur of the Moment Shakespeare Collective), Titus Andronicus (Hart House Theatre), Antony and Cleopatra (Secret Shakespeare Project), Scenes from The Tempest (Playing for Free), Henry IV Part 1 and 2 (Theatre Erindale), The Tom and Gertie Letters Project (Springworks Festival), Romeo and Juliet and Joni (Workshop Production), Pygmalion, The Duchess of Malfi, and The Revenger’s Tragedy (Ryerson Theatre School).
 
James has been an instructor of classical, contemporary, and Shakespearean acting at Ryerson University, U of T Mississauga, and Randolph College for the Performing Arts.
About Julia Nish-Lapidus:

​Julia is a director, actor, and producer with extensive knowledge of classical text. In addition to her work with Shakespeare BASH'd, Julia has worked with the Stratford Festival, Shakespeare in Action, Theatre by the Bay, Randolph College, Ryerson University, and Canadian Stage.

After falling in love with Shakespeare at the age of ten, Julia has spent her life studying the works of the Bard, with a focus on Shakespearean text (even studying grammar in university to better understand the language). 

In 2010, she co-founded Shakespeare BASH'd with her husband James, and went on to produce all of the company's sold-out productions.  She has worked as the Managing Director of Common Boots Theatre and as part of the team at The Theatre Centre. She was a member of the Michael Langham Workshop for Classical Directing at the Stratford Festival in 2019, acting as the Assistant Director on Private Lives and returned as Assistant Director on All's Well That Ends Well, and as co-facilitator of the WordPlay series in the Forum (cut short due to the pandemic). This summer she co-curated and co-directed Play On! A Shakespeare Inspired Mix-Tape at the Stratford Festival.

For Shakespeare BASH'd, Julia has directed Cymbeline, Richard III, The Comedy of Errors, and the staged reading of The Duchess of Malfi. She has also performed in many BASH'd productions, including The Taming of the Shrew, Romeo & Juliet, Macbeth, The Merry Wives of Windsor, Hamlet, Twelfth Night, and Volpone (staged reading). 

Selected Additional Credits: 3Tempests (Shakespeare in Action), The Duchess of Malfi, The Revenger’s Tragedy (Co-Director, Ryerson Theatre School); The Tom & Gertie Letters Project (Co-Director, SpringWorks), Talk to Me Like the Rain and Let Me Listen, This Property is Condemned (Director, The Playwright Project), Modern Love (Co-Creator, Next Stage), As You Like It (Text Coach, Theatre By the Bay), Titus Andronicus (Text Coach, Hart House), and as an actor OVER, See Bob Run (Theatre Caravel), reasons to the pretty (The Labute Cycle), The Forest (Red One Theatre Collective), Dublin Carol (Fly on the Wall).​ ​

Julia is a a graduate of the joint acting program at UofT and Sheridan College, a member of the Advisory Board for the Canadian Stage GYM program, and a current participant in the Michael Langham Workshop for Classical Direction at the Stratford Festival.