"Before Class BASH'd, the thought of walking into an audition with a Shakespeare monologue turned my stomach. Through their comprehensive text analysis techniques and energetic rehearsal prompts, I discovered a greater trust in my work and abilities. I now look forward to Shakespeare monologue auditions as valuable opportunities to deepen my relationship with the text."
- Carling Tedesco, 2021 participant

Join us for an online edition of Class BASH'd!
Spend two weekends delving into classical text and walk away with two new audition pieces ​and lots of useful tools for text work.

In week one, you will bring in a new monologue that you'd like to work on. After spending the weekend exploring this monologue with James, Julia, and the rest of the class, the BASH'd team will personally select a monologue for you, which you will explore in week two. At the end of the class, you'll have two new pieces ready for auditions.

Plus, each student will receive a complimentary 30 minute coaching session with James and Julia to be used after the class.

Due to popular demand, a new session has been added!
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Dates:
October 16, 17, 23, 24
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-diverse 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:
About James Wallis:
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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.