Royal Shakespeare Company Residency at Montclair State University

The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) is arguably the world’s best-known theatre company, creating the finest experience of Shakespeare in performance and sharing it with the widest audience in the UK and around the world.

The College of the Arts is thrilled to announce a three-year pilot program with RSC Learning (RSC’s educational arm) that will pave the way to establishing a long-term partnership, aligning the two organizations’ mutual dedication to unlocking the transformative power of Shakespeare and theatre practice.

The “Takeover”

The ten-day residency has a focus on student artist development and will be led by three RSC practitioners: actors Ewa Dina and Emma Manton and director Aaron Parsons.

The “takeover,” as RSC refers to it, puts on hold the regularly scheduled classes in the Theatre programs and substitutes with a series of “Shakespeare Gym” masterclasses for acting and musical theatre students, a series of practical classes with students exploring key aspects of verse speaking, a rehearsal project leading to a script-in-hand performance of Richard III, and a series of seminars with Theatre Studies students.

Public On-Campus Events

• Screening of the RSC production The Tempest, introduced by Emma Manton. September 8, 2023, at 6:00 PM in the SCM Presentation Hall
• A discussion with Ewa, Emma, and Aaron on the RSC approach to classical texts. September 11, 2023, at 6:00 PM in the SCM Presentation Hall
• A student script-in-hand performance of Richard III developed during the takeover. September 15, 2023, at 3:00 PM in Memorial Auditorium