Shakespeare Summer Intensive for teens 2024
After last year’s success, Theater in the Rough is thrilled to announce the second year of our Shakespeare Intensive for teens: a summer theater course for English-speakers ages 14-17 (going into 9th-12th grade).
The three-week course will culminate in an outdoor presentation of Shakespeare’s most famous play, Hamlet, while emphasizing ensemble work and creative collaboration within a supportive, fun, and age-appropriate learning environment.
Space is limited! Sign up now, or leave your details and we’ll get back to you about any questions.
Veteran theater artist and educator Maya Blank (Portia in 2022’s The Merchant of Venice) and seasoned director and educator Yam Drori (co-director of our summer Shakespeare productions), will return to facilitate the intensive, along with crack musician and one-man-band Uri Sharlin as Musical Director, and other guest teaching artists.
Through theater exercises, rehearsals, special workshops, and lectures, participants will become familiar with all aspects of the theater production and will explore:
- 🤡 Theatrical clown
- 🤼♂️ Stage fighting
- 🗣️ Using your voice onstage
- 📜 Making Shakespearean text understandable
- 🌍 What was Shakespeare’s world like?
- 🤸♂️ Movement and physical theater
- 🏞️ Site specific theater
- 👥 Teamwork and working as an ensemble
- 🎭 Character building
- 🌿 Ecological costume design
Dates
July 28 to August 18
Monday-Thursday, 10:00-16:00 (15 days total, excluding August 13, Tisha B’av)
Mostly indoors with outdoor activities, in Baka, Jerusalem
* The program does not include meals or bussing
August 19-20, in the evening
Two outdoor performances of Hamlet
At an outdoor location in Jerusalem
Tuition
Full tuition: ₪2,800
Early bird discount (signup before May 28): ₪2,500
Testimonials from parents
“This was a fabulous experience for our son and we are so grateful to everyone who helped make it happen. He gained and grew tremendously from the work on the play.”
“The summer theater camp was such a bright moment for our daughter – from the intellectual, social and emotional perspectives she gained so much.”
“Thanks so much for this! Our son had a great time over the summer. It was so good for him and in fact, he was quite happy as he was the only kid in his theater class the other day that could answer ‘who was William Shakespeare’!”
Questions?
Have any questions? Leave your details here and Program Director Maya Blank will get in touch:
Gallery
Photos: Michael Sager and David Schlacht
Team
Maya Blank (Program Director). Maya is a theater artist and educator who directed last year’s Shakespaere Camp, and was thrilled to play Portia in Theater in the Rough’s recent production of The Merchant of Venice. Maya completed her theater studies at the prestigious Thelma Yellin School of the Arts, has a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and Media Studies from Hunter College and a Master’s degree in Special Education from Columbia University’s Teachers College. Living and working in New York City for many years, Maya founded Play Me a Story, a musical storytelling theater company for children. Play Me a Story was warmly received at prestigious NYC establishments such as the Museum of Jewish Heritage, Central Park, Brooklyn Botanic Garden, Battery Park, the 14th Street Y and many more. In New York, Maya also participated in the Lincoln Center Advanced Teaching Artist Program.
In Israel. Maya performed and directed at prominent venues such as the National Habimah Theater and the Suzannne Dellal Center. Throughout the years, Maya developed programming in Arts Education and has led countless theater and puppetry workshops and courses for children of all ages. Since moving back to Israel Maya has also become a forest educator facilitating exploration and connection with Nature through outdoor classes and gatherings for youth.
Space is limited! Sign up now, or leave your details and we’ll get back to you about any questions.
Yam Drori (Assistant Program Director). Yam has been a Shakespeare geek since she could remember! Yam joined Theater in the Rough in 2018, working as co-director on a variety of classical and contemporary productions, including the summer Shakespeare performances and last year’s Shakespeare Camp. In 2021, she co-created the performance Botanic Chorus, a site-specific promenade performance for the Jerusalem Botanic Gardens.
Yam has a BA and MFA in Theater Arts from Tel Aviv University, where she worked as a teacher’s assistant, teaching a lab on Greek drama. She is a graduate of the theater program at the Shlomi Center for Alternative Theater, where she also worked as a production assistant and creator on different projects. Between 2017-2018, Yam was the head producer of the Tmu-na Fringe Theater in Tel Aviv. In addition, she has worked as assistant director, actress, dramaturg, acting coach and movement consultant on a variety of productions over the years.
Uri Sharlin (Musical Director) You might have seen Uri playing songs and creating sound effects during last year’s final presentation! Uri is an Israeli composer and touring multi-instrumentalist. In New York, his home of many years, Uri joined forces with prominent musicians of various genres such as Natalie Merchant, Antony and the Johnsons, Suzan Vega, Frank London, Roberto Rodriguez and others. Uri is leading several ensembles including the Cardamon Quartet, and the DogCat Ensemble, where his jazz and classical background fuses with Brazilian and Middle Eastern influences. Uri’s compositions were performed at renowned venues including the Taiwan International Festival for the Arts, Lincoln Center, and the Red Sea Winter Jazz Festival.
On Broadway Uri appeared as a multi instrumentalist and actor on the critically acclaimed play Indecent. Uri is currently on faculty at the Israel Conservatory of Music in Tel Aviv, a branch of the New School Jazz Program.
Signup
Please fill out the following form to sign up for Shakespeare Camp (if you can’t see the form, click here).
We’ll reach out to confirm your submission, and send you a link for payment to complete your registration.
* Based on minimum registration. Program subject to change based on number of participants.