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 Summer 2025

Shakespeare Aloud

Embodying Shakespeare’s Sonnets through Speaking

Co-taught with Sarah Corbyn Woolf and Marie Roche, PhD

In this three-part workshop, participants will explore the dynamic relationship between speaker and listener, bridging the gap between theoretical analysis and the embodied practice of spoken performance. Through guided discussion and vocal exercises, we will investigate how Shakespeare’s language comes alive through voice, breath, and physical presence. 

Each participant will select and work closely with a sonnet, delving into its rhythm, structure, and meaning while discovering their connection to the text. In a collaborative and supportive environment, we will examine how the interplay between poetic form and embodied communication enhances interpretation and delivery. By the end of the workshop, participants will have developed a deeper understanding of Shakespeare’s sonnets—not just as literary works but as living expressions meant to be spoken, heard, and felt.

Sarah Corbyn Woolf (she/her) is a theater-maker and teacher who has worked with companies across the Northeast and Washington, D.C., including Shakespeare Theatre Company, Shakespeare & Company, and New York Classical Theater. She has directed and performed at Advice To The Players in New Hampshire, where she serves as Interim Treasurer and HR Designee on the Board of Trustees. Holding an MFA from the Academy for Classical Acting at Shakespeare Theatre Company/GWU, she researches expressive movement and somatic practices in Shakespeare training. She is also launching her third company. Learn more at SarahCorbynWoolf.com.

📅 Dates: June 2, 4, and 6

⏰ Time: 5 PM–6:30 PM (3 days, Monday, Wednesday, Friday)

📍 Location: 

Hadley Public Library
50 Middle Street
Hadley, MA 01035
United States

See map: Google Maps

SHAKESPEARE ON FILM: CORIOLANUS ON SCREEN

Power, Politics, and Performance in Film

Dr. Marie Roche

This course examines the cinematic adaptations of Coriolanus, Shakespeare’s most politically charged tragedy, exploring how film directors interpret its themes of power, warfare, populism, and identity for contemporary audiences. From classic adaptations to modern reimaginings, we will analyze how the play’s tensions—between the elite and the masses, rhetoric and action, loyalty and betrayal—are visually and thematically represented on screen.

Through screenings of key film adaptations, we will consider how different cinematic styles, performances, and historical contexts shape our understanding of Coriolanus as both a tragic hero and a deeply flawed leader. How do directors handle the play’s ambiguous political stance? What does the filmic medium reveal about the psychological depth of its characters? How do actors bring Coriolanus and his adversaries to life through gesture, tone, and cinematic framing?

📅 Dates: June 16, 23, 30 and July 7 (4 weeks) 

⏰ Time: 5 PM–6:30 PM

📍 Location: 

Hadley Public Library
50 Middle Street
Hadley, MA 01035
United States

See map: Google Maps

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