Teen & Adult Classes
A Learning Space for the Bay Area and Beyond
Due to the huge success of our virtual classes, Cal Shakes is proud to offer an expanded series of online and socially distanced classes for teens and adults looking to learn from some of Cal Shakes’ most beloved artists.
Any in-person classes will take place outdoors following all CDC and Contra Costa Guidelines around COVID-19 safety. Please email learn@calshakes.org with questions.
In-person adult classes have finished for the 2022 season. Stay tuned for more classes in Spring 2023 and check out Cal Shakes Online for ongoing virtual programming.
Shakespeare In-Depth
Classes are back this year – join now! Consider how Shakespeare’s masterpieces invite us to explore ambition, justice, betrayal, greed, loneliness, and abandonment, as well as issues that are urgently relevant today: climate change, global poverty, the political and personal effects of power, the capacity of life itself to offer miracles and second chances. Join Resident Dramaturg Philippa Kelly for this popular lecture series!
Structural Design for the Stage
Cal Shakes’ Technical Director Steven Schmidt is offering a three-part foundational course on how to approach structural challenges in theater. Designed for all technical staff —from seasoned technical directors to emerging technicians—the class seeks to provide an understanding of why “sets stand up” in order to safely meet the increasingly complex and challenging scenic designs of today’s industry. If you’re interested and would like to stay updated on future sessions, please fill out this form.
Shakespearean Swordplay
On Guard! Learn the basics of theatrical sword fighting safely outdoors on the beautiful Bruns Amphitheater grounds this summer with Cal Shakes’ Fight Director Dave Maier. This course will cover techniques for creating the illusion of violence with the weapons traditionally used in Shakespeare’s plays: the medieval Broadsword and the renaissance Rapier & Dagger. If you’re interested and would like to stay updated on future sessions, please fill out this form.
Alone Together
Join choreographer, director, and performance maker Erika Chong Shuch for a two-day movement workshop outside at the Bruns Amphitheater. Two days of dropping into our bodies; of finding the small dances that tell the big stories of this past year. All adults over 21 are welcome. No dance, performance, or movement background is required. If you’re interested and would like to stay updated on future sessions, please fill out this form.