When Actors From The London Stage visited Wake Forest University to perform Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing, their presence extended far beyond the stage. While their sold-out performance at Brendle Recital Hall was a highlight, behind the scenes the five guest actors spent a week leading hands-on workshops and engaging directly with students across campus.

The troupe visited undergraduate classrooms and Wake Forest’s law school, offering exercises in movement, public speaking and stage combat. The actors also led a Wake Forest Lifelong Learning session focused on Shakespeare in performance.

Insight and exploration

London Stage actor Grace Lilly had students in theatre professor Michael Kamtman’s first-year seminar separate into groups and practice how intonation, physical proximity and body position affect the delivery of Shakespearean insults on stage. Moving around the Ring Theatre, Lilly had them imagine how they would walk—as if pulled by a fishhook from the nose, knees or the top of the head—experimenting with different stride lengths and sharing the emotions and intentions behind each walking practice.

“My hope is that the intimidation factor about Shakespeare was lessened and that students felt like uninhibited kids again as they experienced the joys of play and imagination,” said Kamtman.

Actor Alex Phelps led one of theatre professor Leah Roy’s classes through breathing exercises focusing on voice training, emotional connection and technical control.

In communication professor James Proszek’s public speaking class, students practiced reading aloud Prince Hamlet’s “To be, or not to be” soliloquy—learning how commas, question marks and exclamation points engage listeners and help them understand and remember a speech.

Julius Hunnter Goins, a senior in Proszek’s class, said the experience highlighted the importance of taking an audience into account to communicate effectively.

“As someone who wants to pursue a career in law, communication is extremely important, “ Goins said. “When I’m interacting and communicating with people, in order to be as effective as possible, it is of the utmost importance that I take into account who I’m talking to and speak to them in a way that allows them to get the most out of our interaction.”

About Actors From the London Stage

Founded in 1975, Actors From The London Stage is one of the oldest touring Shakespeare theatre companies in the world. The ensemble presents residencies at approximately 16 to 18 universities each year. The company features actors from the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Royal National Theatre of Great Britain, and Shakespeare’s Globe.

The group’s approach to performance is lean. Operating without a director, the five actors share and play all the roles in the production themselves through collaborative staging and direct engagement with the audience. To keep the focus on Shakespeare’s text, all of the troupe’s production props and costumes must fit into a single suitcase that meets standard airline checked bag limits of 50 pounds.

About the Secrest Artists Series

Wake Forest’s Secrest Artist Series is an endowed performing arts program that brings world-class national and international musicians, ensembles, and speakers to campus for education and entertainment.

“The last time Secrest presented theatre was Reduced Shakespeare Company in 2018,” said Hayden Barnes, director of the Secrest Artist Series. “This is the first Secrest artist who has been able to be on campus for a full week. I am so pleased with how many classes the actors were able to visit. I hope the faculty who hosted them in their classrooms were able to see their students learn from the actors in a new way.”