A fresh look at Shakespeare: Stratford Festival guest artists bring eye-opening perspectives during their visit
From deeper physical awareness to a newfound appreciation for the man behind the plays, sophomore Valentina Vergamini reflects on three days of action-packed workshops with Martha Farell and Rebecca Cuthbertson.
Martha Farrell of the Stratford Festival works with Arts Academy theatre students.
There’s no substitute for the experience of learning your artistic craft from the best, and Interlochen Arts Academy’s theatre students have frequent opportunities to do just that. This November, the Theatre division hosted guest artists from the Stratford Festival. Located in Ontario, Canada, the Stratford Festival is North America’s largest classical repertory theatre company. The company offers a dozen or more productions each season with a special emphasis on Shakespeare’s plays.
Over the course of two exciting days on campus, dialect coach Rebecca Cuthbertson and voice coach Martha Farrell led workshops on Shakespeare that, according to sophomore acting major Valentina Vergamini, were nothing short of life-changing.
Cuthbertson opened her workshop with a warmup that helped students find heightened awareness of their physical bodies. The experience left Vergamini with a new sense of just how many parts of herself she is able to recruit onstage.
“ I had never felt so connected to my body before,” she says. “It’s not just my arms or legs—everything is available for me to use in acting, and I wouldn't have known how to tap into that without the warmup.”
But it wasn’t just a deeper connection with herself that Vergamini discovered. Under Cuthbertson’s engaging instruction, the Bard came alive. Vergamini began to see beyond the texts to the man who authored them.
“I’ve always loved doing Shakespeare’s plays, but I never really connected to him—I’d always put him on a pedestal of being almost more than human because he was so talented as a playwright, author, and actor,” Vergamini reflects. “Rebecca helped me see the humanity behind all of his plays and sonnets. She wanted to instill a real love of Shakespeare in us, and it worked.”
Vergamini, who dreams of honing her comedic skills and performing on SNL someday, was struck by how engaging the workshops were.
“I was on the edge of my seat the entire three days of the workshop and genuinely loved every second of it. There was group instruction and one-on-one coaching. I felt so supported in my knowledge, because there were no dumb questions. She answered all of my questions beautifully.”
Vergamini is excited to continue studying Shakespeare and acting in his plays throughout her career. Her longstanding love for these classic works was reignited while Cuthbertson and Farrell taught.
”Classes with them were riveting because they just meet you where you are. Their passion and love shine through them, and it's hard not to smile,” she says. “They helped me find a deeper level of connection with texts I’ve been working on for a while.”
Students at Interlochen Arts Academy receive world-class artistic training alongside college-preparatory academics. Learn more about theatre at Arts Academy.