What will your students remember
beyond “to be or not to be”?

That is the question.

The Process.

Step 1 —
Customized Plan

Tim meets with teachers and/or parents to formulate a tailor-made plan for the students.

Step 2 —
Scene
Blocking

Students work remotely with Tim to block scenes.

Step 3 —
Student
Rehearsals

Tim coaches teacher/parents as they guide the students through 5-6 weeks of rehearsal.

Step 4 —
Two-Day
Intensive

After the 5-6 weeks, Tim travels to the participating school for a two-day intensive rehearsal with the students.

Step 5 —
Culminating
Performance

The students will perform for family and friends in a grand finale of their work, directed and narrated by Tim.

Tim works with a variety of student groups—public, private, homeschool, college, community theatre—and ensures the process is approachable and affordable for all.

The Investment.

The Backstory.

Tim A. McIntosh

Tim McIntosh is an actor, director, and podcaster. He taught classics for 10 years at Gutenberg College. He is the host of The Play’s the Thing, a podcast for all things Shakespeare. He is Creative Director for Westfall Gold. He and his wife live in Atlanta, GA.

A Note from Tim:

I was like so many teachers and students. I had to respect Shakespeare. But, honestly, found him kinda boring. It wasn’t until I had to act a scene (Claudio from Measure for Measure) that I fell in love with Shakespeare. Acting him? It was so different! The words began to leap off the page.

It occurred to me: We’re teaching Shakespeare’s plays all wrong. We’re teaching as if he wrote novels. He didn’t write novels — he wrote plays! So let’s teach Hamlet and Much Ado About Nothing and Julius Caesar for what they are — embodied, communal performances.

Lin-Manuel Miranda recommends teaching through performance. The writer/actor of the Broadway musical, Hamilton, began his professional career as a literature teacher. What was his favorite thing to teach?

"Shakespeare."

Why?

“Because, the thing is,” says Miranda, “Shakespeare is really boring when you have to read it. But if you have to act it? It's like — the best.”

James Shapiro, author of Shakespeare in a Divided America, says the same thing. His first exposure to Shakespeare came in 9th grade. “I hated it," he said. He hated it so much, that

“I swore I would never study Shakespeare again unless forced to do so. And I never did take a Shakespeare course in college — or in graduate school either.”

But later, he fell in love with Shakespeare after watching live performances. His experience led him to this lesson:

“Having students act out scenes, rather than numbingly working through the plays line-by-line as I was forced to do in ninth grade, is the best way to get young people to love them.”

Here for the online course?