Shakespeare Session with Breshaun Joyner

6 weeks Monday nights
February 16 – March 23

Step into the world of Shakespeare with an immersive, beginner-friendly acting course designed specifically for adults. In this engaging six week class, students will break down and dissect Shakespeare’s rich and varied language and transform seemingly daunting texts into clear, dynamic performance pieces. Through a balanced mix of monologue work and scene study, students will develop essential skills in dialogue delivery, timing, and collaborative performance—all in a supportive format.

Shakespeare Session emphasizes hands-on exploration like analyzing key passages, unravelling the rhythm and meaning behind Shakespeare’s words, and experimenting with vocal and physical expression. Each student will receive a study guide to aid in understanding the language and context of the plays, ensuring a confident approach to the material.

The course concludes with a showcase for family and friends, providing a wonderful opportunity to celebrate progress and share, hopefully, a newfound passion for Shakespearean performance. Whether one is stepping onto the stage for the first time or seeking to reconnect with the classics, this class offers a dynamic, fun, and educational journey into the enduring works of Shakespeare.

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Instructor Breshaun-Birene Joyner (Shakespeare Session)

Breshaun-Birene Joyner is a performer and educator living in Santa Fe, New Mexico. As a performer, her most recent work was Aphra Behn in Santa Fe Playhouse’s recent production of Liz Duffy Adam’s Or,. Breshaun is also an Associate Artist with the Incite Shakespeare Company. A few of her roles with ISC include Lady Percy in Henry the Fourth Part I, Casca in Julius Caesar, and Lady Capulet in Romeo and Juliet  as well roles in the ISC’s BAR(d) program – Olivia (Twelfth Night), Macbeth (Macbeth) and Cleopatra (Antony and Cleopatra).

As an educator, Breshaun has taught for over twenty years in traditional and non-traditional learning environments from Shakespeare performance summer camps for kindergarten students (yes, kindergarten) to teacher education college classrooms. She was also the Education Director for several years at the Bloomington Playwrights Project, a non-profit performing arts theater dedicated to the production and development of new plays in Bloomington, Indiana. Breshaun currently teaches eighth grade English and the occasional Shakespeare honors course at Santa Fe Preparatory School. She holds a MA in Children’s Literature and is pursuing a doctorate in Shakespeare pedagogy, specifically designing curriculum applying Shakespeare in interdisciplinary contexts.