As commemoration for the four hundred and fiftieth birthday of Shakespeare, Luciérnaga Producciones (Firefly Productions) will host a workshop for the great playwright.

The founder and artistic director of Firefly Productions, Silvia Baltodano, has brought much of the traditional Shakespearean Theater back to Costa Rica from her experiences traveling and living in the United Kingdom. Through her organization, which operates out of Teatro El Triciclo (Tricycle Theater), Baltodano will be putting on a 20 hour workshop in English and based on the plays of the most illustrious playwright in the history of modern theater. Teatro El Triciclo has two locations in San Jose, and near Hospital Cima and the Multiplaza in Escazu. The workshop will be held at the theater near the Multiplaza.

The eponymously titled “Shakescenes” workshop will be held in February of 2015, and lead by the former professor of Baltodano, Christopher Weddell. Baltodano was personally effected by the experiences she had while studying and visiting “The Globe,” which is a replica of the 16th century playhouse where Shakespeare’s plays were first performed. Her former instructor, Christopher Weddell, has taught other Shakescene workshops throughout Canada (Calgary, Saskatoon, etc.) and is based out of British Columbia. The workshop has been described thus:

“This workshop will be a fun workout for the actor’s body, voice and imagination. The focus will be on pragmatic rehearsal techniques designed to help you find the dynamic physical actions embedded in Shakespeare’s words, while nurturing and developing a vivid and personal relationship with your characters’ journey. The workshop broaches Shakespeare with an incredibly comprehensive approach, covering everything from group exercises, pre-performance strategies, performance, mock auditions and one-on-one consultations. Registration is limited to maximize the amount of one-on-one time for each participant; auditing spots are available for those wishing to observe the process.”

The Firefly Production Company regularly puts on musical productions in Costa Rica, but in this case they will be working specifically with the poetic yet antiquated verse of Shakespeare’s masterpieces. The workshop has 15 spaces available at $300 for participants, and 25 spaces available for auditing the class at $150 per person. Participants will, of course, take part in all of the associated drills and exercises in the workshop, whereas auditors will take part in the warm-ups and observation of the process. The workshops will be held entirely in English. As it is the first language of the original plays themselves, it will help the aspiring actors get a sense of what the plays are meant to convey in the language they were originally written with.

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