Coming to Theatre Week
Presented by The Hum'n'bards Theater Troupe as part of 2025 Philly Theatre Week!
Bards University is an afternoon series of theatrical workshops on Saturday, April 5th.
Attendees can select specific workshops to attend, or join us for all three!
Workshops are as follows:
12:30-1:30pm - Unlocking Shakespeare with Ryan Walter
2:00-3:00pm - Stage Manage With Me(lody)! with Melody Wong
3:30-4:30pm - Getting Off-Book with CJ Higgins
Unlocking Shakespeare
-Ryan Walter-
In this workshop we will be delving into the depths of the most human playwright to ever live. We will learn the applicable skills that are needed to decode and uncover the true meaning and drive behind Shakespeare's poetry, while also honoring the beauty and power that his language evokes. This language was never meant to be lofty and above us all, quite the opposite in fact as it was always meant to be a public spectacle, and with the right training anyone can make the Bard’s language their own. So let us work together to demystify Shakespeare and bring the humanity behind his scripts to life!
Ryan has been acting/directing for nearly 34 years, with more than a dozen productions of Shakespeare under his belt so far. His passion for theatre earned him a BA in Drama from Vassar College, a semester abroad at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts, an apprenticeship with the Shakespeare Theater of New Jersey, as well as summer workshop with Theatre MITU in Thailand. After moving to Philadelphia in 2008 he worked for more than a decade as a professional actor with such companies as The Arden, Plays and Players, Quintessence Theatre Group and Curio Theatre. Currently he works as a preschool teacher while pursuing theatre in his spare time at a number of local Community Theaters including the Players Club of Swarthmore (where he will be co-directing a production of Songs for a New World with JL Hitchens) and the Drama Group of Germantown (where he is co-directing a production of Juliet & Romeo and is a member of the governing Board). Favorite Shakespearean acting credits include: Bottom and Oberon in A Midsummer Nights Dream, Sir Toby in Twelfth Night, Leonato Much Ado About Nothing, Richard III in Richard III, Duchess/Carlisle in Richard II, and Audrey in As You Like It.
Stage Manage with Me(lody)!
-Melody Wong-
In this workshop Melody will provide the basic understanding of the role of stage management and knowledge in the practical skills to manage all aspects of theatrical production, including coordinating rehearsals, overseeing technical elements (lights, sound, props), being the liaison between the creative teams, ensuring a smooth and safe execution of the performance, & fostering a safe and creative room in the rehearsals and production process.
Melody is the stage manager at Theatre Exile, a member of Actors Equity Association. A graduate of Temple University (BA, MEd). She was a stage management fellow in 2004/5. at The Wilma Theatre, and recently was the SM for The Comeuppance. Recent Credits include: Red,Camp Siegfried, Case for the existence of God, Abandon, The Light, Wolfplay at Theater Exile, American Fast with InterAct, Dreamgirls with Theater in the X, In Search of the Kitchen Gods with 1812 Productions, Group!, Janet Wide Awake and Ok Trenton with Passage Theatre. Transworld, Publik Private with Playpenn. Other companies include: Power Street, PAPA, Kimmel Center, Opera Philadelphia, Bearded Ladies Cabaret, Ballet X, Modero Dance Co. Asian Arts Initiative. Certified Advanced Actor Combatant with Fight Directors Canada and SAFD. Member of Chinatown Dragon boat team. Philadelphia Suns Volleyball and Lion Dance.
See you in class,
Melody
Getting Off-Book:
A Workshop on Text Memorization
-CJ Higgins-
Do you struggle to get off-book? Do you want to learn and identify different memorization techniques and find the right one for your brain? Then this is the workshop for you! Philadelphia theatre artist CJ Higgins (they/he pronouns) will teach you the skills of learning new text, exploring various memorization techniques and how they can be applied to script work. By the end of the workshop, you'll have a set of tools that can be used to get off-book for any text!
CJ Higgins is a theatre artist specializing in acting, directing, production, devising, playwriting, and more, all with a focus on accessibility, radical empathy, and liberation for all. Performance highlights include Julius Caesar (Casca/Cinna the Poet/Strato, DelShakes), Macbeth (Witch 3, DelShakes), A Midsummer Night's Dream (Puck/Philostrate, Shakespeare in Stoneleigh) The Importance of Being Earnest (Algernon, Ebenezer Maxwell Mansion), and Ghost Quartet (Pearl, Going Dark Theatre). He is the Artistic Director of The Hum'n'bards Theater Troupe, having served as a company member in many leadership roles, as well as being the Director of Operations and Programming for Theatre Philadelphia.
