“The reveller on the way to the bottle meets the mourner on the way to the grave, and the malice of one is undone by the frolic of another. It’s a mixed world, and things don’t segregate themselves neatly out of tragedy and comedy.”

(Jonathan Miller)

Fall, 2026

William Shakespeare… A seminal playwright of the English language. A profoundly human artist. A weirdly divisive writer…

Shakespeare’s language frustrates many actors, while others would happily spend their lives exploring it, and a unique few have built careers performing in his plays.

about this class

This is a laboratory for actors and enthusiasts, facilitated by Jeffrey Puukka.

What to expect

During our first two meetings, we’ll explore tools, exercises, and tactics for working with Shakespeare’s language. We’ll investigate what makes Shakespeare special, why Shakespeare’s writing is useful for actors to train with and learn from, and why—after all these centuries—the plays continue to be produced today.

During the next eight meetings, we’ll workshop scenes and speeches, experimenting, and working with the tools and tactics we explored in our first sessions.

Every session will have a short break in the approximate middle.

Who is this for?

There is no expectation that you be a ‘professional actor’ to participate. That’s a vague term and enfolds lots of different people.

This is for people who enjoy acting. For people who are curious about acting. For people who are intrigued by Shakespeare, and want to feel more free and dynamic acting Shakespeare, even if they’re a little intimidated by the text.

In my experience, we’re all a little intimidated sometimes. That’s natural, it’s epic stuff, so let’s have fun with it.

Schedule and details

Mondays.
7pm-9:30pm.
Starting October 5, 2026.
Ending December 7, 2026.
Portland, Oregon.

$250.00