Actors from the London Stage Residency
Five professional actors, with credits ranging from Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre to film and television, held a one-week residency on the College campus last month. The group, called Actors from the London Stage, led interactive workshops on voice and movement, directing, and stage combat, while cultivating an appreciation of Shakespeare’s works.
The residency culminated in full-length performances of Shakespeare’s Macbeth on both campuses. Using minimal props and costumes and innovative staging, the five-member ensemble played 28 different characters. To change roles, the actors shifted a bit of costume, changed the angle of the body, or altered the voice. While showcasing the actors’ talent, the performance maintained the focus right where it belongs—on Shakespeare’s own words.
Principia was the fourth college in the group’s tour of seven campuses across the United States, and by all accounts the actors enjoyed working with Principia students as much as the students valued their presence. “The actors stressed how you can’t have authenticity without research,” says multidisciplinary faculty member Dr. Jeffrey Steele, who oversaw the residency. “Our faculty cover this point in our curriculum, but it resonated more deeply with students when hearing it from these actors and watching the Macbeth performances. Getting details just right based on careful research—such as knowing how a king sits on his throne or draws his sword—differentiates a professional performance from an amateur one.”
Principia student actors are applying what they learned in the residency to their rehearsal of Our Country’s Good, Timberlake Wertenbaker’s drama about the transforming power of theatre, which opens in Davis Theatre on March 19. (See the calendar for details.) “The London actors brought a valuable perspective to us from across the pond,” says senior Weston Williams, who plays midshipman Harry Brewer. “It’s easy to get wrapped up in a particular style or approach, and their professional perspective helped me crack through that tendency and become a better artist.”