Roger Ellis, U.S.A.
Selected Directing Experience
Grand Valley Shakespeare Festival (Michigan, USA): Hamlet, Twelfth Night, As You Like
It, Measure for Measure, Henry IV part i
Thunder Bay Repertory Theatre (Michigan, USA): Luv
Grand Comedy Festival of Qual-a-wa-loo (California, USA): Scheherazade
Opera Grand Rapids (Michigan, USA): L’Ormindo (Cavalli)
Ladies Literary Club Classical Theatre ((Michigan, USA): Oh, Coward! The Curate
Shakespeare As You Like It
California Shakespeare Fesival (California USA): Green Show
Grand Valley State University (Michigan, USA): Camelot, Comedy of Errors, The
Investigation, Lysistrata, Everyman, The Doctor in Spite of Himself
Founding Director: Grand Valley Shakespeare Festival (Michigan, USA): 1993 – 2002
Selected Acting Experience
Dell’Arte International (California, USA): The Taming of the Shrew, The Green Bird
Opera Grand Rapids (Michigan, USA): La Boheme, The Student Prince, La Cenerentola, Flying Dutchman
California Shakespeare Festival (California, USA): Much Ado About Nothing, Romeo and Juliet, King Lear
FROM PAGE TO STAGE: Voice, Movement & Shakespeare Performance
This hands-on workshop introduces students to vocal/physical rehearsal techniques for presenting Shakespearean monologues or soliloquies. Participants will select and memorize a comic or serious speech, and during the workshop process they will explore different movement, voice and improvisational approaches to developing the text. Participants should wear loose clothing and be prepared to move vigorously and freely as part of the acting process in this workshop. Participants should come prepared with one or two memorized speeches--in English--from a Shakespearean comedy, tragedy, history play or romance, 12 - 16 lines in length. Personalizing the speech and learning to use poetic and prose imagery in vocal expressiveness will also be an important focal point, guided by the voice production techniques of Kristin Linklater. The three-hour experience will introduce students to physicalizing text, interpreting prose and verse, developing relationships with the listener, and understanding the dramatic structure of extended stage speech. The work will take place individually and in groups.