Fall Into Shakespeare 2026 - Workshop One

Fall Into Shakespeare Workshop with Will O'Hare

Workshop One: Directing Shakespeare - Who's There?

Sunday, September 27 from 1:30pm - 4:30pm [REGISTER HERE]

Location: Domino Theatre Mainstage & Lounge, 52 Church St, Kingston Ontario

Focus: Reading, Interpretation, and the Director’s Vision

How does a director begin work on a Shakespeare play? Before rehearsals begin, before staging choices are made, before design ideas take shape, the director has to ask: What is this play really about? Whose story are we telling? What world are we creating? What do we want the audience to experience?

In this hands-on workshop, we’ll look for answers on our feet. Participants will explore directing as interpretation by treating the text as a guide to action. Shakespeare’s clues are everywhere: in what a character says and won’t say, where the verse breaks, when a line runs short, who enters, who exits, who is left alone, and how the play includes the audience in the action.

Working through selected scenes and group exercises, we’ll test those clues in the room. What changes when a line is spoken to another character, to the audience, or to the whole room? What does the text already tell us about space, daylight, presence, and the audience?

From there, we’ll move toward the larger work of interpretation. How does a director turn a series of choices into an overall vision? What should be cut, and why? How do you develop a strong idea without letting the concept bury the play?

Participants will leave with a way to approach the plays: how to read for action how to shape choices into a plan and how to create a directing style they can use during rehearsal.

Tools, not rules: this workshop is for directors, actors, teachers, and theatre-makers who want to get Shakespeare off the page and onto the stage.

No directing experience required.

Workshop Fee: 

• Domino Theatre Members: $15 per workshop
• Non-Members: $20 per workshop

Please note, this is the registration for the workshop. The cost of the workshop is to be paid in cash on the day of the workshop.

Workshop space is limited and each workshop will be capped at 24 participants. If the event is full, please add yourself to the waitlist and we will contact you if any spots open up. If you have any questions about the workshop, please contact: astonw@queensu.ca.

More about the Workshop Leader: Will O'Hare

Theatre director, actor, and educator focused on Shakespeare. Some experience highlights: Education Director for the Classical Theatre Project in Toronto, directing plays and creating education workshops; two Dora Award nominations for best production of a play (Twelfth Night, and MacBeth), taught acting Shakespeare for the prestigious Michael Howard Conservatory in New York City; worked with the Shakespeare Society, Globe Theatre (UK) and the Broadway productions of Mary Poppins (premier) and The History Boys. Will is also a freelance photographer with a studio in the Tett Centre.

Producers and Workshop Assistants: Peter Aston and Anna Lindgren-Tanga

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