Bard on the Beach

• Arts Disciplines

• School Programs

• Community Programs

• Theatre
  
  Acting, Creative Dramatics, Storytelling, Theatre History, Theatre for Social Causes / Identity

• Artist-Educator Partnership
  

• Residency
  

• Out-of-School Time
  

• Field Trips
  
  STUDENT GROUP BOOKINGS We look forward to welcoming student groups back to our Festival in Vanier Park/Sen̓áḵw in 2022! This summer, we’re building a digital Season that will bring entertaining events and activities for you, your family, and your students to enjoy! Please subscribe to our newsletter to receive updates. If you have any questions, please email us at studentgroups@bardonthebeach.org.

• Resources
  
  EXPLORE AT HOME A series of online resources We’ve created these resources to help you playfully explore Shakespeare’s language, characters, and plays. Although we can’t gather right now to experience Shakespeare through performance, there are other ways to discover the vast and varied worlds of Shakespeare! Remember, there’s no “right” way to use these resources. Follow your interests and explore what you will!

• Professional Development
  
  PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT FOR SCHOOL TEACHERS Learn inquiry-based approaches to teaching Shakespeare that support BC’s curriculum and reflect present-day values. We look forward to offering in-person professional development sessions as soon as we can safely do so. In the meantime, we are delighted to offer these sessions online! WHY SHAKESPEARE? WHY NOW? AND HOW? What place does Shakespeare have in the contemporary classroom and in BC’s curriculum? Is there value in exploring Shakespeare’s plays and poems today? If so, how do we approach Shakespeare in ways that reflect present-day values and foster community? Join the Education team from Bard on the Beach Shakespeare Festival as we discuss these questions and share our participant-first approach to exploring and interpreting Shakespeare’s plays.

• In-School Workshops
  

• Performances
  
  Bard on the Beach is Western Canada’s largest not-for-profit, professional Shakespeare Festival. Presented in a magnificent setting on the waterfront in Vancouver’s Vanier Park/Sen̓ákw, the Festival offers Shakespeare plays, related dramas, and several special events in two performance tents from June through September. A custom-built Mainstage Theatre tent offers modern, comfortable reserved seating (729-seat capacity) and a state-of-the-art sound system. The Mainstage tent is open-ended so the actors perform against a spectacular backdrop of mountains, sea and sky – a highlight of the unique Bard experience. The Festival’s large-scale productions are typically performed in repertory on the theatre’s BMO Mainstage from early June through late September. The Douglas Campbell Theatre tent has 262 reserved seats and its two repertory productions typically run from the end of June through September on its Howard Family Stage, named in 2014 in honour of Vancouver arts philanthropists Darlene and Paul Howard. This intimate performance space hosts a mix of Shakespeare’s lesser-known plays, his classics presented with less traditional staging and in recent years, contemporary plays with stories and themes that link to the Festival’s mission and mandate and actively explore today’s cultural and social landscape.

• Group Classes
  
  BARD FOR LIFE Give yourself permission to play! In these weekly evening workshops, you’ll join other adults who dream of bringing Shakespeare’s words to life– no experience necessary! In our Fall and Winter session, professional actors share their favourite tools and techniques as you explore Shakespeare’s beloved plays and speeches and make discoveries of your own along the way. In the spring, we host a 4-part discussion series about the plays in Bard’s upcoming Festival Season. Give yourself permission to play! In these weekly evening workshops, you’ll join other adults who dream of bringing Shakespeare’s words to life– no experience necessary! In our Fall and Winter session, professional actors share their favourite tools and techniques as you explore Shakespeare’s beloved plays and speeches and make discoveries of your own along the way. In the spring, we host a 4-part discussion series about the plays in Bard’s upcoming Festival Season. SPEECH OF THE WEEK This is a new interactive speech masterclass series designed for this moment. This series is for all ages and all experience levels… and it’s free! Each speech has been carefully selected for its juicy words and rich imagery. Remember, these words are yours to enjoy and these characters are yours to play. The sessions begin with a text masterclass on Zoom, featuring a special guest actor and hosted by our Director of Education, Mary Hartman. You’ll get a closer look at a professional actor’s process and will find out their top tips and tricks for bringing the speech to life. After the webinar, you’re invited to make the speech your own and share your discoveries in a follow-up working session later that week. Finally, we encourage everyone to record and upload their performance of the speech. With permission, we’ll create a compilation video to share with the world! RIOTOUS YOUTH Riotous Youth is a paid, post-secondary internship, designed for young people either beginning or considering a career in theatre. The program combines training and experience in teaching artistry, Shakespeare performance, and involvement in special events at our Festival. In 2020, the Riotous Youth program has evolved to continue within the unique constraints of the Festival cancellation.

• Camps
  
  LITTLE PLAYERS Explore Shakespeare through movement, music and play! Improvisation, mime, and storytelling exercises help children develop their imagination and creativity. Children dive into the creative world of theatre, explore the relationship between the body and music, and discover ways of relating to one another in an environment inspired by Shakespeare’s stories, worlds, and characters. GETTING TO KNOW… Shakespeare created more than 1000 different characters—all of them with their own quirks and questions. Join us for these special drop-in sessions, where you get friendly with some of our favourite characters and discover that you can play them all! PLAY IN A DAY This bold new camp merges two worlds we’ve been playing in over this last year- the digital and the “distanced” in-person. You’ll spend the first two sessions on Zoom, getting to know your playfellows, your Teaching Artists, and the play. On the third and final session, you’ll come together at the BMO Theatre Centre to create your “Play in a Day”! We’ll embrace improvisation, spontaneity and the unpredictability of this special performance—all to be recorded so you can view after the session with your friends and family. DISCOVERY CLUB Shakespeare resonates differently for everyone. In this new program, teens will discover their personal connections to a piece of text and create their own interpretations of it through performance, visual arts, music, or creative writing. Let your curiosity and interests guide your discoveries and delight in the creations that are shared along the way.

• Workshops
  
  BARD IN YOUR NEIGHBOURHOOD Bard in Your Neighbourhood works with community partners to offer workshops at no cost. Bard Teaching Artists facilitate workshops in playing and understanding Shakespeare. Participants will explore challenging material in a personally meaningful and rewarding way through theatre games and exercises, script investigation and preparation for an informal Shakespeare presentation. The program is designed to be responsive to the participants’ ideas and interests, so the result is a fresh and vibrant take on Shakespeare that transcends expectations and expands horizons.

• Outreach Programs
  
  BARD YOUTH FEST Bard Youth Fest is a new program that celebrates young people making Shakespeare their own! Alongside troupes from other schools, your students will embark on a creative journey that culminates with a non-competitive Finale where each troupe will share their unique Shakespeare pieces. Bard Youth Fest is for Elementary, Middle, and Secondary schools and Home Learner groups from across BC. A troupe is an extracurricular group of anywhere from 3 to 25 students. We welcome participants of all grades and abilities. No experience necessary! Each troupe will need a Troupe Champion, an adult such as a teacher or staff member based at the school who will act as liaison between troupe members and families, school administration, Bard Coaches, and Bard Education staff. Troupe Champions will attend the Professional Development Day in Fall 2021 and the Dress Rehearsal and Finale at the end of the school year, but are not required to attend after-school rehearsals (although they are certainly welcome to!). Each troupe will be assigned two Bard Coaches, professional theatre artists who will provide advice, support, and coaching to their troupe. All Bard Coaches are experienced Teaching Artists with Bard Education.

• Bursary Fund