TextWork: Decoding Shakespeare for Actors and Readers - Spring 2026 Workshops

Reading Shakespeare’s text is like reading music. Anyone can do it, but it requires specific training. As readers and actors, we can learn to look at rhetorical devices and aspects such as rhythm, resonance, and phrasing that provide clues to the inner-workings of the characters. What does a disruption to the rhythm of the verse tell us? What does the imagery a character uses reveal about the way they see the world? Why is a word or phrase repeated? What is the text doing? TextWork is a series of workshops aimed at taking a deep dive into Shakespeare’s textual clues. Our TextWork sessions are led on zoom by ISC Artistic Director Ariana Karp, who draws on more than twenty years of experience using and teaching techniques of textual analysis.

Rhythm: Shakespeare’s heartbeat

April 12, 19, 26, May 3   |   Zoom from 5-7pm MT   |   (4 sessions -  $200)

An examination of the time signature of Shakespeare’s verse. In this workshop, we will delve into scansion, contractions, elisions, expansions, rhythmic irregularities, line length irregularities, caesuras and what they reveal about character. We will then apply what we have learned to workshop monologues and dialogues.

Imagery: In my mind’s eye

June 7, 14 | Zoom from 5-7pm MT | (2 sessions - $100)

How does a character see the world? What kinds of images do they conjure? How does their imagination work? When a character’s imagery changes, they change. We will learn to identify different types of imagery and what they tell us about the characters and the world of the play.

Architecture: Form and Function

June 8, 15, 22   |   Zoom from 5-7pm MT   |   (3 sessions - $150)

What does the structure of a speech or dialogue tell us about the character/s? In this workshop we will learn to break up longer speeches to reveal the structure of a character’s thoughts. We will also look at what the shifts between formal and informal address, heightened and naturalistic language reveal. We will then apply what we have learned to workshop monologues and dialogues.