Education
Combat on Cue with Anna Kurtz
Have you ever wondered how actors perform fight sequences without sending themselves (or their friends) to the ER after every performance or film shoot? Welcome to the wonderful world of Stage Combat! In this taster workshop, you will learn how to punch, slap, bite, kick and fall onstage in service of the story of the scene.
Participants will learn basic safety approaches for stage combat and a variety of Unarmed techniques. They will put their new knowledge to use by rehearsing and sharing a short fight scene with a partner. Come prepared to move (please wear gym appropriate clothing and close toed sneakers), learn, and play with others. Age limit: 13+
Anna Kurtz is a Philly based Actress, Fight Director and Actor Combatant. She is finishing up her Advanced Actor Combatant Training with the Society of American Fight Directors and was previously certified as an Actor Combatant with the British Academy of Dramatic Combat. She trained at Bristol Old Vic Theatre School and LAMDA in the UK, and remains indebted to her instructors there for their example of artistry and service in the arts. When not in rehearsal, you can find her enjoying the great outdoors or spending time with friends. www.annamariekurtz.com. S.D.G.
Will to Read
Dr. Justin Hopkins leads LST’s monthly Shakespeare reading and discussion group, “Will to Read.” Dr. Hopkins teaches Shakespeare at Franklin & Marshall College and has attended hundreds of performances of Shakespeare’s plays, reviewing many of them for academic journals. His book “My Year with Shakespeare” chronicles the Royal Shakespeare Company’s historic Complete Works Festival. A play’s important themes are discussed, segments of filmed Shakespeare scenes are reviewed, and snacks are provided. These sessions are free, but donations are encouraged.
Shakes-Peers
Lancaster Shakespeare Theatre looks forward to welcoming students and teachers back for the 7th Annual Shakes-Peers, a collaborative Shakespeare festival for high schools. This year’s festival will be held on Wednesday, January 21, 2026 at the Ware Center in downtown Lancaster (42 N. Prince St) beginning at 8:30 am.
Through this event, students and educators engage with Shakespeare through monologues, scenes, training, and competition. Since its inception at the beginning of 2020, Shakes-Peers has welcomed area high schools such as Ephrata High School, J.P. McCaskey, Lancaster Catholic High, Lancaster Country Day, Linden Hall, Manheim Central, Manheim Township, and York Country Day.
Of the students and teachers surveyed by Lancaster Shakespeare Theatre’s Assessments and Outcomes Committee following the last Shakes-Peers Festival in January of this year, 100% of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that the festival expanded their skills as performers and educators. All the responding educators indicated that the festival:
Provided helpful teaching ideas
Strengthened their connections with other Shakespeare faculty in the region
Provided a sense of “belonging” and shared affinity to the students
Increased their students’ knowledge of Shakespeare and theatre in general
Shakes-Peers mingles theatre educators and students from high schools across Lancaster County. Each student comes prepared with a memorized monologue from a Shakespeare play and performs it for our judges in a “monologue slam.” Later in the day, a Shakespeare theatre professional conducts an immersive acting workshop with the students while the teachers in attendance join a Shakespeare education roundtable.
Pizza is served for lunch (students are free to bring their own bagged lunch). In the afternoon, true to the “Shakes-Peers” name, each student is placed into a small troupe of “players” comprised of their peers from the other participating high schools. With the direction of the theatre professionals on hand, each troupe rehearses a scene from a Shakespeare play “on the fly” (for approximately one hour). At 2 pm, the public is invited into the Ware Center’s Steinman Theatre for the Shakes-Peers Showcase, a public performance of monologues delivered by the student-finalists from the monologue slam earlier in the day. The showcase will also feature each troupe of players and the scenes they have rehearsed. Our judges will conclude the festival by announcing the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place monologue winners, as well as the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place troupes. The festival typically concludes by 3:30 pm.
To ensure enough space for all the schools, each school is limited to 10 students participating. Registration is now free for students, thanks to a generous partnership with the Lancaster County Community Foundation! LST requires a $25 donation from each school to maximize the followthrough of attendance. This donation must be received no later than FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 15.
LST will request a list of the participating students at a later date.
Register online using the button below, or send a $25 check to:
Lancaster Shakespeare Theatre
P.O. Box 8873
Lancaster, PA 17604