Theatre students and students who excel in English Literature in 5th grade and up have traveled to Pasadena, California to study theatre at A Noise Within (ANW), a classical theatre repertory company founded in 1992 by CEA graduate, Julia Rodriguez-Elliott (c/o 1974) and her husband, Geoff Elliott. Since its inauguration, A Noise Within has evolved from being a small neighborhood theatre company to becoming one of the most distinguished theatre companies in the Southern California area– consistently raising the bar on how great classical theatre can be.
At A Noise Within, theatre students participate in three days of intensive workshops with ANW´s educational department, as well as with professional actors and ANW Director Julia Rodriguez-Elliott. The workshops have traditionally centered around a Shakespeare play, during which students dive into text, work on understanding and translating Shakespearean language, act various scenes, have improvisation classes, and even stage combat and sword-fighting workshops with the professional sword-fighting expert who choreographed the scene in ANW´s rendition of Romeo and Juliet. They had the opportunity to explore what occurs behind the scenes in a professional theatre, learning about lighting, costume design, directing, preparing a set, and the many other aspects that go into creating a professional production. Since they were there on a three-show weekend, students had the opportunity to watch two professional performances, Shakespeare´s Romeo and Juliet and George Bernard Shaw´s You Never Can Tell, as well as a final rehearsal for Pirandello´s Six Characters in Search of an Author. After each show, the students benefited from attending post-show talk-backs with the actors, to further enhance their experience.
In addition to their time at ANW, students toured Los Angeles, visiting the famous Dolby Theare, Warner Brothers Studios, and spent an afternoon visiting the Santa Monica Pier.
Read More About A Noise Within
