Contact Cambridge Academy of Dramatic Art

A Cambridge Shakespeare festival...

bringing the works of Shakespeare to life

The Cambridge Academy of Dramatic Art presents a unique and exclusive summer school program for students aged between 16 and 18 interested in Shakespeare, theatre studies, art and cultural awareness. The program, based at St John’s College of Cambridge University, is linked to The Cambridge Shakespeare Festival (now in its twenty-fifth year) and students on the program work directly with the professional actors and directors from the Festival. The Festival was recently listed fourth in The Independent’s list of the 50 Best UK Arts Festivals. The program consists of a daily schedule of activities including workshops, rehearsals, lectures/seminars, cultural visits, sport and leisure time, all of which take place in a beautiful, safe and supervised environment.

Our teaching staff

All Faculty members are qualified teachers and have many years of teaching experience as well as involvement in The Cambridge Shakespeare Festival; they are also highly acclaimed professional practitioners in their own areas of expertise, whether as actors, directors, musicians, writers or artists. It is perhaps an important distinction to make – in comparison between CADA and other summer school programs – that we don’t hand over the responsibility of teaching our program to graduate students who may lack experience and/or appropriate teaching qualifications.

A few encouraging words

I am delighted to be able to invite you to take part in the Cambridge Shakespeare Adventure, 2012.

It is no exaggeration to say that the cultural foundation of the English-speaking world lies in the Renaissance, and explicitly in the work of our language’s greatest poet and playwright, William Shakespeare. As the Director of CADA, but also as the Artistic Director of the Cambridge Shakespeare Festival, I have overseen the design of a unique artistic and cultural experience. There can be no better way to gain an understanding of English culture than to plunge into the world of Shakespeare and his plays. There can be no better place to study these works than in the stunning surroundings of St John’s College, Cambridge, established in 1511, more than fifty years before Shakespeare’s birth.

But although Shakespeare’s works are undoubtedly stunning works of literature, they are not meant to be merely studied or read; they are to be experienced and performed, and so this program offers a ‘learning by doing’ encounter in which the theory explored in the classroom is put into immediate practice in the workshop and rehearsal room, bringing the drama to life. Students on the program will inevitably grow in self-esteem, self-confidence and develop excellent team-building skills.

Dr David Crilly, Director of CADA