Announcement Archive
"Is there no play
To ease the anguish of a torturing hour?"
– A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Shakespeare Acting Classes
October 2022
Hone your Shakespeare acting skills!
Based in Seoul. Join us via Zoom from anywhere!
This month's course:
Acting Shakespeare's Text
Rhythm & Meter, Part 3: Breaking the Rhythm (Shakespeare's Late Plays)
Delve deeply into Shakespeare's text, exploring a new speech each week based on the month's theme. This is the last of three months on rhythm and meter, and as always, newcomers are welcome! In this month we explore Shakespeare's most rhythmically sophisticated late-career plays, and the exciting acting choices that they offer. This is also our last month based in Seoul, before we move to London!
Thursdays, October 6, 13, and 20, 7:00pm-9:00pm (Korean Standard Time, GMT+9)
$60 USD
6 hours total instruction
Registration deadline: Saturday, October 1st at 7pm (Korean Standard Time, GMT+9)
Appropriate for adults and teens age 16 and over, of all experience levels.
Taught in English via Zoom.
Co-taught by Lauren Ash-Morgan and Michael Downey.
Click the button below for information about classes.
September 14, 2022
August 19, 2022
Shakespeare Acting Classes
September 2022
Hone your Shakespeare acting skills!
Based in Seoul. Join us via Zoom from anywhere!
This month's course:
Acting Shakespeare's Text
Rhythm & Meter, Part 2: Mastering the Rhythm (Shakespeare's Middle Plays)
Delve deeply into Shakespeare's text, exploring a new speech each week based on the month's theme. This is the second of three months on rhythm and meter, and as always, newcomers are welcome! In this month we explore the variations and irregularities that Shakespeare experimented with during the middle of his career and how rhythm can lead to exciting acting choices in both verse and prose.
Thursdays, September 8, 15, and 22, 7:00pm-9:00pm (Korean Standard Time, GMT+9)
$60 USD
6 hours total instruction
Registration deadline: Saturday, September 3rd at 7pm (Korean Standard Time, GMT+9)
Appropriate for adults and teens age 16 and over, of all experience levels.
Taught in English via Zoom.
Co-taught by Lauren Ash-Morgan and Michael Downey.
Click the button below for information about classes.
July 22, 2022
Delve deeply into Shakespeare's text, exploring a new speech each week based on the month's theme. This month is the first of three months on the topic of rhythm and meter. In this first month, we use material from Shakespeare's early-career plays to begin to explore and take ownership of Shakespeare's regular verse forms, finding how the rhythm can lead to exciting acting choices.
Note: This is the first of three months on rhythm and meter. In the later months, we will explore ways in which Shakespeare experimented with rhythm and meter in increasingly innovative ways to capture characters' complex experiences in his mid- and late-career plays. Anyone is welcome to join any of the three months without committing to all three, but participants who join us for all three months will get the fullest experience.
Thursdays, August 11, 18, and 25, 7:00pm-9:00pm (Korean Standard Time, GMT+9)
$60 USD
6 hours total instruction
Registration deadline: Saturday, August 6 at 7pm (Korean Standard Time, GMT+9)
Appropriate for adults and teens age 16 and over, of all experience levels.
Taught in English via Zoom.
Co-taught by Lauren Ash-Morgan and Michael Downey.
Click the button below for information about classes.
June 15, 2022
Delve deeply into Shakespeare's text, exploring a new speech each week based on the month's theme. This month we explore descriptive monologues in which a character tells a detailed story in order to have an effect on another person, using storytelling to shape a narrative about an event that has occurred.
The first two Thursdays in July (July 7 and 14), 7:00pm-9:00pm (Korean Standard Time, GMT+9)
$40 USD
4 hours total instruction
Registration deadline: Saturday, July 2 at 7pm (Korean Standard Time, GMT+9)
Appropriate for adults and teens age 16 and over, of all experience levels.
Taught in English via Zoom.
Co-taught by Lauren Ash-Morgan and Michael Downey.
Click the button below for information about classes.
May 5, 2022
Shakespeare Acting Classes
June 2022
Hone your Shakespeare acting skills!
Based in Seoul. Join us online from anywhere!
This month's course:
Acting Shakespeare's Text
Language in Action—Imagery and Sounds
Delve deeply into Shakespeare's text, exploring a new speech each week based on the month's theme. This month we imaginatively explore descriptive monologues and each character's use of imagery and sounds to achieve their underlying goals.
Thursdays in June, 7:00pm-9:00pm (Korean Standard Time, GMT+9) for 4 weeks (June 2, 9, 16, and 23)
$80 USD
8 hours total instruction
Registration deadline: Saturday, May 28 at 7pm (Korean Standard Time, GMT+9)
Appropriate for adults and teens age 16 and over, of all experience levels.
Taught in English via Zoom.
Co-taught by Lauren Ash-Morgan and Michael Downey.
Click the button below for information about classes.
April 12, 2022
Shakespeare Acting Classes
May 2022
Hone your Shakespeare acting skills!
Based in Seoul. Join us online from anywhere!
This month's course:
Acting Shakespeare's Text
Language and Action—Solving Problems
Delve deeply into Shakespeare's text, exploring a new speech each week based on the month's theme. This month we experience characters trying to solve complicated problems for themselves.
Thursdays in May, 7:00pm-9:00pm (Korean Standard Time, GMT+9) for 4 weeks (May 5, 12, 19, and 26)
$80 USD
8 hours total instruction
Registration deadline: April 30 at 7pm (Korean Standard Time, GMT+9)
Appropriate for adults and teens age 16 and over, of all experience levels.
Taught in English via Zoom.
Co-taught by Lauren Ash-Morgan and Michael Downey.
Click the button below for information about classes.
Early March, 2022
Hone your Shakespeare acting skills!
Based in Seoul. Join us online from anywhere!
Rehearsing Shakespeare: Monologues & Scenes
Develop a monologue or scene of your choice and experience our rehearsal processes
Tuesdays, 7:00pm-10:00pm (Korean Standard Time, GMT+9) for 4 weeks
12 hours total instruction
$120 USD
Acting Shakespeare's Text: Language and Action—Persuasion & Negotiation
Delve deeply into Shakespeare's text, exploring a new speech each week based on the month's theme
Thursdays, 7:00pm-9:00pm (Korean Standard Time, GMT+9) for 4 weeks
8 hours total instruction
$80 USD
Sign up for any single month or multiple months, as no two months will be the same!
Each course meets once per week for 4 weeks.
Appropriate for actors age 16 and over, of all experience levels.
All courses are taught in English via Zoom.
Co-taught by Lauren Ash-Morgan and Michael Downey.
Registration for each course ends 5 days before that course's first class.
Click the button below for information about classes.
January 14, 2022
Rehearse a piece of your choice and delve into Shakespeare's text with us!
REGISTER NOW
March & April online Shakespeare acting classes
Based in Seoul. Join us from anywhere!
Different material each month!
Rehearsing Shakespeare: Monologues & Scenes
Rehearse a piece of your choice!
Tuesdays, 7:00pm-10:00pm (Korean Standard Time, GMT+9) for 4 weeks
12 hours total instruction
$120 USD (Approximately ₩143,000)
Class size: 5-8
Acting Shakespeare's Text
Delve into Shakespeare text, with new topics each month!
Thursdays, 7:00pm-9:00pm (Korean Standard Time, GMT+9) for 4 weeks
8 hours total instruction
$80 USD (Approximately ₩95,500)
Class size: 5-12
Each course meets once per week for 4 weeks.
Appropriate for actors age 16 and over, of all experience levels.
All courses are taught in English via Zoom.
Co-taught by Lauren Ash-Morgan and Michael Downey.
Registration for each course ends 5 days before that course's first class.
Click the button below for information about classes.
Description:
In The Orderly, raspy-voiced Peter shares his passion for Anglo-Saxon historical reenacting as an escape from his normal life as an orderly in a New Zealand hospital. Through the story of the Battle of Maldon, juxtaposed against the everyday struggles of daily life in a hospital, Peter uses history, literature, and the imagination to enrich life in a thankless job, and to make sense of loss.
The Orderly is a poignant comedy, full of storytelling and character switches, based on Michael Downey’s experience as a hospital orderly and the people he met there. The Orderly is part of our ongoing performance repertoire, meant for touring and remounting in various locations, but for now it’s free to watch from home!
The Orderly Trailer
Missing theatre?
Watch The Orderly from home!
We have released the video of our 2019 production of Michael Downey’s solo play The Orderly, and we are asking viewers to support frontline/healthcare workers.
Watch the full production here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7TvNeCrX2PA
More about The Orderly: https://www.speechoffire.org/repertoire-the-orderly
Celebrating Shakespeare, 2021 Project
Connecting globally through celebrating Shakespeare
Happy New Year!
It's 2022 and our Celebrating Shakespeare 2021 Project has come to an end, but we will accept pieces until the end of January.
To provide a creative outlet during the pandemic, we offered an open invitation to our friends and members of the public to share monologues, scenes, etc. throughout 2021. Click the button below and explore the pieces we received.
Summer/Fall/Winter 2021
Celebrating Shakespeare, 2021
Connecting globally through celebrating Shakespeare
Speech of Fire's
Shakespeare Studio--Online!
Photo by Laura Jasinskaite
Photo by Laura Jasinskaite
Photo by Laura Jasinskaite
Photo by Laura Jasinskaite
Interested in participating in an online class in the near future? Email us at speechoffire@gmail.com and let us know. We are tentatively hoping to start classes again in Spring 2022.
Our most recent round of acting classes was in May of 2021. Click on the button below to see what we had planned.
Photos by Laura Jasinskaite
April 21, 2021
We are back with a fully online 2021 Spring Shakespeare Program: online acting classes in May, an invitation to participate in our Celebrating Shakespeare 2021 program for Shakespeare's birthday, and a play to watch! Join us online for celebration, education, and entertainment!
2021 Spring Shakespeare Program
Celebration Education Entertainment
Celebrating Shakespeare, 2021
Connecting globally through celebrating Shakespeare
To celebrate Shakespeare's birthday, we are inviting people to share monologues, scenes, and thoughts to celebrate Shakespeare and connect with each other online.
We invite you to participate, and to explore others' pieces.
Speech of Fire's
Shakespeare Studio
--Online!
May 2021 Acting Classes
Sundays May 9, 16, 23, 30
Photo by Laura Jasinskaite
Photo by Laura Jasinskaite
Photo by Laura Jasinskaite
Photo by Laura Jasinskaite
Photos by Laura Jasinskaite
We have adapted our usual classes for an online format! Come join us for two courses, appropriate for all levels of experience.
Missing theatre?
You can now watch The Orderly from home!
Filmed by Double Vision Media Liaisons
We have released the video of our 2019 production of Michael Downey’s solo play The Orderly, and we are asking viewers to support frontline workers.
February 27, 2021
Missing theatre?
You can now watch The Orderly from home!
Although the live theatre world has shut down for the time being, many theatre companies are finding ways to reach audiences through filmed productions of their current and past shows.
We have just released the video of our 2019 production of Michael Downey’s solo play The Orderly, and we are asking viewers to support frontline workers, with links to suggested charities below.
Description:
In The Orderly, raspy-voiced Peter shares his passion for Anglo-Saxon historical reenacting as an escape from his normal life as an orderly in a New Zealand hospital. Through the story of the Battle of Maldon, juxtaposed against the everyday struggles of daily life in a hospital, Peter uses history, literature, and the imagination to enrich life in a thankless job, and to make sense of loss.
The Orderly is a poignant comedy, full of storytelling and character switches, based on Michael Downey’s experience as a hospital orderly and the people he met there. The Orderly is part of our ongoing performance repertoire, meant for touring and remounting in various locations, but for now it’s free to watch from home!
More about The Orderly: https://www.speechoffire.org/repertoire-the-orderly
The Orderly, by Michael Downey (2019)
[CLICK CC FOR CAPTIONS]
PLEASE SUPPORT FRONTLINE WORKERS
In lieu of purchasing a ticket for this show, please consider giving to a charity that supports frontline workers.
A helpful list of charities supporting medical efforts:
https://edition.cnn.com/interactive/2020/health/coronavirus-how-to-help/#medical-efforts
(Scroll up or down for other categories of covid-related charities as well)
Another helpful list: https://time.com/5817906/coronavirus-help/
Other ways to support frontline/essential workers:
https://www.realsimple.com/work-life/life-strategies/support-essential-workers-coronavirus
https://www.averagesocialite.com/average-socialite/2020/4/7/tip-how-to-help-the-frontline-workers
Enjoying Speech of Fire’s work? Support us here: https://www.speechoffire.org/support
January 6, 2021
Happy New Year!
Welcome, 2021!
“Joy, gentle friends! Joy and fresh days of love accompany your hearts!”
– A Midsummer Night’s Dream
"Is there no play
To ease the anguish of a torturing hour?"
– A Midsummer Night’s Dream
We hope your year is filled with joy, good health, and happiness! We've had a quiet year, but right now we are focused on editing videos of our past productions, starting with The Orderly, coming soon!
June 12, 2020
There are many great anti-racist resources available right now. For anyone not sure where to find them, we have been compiling a list on our website. Click on the link or the button below.
June 12, 2020
Black Lives Matter. Period.
At this moment in history, even amidst the loss and uncertainty of the coronavirus pandemic, nothing else feels as urgent as this movement, and it is important for us to pause our usual social media activities so that we can focus on bearing witness to what is happening and doing what we can for the Black Lives Matter movement.
We have been compiling a list of links to resources on our website (https://www.speechoffire.org/blm-antiracist-resources), including:
-links to leading organizations in the Black Lives Matter movement
-articles on anti-racism
-lists of anti-racist resources
-some theatre resources, including lists compiled by American Theatre of black theatre companies and relevant plays
-things to watch, listen to, and read
Between all the lists of resources within our list, there is a LOT there, but we’ll continue adding to it. Feel free to let us know of other important resources to add. Personally, we are finding the page helpful as we try to keep track of lasting, high-quality resources to keep coming back to while also keeping up to date with the barrage of news.
Over the years, we've found that harnessing the power of Shakespeare's language provides an outlet for whatever grief and pain we may be feeling, leading us perhaps toward some kind of meaning, however imperfect. In that spirit, we have shared in our social media, and on our home page, five quotes from Shakespeare’s plays that have sprung to mind this week. They resonate deeply with us right now, and perhaps they may with others, in this time of swirling grief, anger, and hope.
-Lauren and Michael
April 23, 2020
IT’S SHAKESPEARE’S 456th BIRTHDAY!
Missing Theatre?
Want something to watch while stuck at home?
Although the live theatre world has shut down for the time being, many theatre companies are finding ways to reach audiences through filmed productions of their current and past shows. During our time leading Seoul Shakespeare Company, we prioritized filming our productions for future release to the public, and our 2016 production of Much Ado About Nothing is already available, with more productions to come in the future.
You can stream Much Ado About Nothing, which was our first production as a directing-producing-designing team, for free on Youtube:
Much Ado Teaser
Much Ado 1st half
Much Ado 2nd half
We created this production as Seoul Shakespeare Company (SSC) in 2016, and it began a new era in our company’s style that we continued for the next three years with our productions of The Winter’s Tale (2017), The Merchant of Venice (2018), and King Lear (2019). After Lear, we passed Seoul Shakespeare Company on to its current leaders, so that it can remain in the Seoul community while we prepare to move away. We hope someday to be able to do these kinds of full-scale productions again as our new entity, Speech of Fire, after settling in a new location.
This production of Much Ado About Nothing was Michael's directorial debut. Lauren served as the company’s Artistic Director and producer as well as designing and constructing the costumes and set, designing the sound, and composing and/or arranging the songs. Lauren is also in the cast (as Beatrice). These and all the company’s videos were edited and color corrected by Lauren. The video and audio for Much Ado were recorded by Double Vision Media Liaisons.
Full cast and crew listings can be found in the video’s end credits and on the Much Ado About Nothing show page (along with photos, links to press, etc).
Lauren is in the process of editing our productions of The Winter’s Tale, The Merchant of Venice, and King Lear, but they will be out eventually! Teaser for The Winter’s Tale below. (Contains spoilers!)
You can follow what the new Seoul Shakespeare Company is currently doing on their website: www.seoulshakespearecompany.org, and support them on Patreon.
April 3, 2020
Stay Home. Stay Connected.
One of the reasons we love what we do is because theatre, whether it’s in a workshop or in a performance, brings people together and reconnects us with each other. In this unprecedented time, we are seeing particularly clearly the importance of human connection.
And while we at Speech of Fire are fortunate in that we are just starting out and were planning a quiet, relaxing Spring of teaching and writing (our first spring in nine years not doing a Shakespeare production as Seoul Shakespeare Company!), other theatres around the world are facing huge financial struggles, and theatre artists are finding themselves without a livelihood. At the same time, theatre artists are finding innovative ways to keep art alive amid the struggle, and some theatre companies are finding ways to reach new audiences through generous sharing of their productions and other resources online.
So in place of our Spring acting classes, we are focusing right now on supporting our friends and colleagues around the world whose theatre companies are asking for support as well as those who are finding innovative ways to keep reaching audiences and keep theatre alive. We’ll also be sharing some of our favorite resources that have influenced us and that can bring us together as humans.
Together, we can overcome this crisis.
Stay home. Stay connected.
-Lauren Ash-Morgan and Michael Downey
We'll be sharing on Facebook, Twitter, and a bit on Instagram:
Acting Classes
Spring 2020
Spring Acting Classes Postponed
Out of respect for societal efforts to minimize person-to-person contact, and due to the uncertainty of many people’s schedules, workloads, finances, etc. during this time of coronavirus countermeasures, we are postponing our spring acting classes until things become more normal. We hope to bring them back in the summer or autumn.
In the meantime, check out what we had planned below. We hope to get to this same material later in the year.
Speech of Fire's
Shakespeare Studio
Spring 2020 Acting Classes
Spring Session 1: April 5-26 (Postponed until further notice)
Spring Session 2: May 17-June 7 (Postponed until further notice)
Movement & Ensemble
Sundays, 12:00-1:50pm
Acting Shakespeare's Text
Sundays, 2:00-3:50pm
Rehearsing Shakespearean Monologues & Scenes
Sundays, 4:00-6:50pm
Winter 2019-2020
Performance Repertoire
Speech of Fire is currently focused on building a repertoire of small, mobile shows that can be revived, tour, and travel in the future.
Repertoire so far (can be performed in rep or separately):
The Orderly
"Hospitals are battlefields."
Mind must be the firmer,
heart the more fierce,
courage the greater,
as our strength diminishes.
Written and performed by Michael Downey
Directed by Lauren Ash-Morgan
Appropriate for all ages, aside from a few curse words.
Approximate running time: 1 hour
Garage
"This here's an arena."
An original, raw, intimate, and uncompromising piece of contemporary theatre.
Written by Jason Cutler and the members of Dive Theatre
Starring Jason Cutler, Jamie Horan, and Lauren Ash-Morgan
Directed by Michael Downey
Content warnings: Adult language, sexual themes, physical violence.
Not appropriate for children.
Approximate running time: 1 hour
Autumn 2019
Upcoming Performances
We are launching Speech of Fire this autumn with TWO critically acclaimed original plays performed in repertory, with performances by the original playwrights
Co-produced by Speech of Fire and Seoul Shakespeare Company
평단의 찬사를 받은 두 편의 창작극이 곧 무대에 오릅니다.
레퍼토리로 교차 공연되며, 원작자가 직접 참여합니다
극단 ‘스피치 오브 파이어’와 ‘서울 셰익스피어 컴패니’가 공동제작합니다
CLICK ON THE IMAGES TO GO TO THE SHOW PAGES:
이미지를 클릭하시면 공연 관련 페이지로 이동합니다:
Autumn 2019
Upcoming Classes
Autumn Session 1: October 23-November 16
Autumn Session 2: November 20-December 21
Shakespeare Academy
Acting Shakespeare's Text
Saturdays, 2:00-3:50pm
Movement & Ensemble
Saturdays, 12:00-1:50pm
Rehearsing Shakespearean Monologues & Scenes
Saturdays, 4:00-6:50pm
Gugak: Movement & Voice
Wednesdays, 7:00-8:50pm
Co-hosted by Speech of Fire and Seoul Shakespeare Company
October 15 2019
September 9, 2019
Psst! We have just quietly launched our website and Facebook page, as we prepare to announce our first shows and classes, which we are coproducing with Seoul Shakespeare Company! Learn about us here: https://www.speechoffire.org/about
We've launched our website!
ABOUT SPEECH OF FIRE
We are a new theatre company (an acting/directing/producing/designing/teaching duo) emerging from our nine years of work with (and five years leading) Seoul Shakespeare Company, that specializes in teaching and performing Shakespeare, while also exploring other published plays and new works.
While our focus as Seoul Shakespeare Company has been to create large annual Shakespeare productions by and for the community of Seoul, the time has come for us to begin transitioning out of Korea and developing careers that can move with us to a new location. We have passed the torch of Seoul Shakespeare Company to its new leadership and formed Speech of Fire as a company which can transcend the geographical area of Seoul to travel, tour, and eventually settle in a new permanent home.
Speech of Fire offers acting classes and stages small, intimate performances that can tour and be remounted in various locations. We are currently based in Seoul, South Korea, but will eventually move to a new home. We hope to settle in a location where we can grow and develop into a larger theatre company, but for now we are staying small and mobile, and are offering our classes and performances to the Seoul community. We hope you will come and join us while we're here!
OUR PHILOSOPHY
We believe that high-quality theatre, actively experienced in the context of performances and classes, is important to our communities; to fostering human connections; to counteracting the effects of the "loneliness epidemic;" to developing empathy and interpersonal skills; to helping people learn to recognize and articulate complex feelings and express deep emotions; to encouraging independent thought; and to helping people explore multiple perspectives, experience situations outside of their own lived experiences, and find strength in the realization that their own human experiences have been shared by others.
We believe that experiencing Shakespeare is for everyone, not just through a cerebral, literary experience, but from an embodied experience, exploring the muscularity of Shakespeare through deep engagement with the text. It is about the intersection between Shakespeare and you (the actor, audience member, or learner), and the richness of Shakespeare's material means that there are endless discoveries to be made, making it rewarding as a long-term exploration. Everyone who wants to should be able to experience Shakespeare, not just in audience seats, but through their own bodies, voices, minds, and souls.
We are committed to the belief that theatre educates us intellectually, emotionally, and socially; that theatre can be the center of a community; and that theatre can revitalize communities by stimulating local economies, inspiring people, and bringing people together through common goals and shared experiences.
Speech of Fire aims to create great performances, to connect to the audiences in our communities, to foster through performances and workshops true human connections in an increasingly digital and isolating age, and to honour that great thing which makes us human--the flourishing of ideas through the creation of art.
Shakespeare enlivens the mind and deepens the soul.
Speech of Fire
Founding Co-Artistic Directors
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Lauren Ash-Morgan
Michael Downey