​

ABOUT THE INSTRUCTORS:

​

Lauren Ash-Morgan and Michael Downey are the Founding Co-Artistic Directors of the new theatre company Speech of Fire, and have been training Seoul Shakespeare Company’s actors through workshops and rehearsal techniques since 2016, serving as SSC’s stage directors and text coaches in 2016-2019 and periodically teaching workshops to the public. In the last year they have incorporated additional techniques learned in Prague Shakespeare Company's 2018 Summer Shakespeare Intensive, where they studied with a variety of master teachers in Shakespeare, voice, movement and ensemble work, clown, original practices, original pronunciation, audition technique, First Folio, etc. For Seoul Shakespeare Company, they have previously taught the classes “Movement and Ensemble Work,” “Acting Shakespeare’s Text,” “Exploring Gugak in Theatre Training,” and “Preparing to Perform: Strategies for Approaching Shakespeare's Text,” and coached many actors in SSC's “Shakesperiments” workshops.

​

Lauren Ash-Morgan is currently directing The Orderly and playing Susan in Garage, coproduced by Seoul Shakespeare Company and Speech of Fire. She recently directed, designed, and produced Seoul Shakespeare Company's production of King Lear and is the outgoing Artistic Director of SSC, serving as SSC’s Artistic Director, producer, and costume designer in 2014-2019 and actor/board member since 2011. Lauren's acting credits include Prague Shakespeare Company's The Two Gentlemen of Verona directed by Ben Crystal at the Estates Theatre (Silvia/Ensemble); Seoul Shakespeare Company’s The Merchant of Venice (Portia), Garage (Susan), The Winter’s Tale (Paulina/Time), Much Ado About Nothing (Beatrice), Titus Andronicus (Tamora), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Oberon), Hamlet (Gertrude), The Tempest (Alonsa), Macbeth (Lady Macbeth), Shakespeare's Love and Despair (Lady Macbeth, Trinculo, Gertrude, Tamora, Desdemona) and Shakespeare's Gore and Madness (Portia, Queen Margaret, Gertrude), as well as Probationary Theatre Company’s Popcorn (Farrah), Betrayal (Emma), and Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (Martha),  Eurasia Shakespeare Theatre Company’s Richard III (Queen Elizabeth) at the National Theater of Korea, and the independent feature film Amiss.  She directed the 2013 Seoul run of The Orderly and the short play Best Interests for Seoul Players' 10-Minute Play festival, and served as movement/ensemble coach for SSC's King Lear and the 10-minute play Trumpus Rex. She holds a Bachelor of Music in Music Education (Voice) from Ithaca College and an M.A. in Ethnomusicology, specializing in Korean traditional music and dance, and has studied and performed pansori, Korean traditional dance, and gayageum, in various capacities, since 2005, regularly using these techniques in theatre performance. Lauren is now Founding Co-Artistic Director of the new theatre company Speech of Fire.

​

Michael Downey played the title role in Seoul Shakespeare Company’s production of King Lear earlier this year and is currently directing Garage and acting in his solo play, The Orderly, coproduced by Seoul Shakespeare Company and Speech of Fire. He served as Seoul Shakespeare Company’s regular stage director in 2016-2018, directing The Merchant of Venice, Garage, The Winter's Tale and Much Ado About Nothing, and also wrote and directed the short play Trumpus Rex last year for Seoul Players’ 10-Minute Play Festival. Other directing credits include A Circular Play by Gertrude Stein and New Year’s Eve by Dave MacGregor. He has been a leading actor with SSC since 2010, appearing in Macbeth (Macbeth), The Tempest (Prospero), A Midsummer Night's Dream (Peter Quince), Titus Andronicus (Titus Andronicus), and Shakespeare's Love and Despair (Macbeth, Claudius, Titus Andronicus). Last year he appeared as Octavius Caesar and the Soothsayer in Prague Shakespeare Company's Julius Caesar at the Estates Theatre in Prague. Other acting credits in Seoul include Betrayal (Jerry), The Importance of Being Earnest (Algernon), The Real Inspector Hound (Magnus), and Eurasia Shakespeare Theatre Company’s production of Richard III (Clarence) at the National Theater of Korea. Michael trained as an actor at the Unitec School of Performing and Screen Arts and holds an M.A. in Drama Studies from the University of Auckland. In New Zealand, his theatre credits include Coriolanus, Oedipus the King, and Attempts on Her Life. Onscreen, he has appeared in Power Rangers, Shortland Street, and Xena: Warrior Princess. He co-founded The Rebel Alliance Theatre Company in 2006, their debut production being his solo play The Orderly, which toured New Zealand, was adapted for radio by Radio New Zealand, and was revived in Seoul in 2013. In 2007, his play Aroha won the SmackBang PlayRight award and enjoyed a two-week season at the Herald Theatre. Michael is now Founding Co-Artistic Director of the new theatre company Speech of Fire.