So. Much. Hamlet!
Hamlet isn’t my favorite play – mostly because it’s so rich and deep that a completely fulfilling production is almost unattainable – but it is certainly the most influential. I …
MANUSCRIPT REVIEW | PRIVATE COACHING | LECTURES | CONVERSATION
A lecture series hosted by Austin Tichenor of the Reduced Shakespeare Company (that’s me!), featuring voices from around the world — especially yours.
Once a month, I’ll present an online talk about Shakespeare in our lives and culture, followed by conversation and live Q&A with special guests. Patreon supporters get sneak previews, backstage access, premium content, customized perks, private lectures, and sonnets and songs singing your praises!
It’s a book club. A study group. A chance to nerd out with fellow Shakespeareans.
Do you have a big audition coming up?
Or the first draft of a play or novel?
Or just want to work on some speeches for your own pleasure?
I offer private monologue coaching and manuscript review for actors and writers at every level of expertise.
Check out what some talented folks have said about working with me.
Contact me for rates and further information!
Austin contributes monthly essays to the Folger Shakespeare Library; co-created and co-starred in the six-part BBC World Service comedy series The Reduced Shakespeare Radio Show (1993); co-created and co-hosts the web series Drawing on Shakespeare with artist Gary Andrews; and produces and hosts (since 2006!) the weekly Reduced Shakespeare Company Podcast.
He’s acted in films and television, acted and directed off-Broadway, in the West End, and on stages around the world including the Kennedy Center; the Folger Shakespeare Theater; Cincinnati Shakespeare Company; the Tony-winning theaters Lookingglass in Chicago and Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park; London’s Gielgud, Criterion, and Arts Theatres; and Northlight Theater in Chicago, where he played Shakespeare’s star actor Richard Burbage in the midwest premiere of Lauren Gunderson’s The Book of Will.
“Austin is a consummate talent in all aspects of theater, from writing, editing, directing, and performance. His sense of comic timing is impeccable on the page and on the stage. He’s my go-to person for advice on all matters Shakespeare.”
(selected works)
FOOL
THE SERPENT OF VENICE
SHAKESPEARE FOR SQUIRRELS
LAMB: THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO BIFF, CHRIST’S CHILDHOOD PAL
“Austin is a gifted, natural storyteller, which means he doesn’t just tell great tales on his own, he helps others improve theirs too. I could not have written my last novel (Master of the Revels) without Austin’s insights and suggestions – he got the sensibility of my work, understood how I needed to get from A to B and helped me get there – a guiding hand without stepping on my toes. And he made me laugh throughout – a priceless addition to any editorial process.”
(selected works)
I, IAGO
MASTER OF THE REVELS
THE RISE & FALL OF D.O.D.O. (w/ Neal Stephenson)
“We need a good guide when we enter the strange spaces of Shakespeare-land. Someone knowledgeable, of course, but also generous, kind, thoughtful, provocative, responsive, caring, respectful – oh, and being very funny would be a help too. So it’s plain that the coach of all coaches, the adviser of all advisers, the guide of all guides to the mysterious Shakespearean multiverse must be Austin Tichenor! No-one is as Shakespeareanced as he is!”
“Austin directed a superb production of MUCH ADO, where every rehearsal was a master class in Shakespeare’s techniques, comic timing, and balancing pathos with pratfalls. In class, he challenged all his students with innovative assignments while helping each one find their artistic voice.”
“I was a first-time playwright, and Austin read my maiden effort with such sympathy, such insight and such constructive candor that I felt as if a whole semester’s worth of playwriting classes had been condensed into a few email exchanges. He definitely lifted my work to the next level, and I know he could do the same with any other aspiring playwright.”
(selected works)
COURTING MR. LINCOLN
MR. TIMOTHY
THE PALE BLUE EYE
ROOSEVELT’S BEAST
“Austin has the uncanny ability to get to the heart of a text and helps you, the actor, do the same. My short time working with him equipped me with tools to better understand myself, my work, and Shakespeare, and I’ve used what I learned with him in every project since. Also, he’s delightful! Working with him is FUN!”
(selected roles)
Beatrice, MUCH ADO
Pheobe/Adam, AS YOU LIKE IT
Helena, MIDSUMMER
Anne Page, MERRY WIVES
Hamlet isn’t my favorite play – mostly because it’s so rich and deep that a completely fulfilling production is almost unattainable – but it is certainly the most influential. I …
Do you have an easy answer? I don’t! I have favorite productions, sure. The Taming of the Shrew, American Conservatory Theatre, 1976 Hamlet, Berkeley Shakespeare Festival, 1982 Pericles, Royal Shakespeare …
I just realized: I might have acted in more Shakespeare during this pandemic than in my entire career so far! Despite 2020 being such an extended time of inactivity, I …
Since December 2017, I’ve contributed monthly essays about the intersection of Shakespeare and popular culture for the Folger Shakespeare Library‘s “Shakespeare & Beyond” blog. Topics I’ve written about include: how …
One of the few highlights of the pandemic has been the monthly meetings of the North Shore Shakespeare Society, the unashamedly grand name for our little book club that’s reading all …
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