International Exchange

Since 1998, Winedale students have gone to England at the end of the summer to study and perform, while students, teachers and professional actors have come from Europe to Winedale to share their diverse perspectives on Shakespeare.

The first international venture was the performance at Shakespeare's Globe Theatre in London in 1998. Shakespeare at Winedale was the first non-professional group to be invited to perform at the newly reconstructed Globe, then in only its second season. James Ayres chose to produce the First Quarto version of Hamlet, a highly unusual 1603 text that had only received three previous public performances. We now travel to England at the end of every summer class, participating in workshops at the Globe and performing in theatres like the Royal Shakespeare Company's Swan Theatre in Stratford, and the Orange Tree Theatre in Richmond.

Another important part of the international exchange has to do with our association with Actors From the London Stage (AFTLS), a program based at Notre Dame that brings British actors to American universities to do Shakespeare. Since 2000, we have met with the AFTLS company every summer during their rehearsal period in England, then invited them out to perform at the Winedale Theatre Barn during their UT residency.  Our students work closely with the AFTLS actors during their week in in Austin, and the performance at Winedale is always a highlight of their tour.