Shakespeare in Focus: Beyond the Classroom

From extracurricular activities and performances on the LAMDA stage, to the historic treasures at your fingertips in London and Stratford-upon-Avon – classical actor training is full of memorable experiences that will take you beyond the classroom. 

Life at LAMDA

Year-round, students on our full-time degree courses stage productions across our three theatre spaces. These performance venues include two intimate black box theatre spaces and the 220-seater Sainsbury Theatre, our flagship theatre equipped with a full height fly tower. With performances taking place throughout the year, students across our courses are invited to watch their peers perform – including our Shakespeare Season. Staged by students on our MA Classical Acting programme, last year's cohort reworked classics like The Winter’s Tale and King Lear for the Sainsbury.

The building is a hub of activity throughout the year, with an array of internal events open for students to participate in or watch. Poetry Night in the Autumn Term brings celebrated poets to LAMDA as part of an expert judging panel, while Bravo and Encore spotlight the joys of musical theatre. These extracurricular showcases are a real highlight of our training, with former Semester Programme student Thomas Vice noting, “The ability to perform on the Sainsbury stage here at LAMDA is an opportunity I’ll never forget.”

Steeped in LAMDA tradition, Fight Night takes place in the Spring Term, assembling students from across our full-time programmes to prepare a choreographed duel for the Sainsbury Theatre stage. From sabres to smallswords, the event is a true celebration of stage combat: the art, the energy and the precision. Some students take their mastery of these skills a step further, completing their BGSC (British Guild of Stage Combat) examinations and earning qualifications that can serve them beyond their training.

Sights & Scenes

By training in London, you’re on the doorstep to a world of cultural and theatrical sights, from the iconic West End theatre scene to historic hidden treasures. The city is packed with parks to stroll, restaurants to try and shows to see.

Luca Sardelis, who spent two months at LAMDA on last year’s Shakespeare Summer School, took full advantage of the delights a summer in London has to offer. “We went to gigs, threw dinner parties, and rehearsed our production of Macbeth in Hyde Park,” Luca said. “I reunited with old friends, made new ones, danced at Brixton Blues Kitchen, and window-shopped my way down Portobello Road.” Training in London is vibrant, joyous and meaningful, and means you quickly build a strong community amongst your cohort.

Outside the city, there is lots more to discover. As part of our 8-Week and 4-Week Shakespeare Summer School, participants enjoy an overnight trip to Stratford-upon-Avon, taking in the sights of Shakespeare’s birthplace, Anne Hathaway’s Cottage, and a show at the Royal Shakespeare Company. Luca described the experience as, “Quaint, picturesque, and steeped in history that this course had primed me to properly appreciate… The accommodation was ridiculously adorable and the Royal Shakespeare Company theatre was intimate and inviting.”

In 2026, our 8-Week Summer School participants will watch The Tempest at the RSC, while the 4-Week programme will take in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Combined with a theatre production at the iconic Shakespeare’s Globe in London, these trips are designed to inspire – bringing you face-to-face with the language and characters that sit at the heart of your training.

For Natalie Bray, LAMDA’s Short Courses Leader, these experiences enhance and complement your training. “Watching world-class classical actors on stage allows you to see the techniques you'll learn in action,” she said. “Being in Stratford and the Globe gives you a real sense of who Shakespeare was, what his life was like, and the stage that he wrote for. This context will deepen your understanding of his plays and the world he lived in, providing a real enrichment to your learning experience.”

Learn More

Apply now to be part of LAMDA’s creative community in 2026, and explore classical actor training at LAMDA in greater depth with our Shakespeare in Focus series:

Shakespeare in Focus