Shakespeare at the Castle (18+)

Booking is by application only. Please complete this additional booking form that needs to be completed upon submission of your application.

Please be advised, if we have any queries about your application, we may request a zoom meeting.

Students should come to the course expecting to work hard, be challenged and enjoy contributing to the creative process.

Alasdair Hunter is a Scottish theatre director. He directs classic plays and plays by writers who are very much alive. He is Founding Artistic Director of shakespeare.scot – a global Shakespeare company rooted in Scotland. He is also a member of The Shakespeare Ensemble (www.theshakespeareensemble.com) and an Associate Member of the Shakespeare Theatre Association. He is a Connections Director for the National Theatre (London), and also regularly teaches at UK drama schools.

Alasdair is a graduate of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and the University of Glasgow, and also trained at Shakespeare’s Globe. His work has been seen in UK theatres including the Tron Theatre, Traverse Theatre, Hampstead Theatre, and Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, as well as across the Midwest USA including Chicago and St Louis.

Alasdair was President of Glasgow’s Queen Margaret Union in 2008/09 and a board member of Macrobert Arts Centre from 2009 to 2012. He made classical work, often of a guerilla nature, under the Wilderness of Tigers label between 2007 and 2017.

The Dean Castle sits within the stunning 200 acre grounds of Dean Castle Country Park. The recently renovated 14^th century castle is situated in Kilmarnock, Ayrshire. The castle was the home of the Boyd family for over 400 years. It was inherited by the 8^th Lord Howard de Walden in 1899 who restored the buildings which had lain in ruins since a fire in 1735. The Keep, dating to around 1350, houses outstanding displays that tell the story of the Boyd family and medieval life. From the exquisite craftsmanship and rarity of the musical instrument collection to the Viking sword that fires the imagination, the Dean Castle and the collections represent over 1000 years of the history of Ayrshire, its people and the story of Scotland.

Dean Castle is situated within Dean Castle Country Park which is home to wildlife, ponds, and forest walks. The park also has a residential accommodation block, public café, and Rural Life centre.

If you’re a fan of the hit show Outlander, Dean Castle was used as Beaufort Castle in Series 2.

Your course fee includes the following:

• Accommodation
• Food (Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner)
• Evening Activities

This Summer School will be taking place in Dean Castle Country Park. There is a residential accommodation block on site, and all students taking part in the Summer School will be required to stay on location. Dean Castle Country Park is around 40 minutes from Glasgow City Centre. There are limited options in the immediate vicinity, so we recommend bringing everything you need to site.

The accommodation at Dean Castle Country Park consists of dorms for four students, with two bunk beds in each. There is also a shower and toilet block at either end of the corridor, and a door in the corridor separating the male and female identifying dorms and showers.

We are committed to our Safe Space policy and will be inclusive in our accommodation assignments. We ask that all students read through the Safe Space policy and email summerschools@rcs.ac.uk if you have any concerns.

Within Dean Castle Country Park, you will find the residential accommodation block attached to a public café. Then a short walk through the grounds, you’ll find the castle, woodlands, forest walks and Rural Life centre. The public will have access to the castle from 11am to 4pm, and you’ll be working in rooms within and around the castle, and rehearsal spaces on the grounds.

All meals will be served within the residential space by caterers. As part of the additional booking form you can detail any dietary requirements.

As part of the Summer School, there will be some planned activities both on and off site. These could include bowling, movie night, ceilidh, outdoor activities.

We recommend students bring:

• warm and comfortable clothing
• waterproof shoes or boots
• some clothes they don’t mind getting dirty/wet
• waterproof jackets (for the Scottish summers)
• warm layers, as you’ll be working in and around a drafty, old castle.

A full list of what to bring will be sent out with your welcome pack.