David Loar Email and Phone Number

I lead intensive and fun 60-minute-to-2 1/2-hour workshops on Acting/Teaching Shakespeare for students and teachers. My workshops are based on the fact that Shakespeare's plays were SCRIPTS for actors to PERFORM. Participants get up on their feet and do what actors do: DOING things with the text, discovering and using the vast amount of information that Shakespeare wrote into the text to direct his actors' performance choices. These workshops are physically and vocally ACTIVE--in addition to conveying a great deal of information about Shakespeare's time period, performance venues, and performance styles.Great Hearts Academies in San Antonio have brought me in 3 times so far, to lead workshops for teachers and students. The first was a day-long symposium on Dec. 6, 2021; I led a 2 1/2-hour workshop for 14 teachers and students from SA. The second, also a day-long symposium, was at Great Hearts Northern Oaks Academy: 2 workshops for students with 150 students in each. Crazy but huge fun for everyone!In late March, I was one of 35 featured lecturers and workshop leaders at the National Symposium for Classical Education in Phoenix. On 2 consecutive days, I led my Acting/Teaching Shakespeare workshops for teachers from Great Hearts academies and other schools across the country.

Recent roles for Charleston Stage Company: Ebenezer Scrooge in "A Christmas Carol," Editor Webb in "Our Town," Richard Burbage in "Shakespeare in Love," Lord Leonard Aster in "Peter and the Starcatcher," Prof. Van Helsing in "Dracula," Robert Figg in "The Seat of Justice."

Most recent student productions: "The Skin of Our Teeth," "A Midsummer Night's Dream," "Romeo and Juliet," showcases of modern/contemporary scenes by both HS and MS Drama classes.

I developed and performed my own production of the intense 80-minute one-man show, "An Iliad," by Lisa Peterson and Denis O'Hare. "An Iliad" is a re-imagined, modern telling of Homer's "An Iliad" through the eyes and words of a single character, The Poet. The Poet dramatizes the siege of Troy, the epic conflict between Achilles and Hector, many battles between the Greeks and Trojans, the tragic death of Patroclus, and finally the death of Hector. "An Iliad" is available for booking by your theatre or school!

Taught classes in HS Theatre with emphasis on Shakespeare and other classic works. Directed productions of "Macbeth," "The Tempest," "Julius Caesar," "Richard II," "Twelfth Night," "Much Ado About Nothing," "The Taming of the Shrew," "As You Like It," "Twelfth Night," "Oedipus Rex," "You Can't Take It With You," and "The Skin of Our Teeth."

Through intensive one-on-one tutoring, helped high-school students achieve higher scores on the verbal sections of the SAT and ACT.

One of two actors invited to become members of the Blackfriars Resident Troupe, performing in the world's only re-creation of the Blackfriars Playhouse. Performed over 70 roles, including Prospero, Shylock, Claudius, Cassius, Richard II, Lord Capulet, and Ebenezer Scrooge.

Toured the US and abroad for 6 years with these 3 companies: 1 year-long tour with National Shakespeare, 5 half-year tours with Chamber Repertory Theatre of Boston, 2 year-long tours with Shenandoah Shakespeare. Representative roles: Petruchio in "The Taming of the Shrew" (NSC); Montresor in "The Casque of Amontillado" (Chamber Theatre); Claudius in "Hamlet," Richard in "Richard II" (Shenandoah Shakespeare.)