Jamil Joseph defines \u201csummer fun\u201d differently than most people. A May 2016 graduate of East Stroudsburg University’s Theatre Department, Joseph spent 12 weeks in Massachusetts in intensive study as part of the Commonwealth Shakespeare Company\u2019s Apprentice program.<\/p>\n
Based at Babson College in Wellesley, Mass., the program\u2019s 26 apprentices took classes in movement, voice and Shakespearean text analysis. They also received individual coaching. The apprentices performed in one of two Shakespearean plays, Cymbeline<\/em> and Measure for Measure<\/em> and supported the company\u2019s main production of Love\u2019s Labour\u2019s Lost, <\/em>presented on Boston Common.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cIn the third week of the program there was a giant audition where all of the apprentices auditioned for both plays,\u201d said Joseph, a Brooklyn native. \u201cEach director then held separate callbacks for specific plays and characters.\u201d<\/p>\n Joseph was cast as Claudio and Froth in Measure for Measure<\/em>, two very contrasting roles in one of Shakespeare\u2019s darker comedies that focuses on morality, justice and mercy.<\/p>\n \u201cClaudio is a young man who may lose his life before his child is born,\u201d Joseph said. \u201cI played a young man in love in several plays at ESU, but, as Claudio, I had to think of what is at stake for the character. The issues in the play are topics that are important today.\u201d<\/p>\n To play Froth, \u201cnot only did I have to change my costume,\u201d Joseph added, \u201cbut I had to go from being really serious to being a giggly airhead with a silly smile on my face. I needed to shake off the stresses of being Claudio.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe had to do a lot of the work on our own, applying what we learned in our classes to our character,\u201d Joseph noted.<\/p>\n \u201cI took the skills that I learned at ESU and expanded them to bring these characters to life,” he added. “The text work that Professor Stephanie Daventry French did in preparing the cast for ESU\u2019s April 2015 production of A Midsummer Night\u2019s Dream<\/em> was especially important in my work this summer.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cJamil came to ESU as a high school athlete with very little theater experience,\u201d French said. \u201cHe brought a thirst for learning and proceeded to make the most of every opportunity here. To every collaboration he brought warmth, discipline and playfulness.\u201d French recalled Joseph was universally respected by peers and faculty alike.\u00a0\u201cWe are very impressed with what he has achieved as he launches from ESU, first at the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival, where he was a finalist in the Irene Ryan Scholarship Competition and recently as an apprentice in a leading role at the Commonwealth Shakespeare Company.”<\/p>\n As an understudy for Love\u2019s Labour\u2019s Lost<\/em>, Joseph spent some time rehearsing at the main performance site on the Boston Common.<\/p>\n \u201cRehearsing on the main set was exciting, he said. \u201cEven though I didn\u2019t get to go on in actual performance, I had the chance to work with a different director, and with performers in the main company who were members of Actors\u2019 Equity, the union for actors. Everyone gave lots of tips on how to get through life as an actor.\u201d<\/p>\n Performances for Measure for Measure <\/em>took place at both indoor and outdoor venues. \u201cIt\u2019s been a fun vocal challenge to go from an indoor space, where we don\u2019t use mics, to an outdoor space, where there are floor mics,\u201d Joseph said. \u201cThis spring when I performed in Allentown Public Theatre\u2019s production of The Island,<\/em> we used head mics when we played outdoors, so I\u2019ve learned yet another skill as an actor.\u201d<\/p>\n Joseph described the audiences for Measure for Measure<\/em> as being \u201creally invested and involved in the play. I loved being part of the production and working with a group of talented people who have the same passion and drive as me.\u00a0Everyone was always striving to be as good as they can be.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m thinking of staying in the Boston area and auditioning for the Actor\u2019s Shakespeare Project. The theatre scene here is flourishing, and I\u2019d like to explore it before I eventually move on to California for graduate school.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Jamil Joseph defines \u201csummer fun\u201d differently than most people. A May 2016 graduate of East Stroudsburg University’s Theatre Department, Joseph spent 12 weeks in Massachusetts in intensive study as part of the Commonwealth Shakespeare Company\u2019s Apprentice program.<\/p>\n Based at Babson College in Wellesley, Mass., the program\u2019s 26 apprentices took classes in movement, voice and Shakespearean text analysis. They also received individual coaching. The apprentices performed in one of two Shakespearean plays, Cymbeline<\/em> and Measure for Measure<\/em> and supported the company\u2019s main production of Love\u2019s Labour\u2019s Lost, <\/em>presented on Boston Common.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":51,"featured_media":14816,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[74,143,20,46,69],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14806","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni","category-community","category-esu-success-stories","category-performing-arts","category-theater"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quantum.esu.edu\/insider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14806"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quantum.esu.edu\/insider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quantum.esu.edu\/insider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quantum.esu.edu\/insider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/51"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quantum.esu.edu\/insider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14806"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/quantum.esu.edu\/insider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14806\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14817,"href":"https:\/\/quantum.esu.edu\/insider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14806\/revisions\/14817"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quantum.esu.edu\/insider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14816"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quantum.esu.edu\/insider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14806"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quantum.esu.edu\/insider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14806"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quantum.esu.edu\/insider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14806"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}