Catherine Weidners knowledge and expertise surrounding heightened text helped me to demystify the language, while simultaneously simplifying Shakespeare and acting into relatable terms: do the work. In theater, much is made of talent and instinct, but heightened text has a way revealing an actors preparation, whether it be substantial or lacking. What Acting Heightened Text: The Basics provides is a toolbox for the modern actor, equipped with a variety of insights and immersions that invites the artist to delve into the work as deeply as they wish.
Kevin Bigley, Writer/Actor
The best thing about Acting Heightened Text: The Basics methods is that it doesnt just apply to heightened text. There is no script that I work on that I dont clearly mark beats/shifts; or perhaps if my character uses language/vocabulary that I dont normally use, I will employ the line-out method to put the language into my own words. I use hooking to highlight the connective tissue between what I am saying and what another character has said. If there is an operative word that will help me land my action or intent more clearly, I mark it. Catherine Weidner taught me how to use tools that I continue to use today to ensure I truly understand what I am saying and that what I am intending to communicate is clear, whether it is considered heightened text or not.
KiKi Layne, Actor/Producer, If Beale Street Could Talk, The Old Guard
Acting Heightened Text: The Basics approach changed me as an artist for the better. What was once daunting and intimidating became approachable and exciting! I use many of Catherines tools to this day when mining scripts for meaningful moments."
Taylor Misiak, FX/Hulu's Dave
Its difficult to put into a few sentences what Acting Heightened Text: The Basics did for me. I studied Shakespeare for almost 15 years before I entered Catherines class - yet what I learned under her tutelage put all that into a completely different light. Her approach has a way of making 500-year-old words and ideas so modern, so present and so immediate that you feel like they were written ten minutes ago. I wish upon wish I could take her class every couple months from now until forever.
Adam Wesley Brown, Actor/Musician, Once, Widows
"Catherine Weidners teaching profoundly influenced how I understand and use language, particularly in how it can both reveal and conceal deeper meanings. The lessons in Acting Heightened Text: The Basics provided me with a valuable tool to recognize that a single word can have various meanings based on context, intent, and timing. This insight has greatly enriched my approach to my work, both past and present, allowing me to explore what lies beneath the surface of whats being said. Its a gift that continues to benefit me in my work."
Yaegel T. Welch, Actor/Activist on Broadway, Television, and Film
I'm grateful to have learned the techniques in Acting Heightened Text: The Basics. Catherines approach invited me to bring my full self without apology to my work. Shakespeare was intimidating at first, but these tools break it down in a way that felt easy and fun. I still use given circumstances, paraphrase, and operative words in my work today.
Celeste M. Cooper, Member Steppenwolf Theatre Ensemble
"Before I worked with Catherine Weidner, Shakespeare and heightened text felt a million miles away. Acting Heightened Text gives you the roadmap to walk closer to the part and enliven it in you, which is always the goal of the actor. When Shakespeare feels like a foreign language, her tools guide you to make it relatable, human and truthful in yourself."
Alexander Koch, Actor/Writer
