Why LAMDA’s Shakespeare Summer School?
Summer training at LAMDA is intensive and rewarding – taking you from rehearsal room projects to the audience of London’s iconic theatre scene.
Normally based in Australia, Luca Sardelis spent eight weeks of Euro-summer 2025 training with us on LAMDA’s Shakespeare Summer School. Here, Luca told us all about the experience, and explained – why LAMDA?
“This course was more intensive – and more rewarding – than I anticipated.
Every day was a vocal, physical, and mental workout. Mornings consisted of three technique classes: one in vocal or singing training, one in movement (stage combat, applied movement, historical dance) and another in either text analysis or acting.
These primed us with new tools and inspiration for the afternoons, when we worked with our performance directors from 2:15pm to 5:30pm. Students on the 8-Week course were split into three age-based cohorts. We rotated between tutors each morning but worked with our own project directors in the afternoons.
I was fortunate to tackle Macbeth under the guidance of the powerhouse that is Debbie Korley, and to explore The White Devil with the wonderful Kalungi Ssebandeke – both exceptional directors and actors, actively working in London’s classical theatre scene.”
“I’ve come away with sharper skills, lifelong friends, and a renewed passion and confidence for the stage.”
“I hold such fondness for my 'company' of actors. At first, I was frustrated to find we’d be working almost exclusively within our small groups. I’d come here to find my people, and now they’d been predetermined for me.
But, in true 'trust the process' fashion, we became a tight-knit family within the week. The structure of the program allowed us to grow comfortable and confident enough around one another to feel safe taking risks: singing solo in front of others for the first time, improvising movement, and giving bold character offers without fear of judgement.
Why LAMDA? Peer pressure. I was hell-bent on undertaking an overseas acting intensive this year, but all my research had been focused on New York drama schools. I went so far as to apply and receive my acceptance into another school before my friend, Kavitha, caught wind of my plans and planted the seed: 'What about LAMDA?'
Put simply, the course was longer, the focus more specific, and the curriculum more comprehensive. I also loved, missed, and yearned to be reunited with London. The added bonus of sharing the experience with one of my favourite friends only sweetened the metaphorical cup of tea.
I have a history of working in contemporary film and had been feeling the weight of my recent absence from theatre. This course’s deep dive into classical theatre has exponentially increased my confidence in my own capacity and stage craft.
Crammed with new information and techniques, I know far more than I did before. I also have a clearer sense of what I don’t know, and what I want to learn next. My dormant passion for theatre has been reignited, and I’ve been introduced to playwrights and dramaturgs whose work I now feel equipped to explore more thoroughly independently.”
“In the immortal words of Wiz Khalifa: 'Work hard, play hard.' And we did. Between learning our lines, we watched others perform theirs - from the West End to the Globe (they’re not very far apart).
We went to gigs, threw dinner parties, and rehearsed our production of Macbeth in Hyde Park. I reunited with old friends, made new ones, danced at Brixton Blues Kitchen, and window-shopped my way down Portobello Road.
The course’s trip to Stratford-upon-Avon was one of my fondest UK memories. Quaint, picturesque, and steeped in history that this course had primed me to properly appreciate, it was everything I’d imagined the British countryside to be. The accommodation was ridiculously adorable and the Royal Shakespeare Company theatre was intimate and inviting. The Game of Thrones fans in my cohort were thrilled that we GoT to witness Rose Leslie lead the ensemble of The Constant Wife: a witty and satirical domestic drama.
Eight weeks later, I’ve come away with sharper skills, lifelong friends, and a renewed passion and confidence for the stage. If you’re thinking about being a part of the Shakespeare Summer School cohort in 2026, in the words of famous sportswear brand, Nike…”
