The Bardlings
For the Company’s tenth anniversary season, we are pleased to offer the Bardlings (student actors in rising grades 6-12) a longer, ten-month program of education and rehearsals all focused on one crowning achievement: performing at the 2025 Southern Shakespeare Festival.
Read on to learn more, and play on with us at auditions in August for Twelfth Night (May 11-12, 2025)!
A Troupe For Young ACTORS in TALLAHASSEE
The Bardlings, the junior acting company of the Southern Shakespeare Company, is a by-audition-only theatre training program for talented, up-and-coming young actors (rising grades 6-12).
Actors accepted into the Bardlings program receive focused coaching, classical training, and exclusive learning opportunities— including performing with the troupe at the Southern Shakespeare Festival.
Bardlings gain experience, knowledge, and skills by:
- Attending exclusive workshops, guest lectures, and field trips, all led by theatre and film professionals;
- Participating in community outreach opportunities throughout the school year;
- Rehearsing with professional directors specializing in Shakespeare performance;
- Presenting their own performance at Southern Shakespeare’s Free Shakespeare in the Park event in May.
Photo credit: Bob Howard
2024-2025 Season
Auditions for this season of the Bardlings have passed, but we hope to see you at Bardlings’ performances this year, including their one-hour production of Twelfth Night at Cascades Park May 10-11, 2025 (5:30 PM, free and open to the public).
A Staff of Theatre Professionals
Robin Jackson (Bardlings Director, pictured at left) is a professionally trained performer, director, and teaching artist. She most recently played Camilla in Southern Shakespeare’s production of The Winter’s Tale. She has directed The Bardlings for six seasons and Camp Shakespeare for the last seven years. She holds an AS in Musical Theatre from Florida School of the Arts as well as a BFA in Musical Theatre from University of Central Florida. Robin spent six years with Artspot: Educational Theatre, an international touring company bringing English educational children’s theatre to over fifteen countries. As well as performing, Robin led and developed “Teaching Through Theatre” workshops for teachers and students around the world. She is a Tallahassee native who grew up involved in the Southern Shakespeare Company as a child and many other local theatre productions. Currently, along with her work with SSC, Robin teaches at Temple Israel Preschool, and directs Miccosukee Land Co-op Drama Camp. Robin feels strongly about the importance of theatre education, professional training for the young artists of our community, and bringing Shakespeare to all.
Phil Croton (Bardlings Assistant Director, pictured center) was born and raised in London, and attended The Italia Conti Drama School, making his West End debut at the tender age of eleven, flying around the stage as John Darling in Peter Pan at the Scala Theatre–and he was cast again in the same role the following year! He also appeared on television in A Play for Today for the BBC and in minor roles in films and television, but his true love always has been live theatre. He has worked in Theatre in Education, in the UK, for Freshwater and Konflux Theatre companies. He was also the Head of the Education Dept. for the Theatre Royal in Bury St. Edmunds. He is working to instill a love of Shakespeare to the children and young adults in Tallahassee through frequent in-school workshops and as an Assistant Director of The Bardlings. Phil has appeared in such diverse roles as Sir Thomas More in A Man for All Seasons and R.P. McMurphy in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Other roles include leads in A Chorus of Disapproval, Separate Tables, The Real Inspector Hound, and The Typist. He has also directed various productions including The Donahue Sisters, Humble Boy, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Theatre Royal Youth Company, Maria Marten). He appeared as Oberon/Theseus in Southern Shakespeare’s production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream in 2014.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
In the 2024-2025 season, the Bardlings membership fee is $700 for nine months of workshops, field trips, rehearsals, etc. There are no additional fees for costuming, etc.
Financial assistance is available; reach out to Bardlings Director Robin Jackson to inquire.
The Bardlings meet 3-4 times a month September-December primarily on Mondays and Wednesdays and January-May every Monday and Wednesday, while taking school holidays off following the Leon County School schedule. Meetings will be from 5-7 PM on Mondays and Wednesdays, except for the sword fighting workshop and special field trips that fall on other days.
Please review the 2024-2025 calendar for details. (Note, however, that the Bardlings can expect to have additional rehearsals leading up to the festival week May 2025.)
To audition for the Bardlings, students should prepare a one-minute monologue of their choice (classical / Shakespearean monologues are encouraged, but not required).
To complete the audition form, students should also have their conflicts for the rehearsal period and parent/guardian contact information on hand.
If students have conflicts with the audition date(s) and are seeking possible solutions including a Zoom-based virtual audition, they may contact Bardlings Director Robin Jackson.
Past Seasons
2023-2024
The Bardlings’ Fall 2023 semester performance was a Shakespearean Showcase that played at the Conradi Studio Theatre on the campus of Florida State University. For the first time, Bardlings participants had the chance to select, write, and/or direct showcase scenes as well as acting in them.
The Bardlings’ Spring 2024 performance at the Southern Shakespeare Festival was an abridged version of The Tempest adapted by Phil Croton and Mattie Ward. After an unprecedented number of tornadoes impacted Tallahassee the week of the Festival, destroying the Adderley Amphitheatre set, Festival performances were relocated to Westminster Oaks Retirement Community, where the Bardlings presented one show, followed by an additional performance the following Thursday at SAIL High School.
2022-2023
The Bardlings’ Fall 2023 semester performance outdoors at Christ Classical Academy was an abridged version of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, adapted by Pat McEnulty into Puck and the Mushy Gushy Love Potion. In this romantic comedy, fairies meddle with Athenians who enter their forest to rehearse a play or run away from undesired marriages. In the end, love and forgiveness triumph as the fairy Puck’s mischief is righted just in time!
The Bardlings’ Spring 2023 performance at the Southern Shakespeare Festival in Cascades Park was an abridged version of As You Like It, adapted by Pat McEnulty and Phil Croton. In this pastoral comedy, the newly lovestruck Rosalind flees an oppressive court for the Forest of Arden, where she finds her beloved Orlando has also fled! Disguised as a shepherd boy, Rosalind teaches Orlando how to woo and love with the help of friends and forest dwellers.
2021-2022
For the Fall 2021 semester performance, The Bardlings were back in-person to present an original play written by Tallahassee native, the late Eden Rush:
Zombie Shakespeare tells the fantastical story of a troupe of fairy tale characters who are tired of their stories, so they go dig up the grave of literature’s best storyteller, William Shakespeare himself. Shakespeare’s works come to life as each fairy tale character is transported into one of his plays as they search for their new story. This family-friendly comedy showcased some of the Bard’s most famous scenes and is a perfect exploration of his characters with a fun twist.
The Bardlings’ Spring 2022 semester performance at the Southern Shakespeare Festival in Cascades Park brought audiences back to Shakespeare’s works with the infamous Romeo & Juliet. This abridged version of the star crossed lovers’ tale showcased The Bardlings’ technical ability to create productions that bring traditional Shakespeare to life for all ages.
Audition Sides
Romeo
Juliet
Lady Capulet
Mercutio